We dream of a world not threatened by destruction

This series forms a project of mutual aid as well as a meditation on my own experiences as an American Jew reckoning with conceptions of placehood and justice. Informed by memories passed down by my grandfather, a survivor of Nazi occupation and imprisonment at Auschwitz, Judaism has for my entire life been about the wisdom of the past, about refusing to let history repeat itself. Faced with the mass slaughter of innocent civilians, I fear that I am watching as the world uses my faith to justify doing unto others what has been done to us.

“We dream of a world not threatened by destruction” is a quote from a prayer for peace from my family’s Haggadah, in which we pledge to remember our ancestors’ enslavement and to strive for the liberation of oppressed peoples during our lifetimes. Through my work, I strive to carry out this moral, religious, hereditary obligation.

All proceeds from the series go to those they depict, or to a family facing similar circumstances if the original reference is uncontactable. In the latter case, I use Operation Olive Branch, a grassroots humanitarian organization that keeps a spreadsheet constantly updated with links to support families seeking aid, in order to locate beneficiaries.

Please click on each portrait for more information about the individuals they represent and the families they will benefit.