Dozens of people stood together Wed. night, lining the sidewalk separating the street from Brush Creek, across from the district office of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II at 4001 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Kansas City, Missouri. This second night of Rosh Hashanah, they celebrated with traditional songs and prayers. At one point, they ambled down to the creek's edge to throw in some breadcrumbs in a ritual known as Tashlich, symbolizing the casting off of sins from the past year.
75-year-old Helena Sivan said she was here to take part in the ritual because, she said, Israel's war in Gaza is a sin.
"It's totally criminal," she said. "I am very unhappy that my taxes send money overseas to support one or the other side in a deadly war instead of supporting our taxpayers."
Sivan, a Jewish woman, was born in Israel and still has family there today. This Rosh Hashanah, she said she's washing away the sins of her former country. She hopes her voice will influence Rep. Cleaver to do the same.
"I think it's the least I can do," she said. "I'm touched by all the reactions of the world to what's happening, and I pray for their (Palestinian's) safety.
Wednesday evening marked the end of Rosh Hashanah, the two-day celebration at the start of the Hebrew new year. Many Jews include the Tashlich ritual, standing at the edge of running streams, lakes or other bodies of water, casting crumbs into the water as they name the past year's transgressions they are tossing away.
Members of Kansas City's Jewish Voice for Peace adapted the ritual for this protest to call out Rep. Cleaver for his lack of support for H. R. 3565, legislation that limits military support to Israel. 51 of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives have signed on to the bill.
Molly McGlenn, 24, lives in Cleaver's 5th Congressional District. They said this is the most meaningful way for them to express their Judaism this holiday season, given the hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children who've lost lives in Israeli strikes on Gaza.
"As I got older and got more aware of what was being done in our name (as Jews), I became more and more disturbed the more I learned," said McGlenn. "My grandma is a Holocaust survivor, and the story that's happening in Gaza is very similar."
Jewish Voice for Peace identifies as the largest grassroots group in the country advocating for Palestinian statehood and opposing Israeli military activity in the region. They identify the High Holy Days, the sacred time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, as a time in which Jews are called to recommit to the essential tenet of Judaism known as Tikkun Olam, or repair the world.
McGlenn said the night's gathering was a call to action for Jews and non-Jews alike.
"I would like to see everybody in whatever way they can step into the power they currently hold to effect change and make sure that this ends as soon as possible," they said.
According to health officials in Gaza, more than 64,000 Palestinians have died as the war in Gaza approaches the two-year mark.
In a statement emailed to KCUR, Rep. Cleaver condemned the widespread destruction and loss of life in Gaza. He said he found what was happening to the Palestinians "abhorrent" and he was committed to ending the humanitarian crisis in the region.
"However, with a Republican President and a Republican-controlled Congress, only a bipartisan effort can help forge a durable peace in the region," his statement went on. "I will continue working to be a bridge that will bring my colleagues across the aisle to the understanding that Congress must use our influence to assist in bringing an end to this catastrophe."
Back at Brush Creek, Helena Sivan walks closer to the water and casts her gaze toward the slow, muddy stream.
"I'm actually fighting for a viable future, and I think every American deserves that," said Sivan. "I think one way to show it is we do not support a genocidal war."
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