Below is a short scene from my most recent film, Rabbi on the Block, that shows Rabbi Tamar Manasseh observing Yom Kippur on a corner on the southside of Chicago. Rabbi Tamar is a Chicago-based anti gun violence activist and community leader. In 2021, she was ordained as a rabbi by the International Israelite Board of Rabbis. She is not a pulpit rabbi, but the block on which she works in the Englewood section of Chicago has been transformed into her kehillah kedoshah. I wanted to share this clip because I’m moved by how Rabbi Tamar brings Judaism to people and neighborhoods that would otherwise have no connection to our religion. She shows how Jewish rituals can be used to heal people, no matter who they are.
Several years ago, I helped arrange for Rabbi Tamar to speak at Ansche Chesed; during her remarks, she talked about doing Yom Kippur on the block, I knew at that moment that I needed to shoot it and include it in my film.
