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From Kaddish to Day of the Dead: What I Learned Watching Mexico’s Joyful Mourning
A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
I was raised with the traditional Orthodox view that sadness and solemnity are the proper ways to treat death and mourning. In a cemetery, it is forbidden to eat or drink, to say a blessing, or to study Torah because of what’s known in Hebrew as lo’eg larash — taunting the deceased. We refrain from these simple pleasures to acknowledge that they are forever lost to the departed. Even tzitzit, the four fringes of the tallis worn under clothing, must be tucked in, lest we rub in the face of those no longer with us that even such a passive mitzvah is now beyond their reach.
Departed family members are solemnly remembered with the Yizkor prayer on holidays, along with the recitation of the kaddish on yahrtzeits, the anniversary of the death. A trip to the cemetery is a solemn and reflective moment — a time to bow one’s head and share a memory, then place a humble rock atop the headstone to indicate that there had been a visit.
So these last few years living in Oaxaca, Mexico, the annual Day of the Dead celebration has been quite a shock.
The Day of the Dead begins with large, boisterous parades featuring outrageous costumes, floats adorned with skeletons, and marching bands. There is drinking and dancing throughout town.
At home, families construct elaborate altars to the deceased, often inviting the public in to view. The altars contain plates piled high with traditional Mexican foods, along with departed family members’ favorites. There is also traditional sweet bread and fruit, along with sometimes beer and cigarettes. The altars are decorated with a vast quantity of flowers, and photos of the deceased are prominently displayed.
On the day itself, families joyfully gather at the graves of loved ones. They bring tamales or other favorite foods to picnic, along with mezcal and beer to drink. Right inside the cemetery bands play traditional Mexican music, as other musicians with guitars and xylophones roam the grounds. Graves are decorated with flowers and candles, and sometimes elaborate artwork too. In Oaxaca, right outside the main entrance to the central cemetery, they built a carnival midway. It was replete with bumper cars, food stands, and games of skill and chance reminiscent of a county fair.
At first, I found the Day of the Dead irreverent, even demeaning. Why are memories of loved ones centered on what foods they liked and how they looked in a few photos? Isn’t remembering their values and beliefs more important? And if we are truly sad about those we’ve lost, why are we celebrating at their graves?
But as I’ve learned a bit more and the Mexican observances have become more familiar, I feel like I’m starting to understand. According to tradition, on the Day of the Dead, souls of the deceased return to visit. It’s a priceless opportunity to spend one more day with a loved one. So when families receive these souls, they bring the deceased’s favorite foods and drinks to share. And since the moment is fleeting, they sing, dance, and celebrate their happiness at being reunited. It’s a time to play departed loved ones’ favorite music, to do with them the things they liked when they were alive, and to feel joy that for one day, the bridge between life and death is crossed and we can all be back together.
The Day of the Dead is a strong reminder that the Jewish tradition’s somber view of death and mourning is not the only way. Many Mexicans find comfort knowing that loved ones who are departed will be back each year for their visit, when they can sing, dance, eat, and drink together again like old times.
It’s not my tradition, and I doubt I would ever be completely comfortable following it. It would also be difficult to fit in. If my father would return, I’m sure he would much rather watch a football game than be serenaded by a mariachi band, and eat soft serve ice cream and cookies rather than be treated to hot sauce and tamales.
But just like anyone, I would certainly love the chance to visit with my departed loved ones. I can’t make myself believe their souls are really returning each year on the second of November. But living in Mexico and watching the celebrations, part of me wishes that I could.
Shlomo Levin served for many years as a rabbi in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Now he lives in Oaxaca, Mexico. He is the author of the Human Rights Haggadah and he uses short fiction to explore human rights at shalzed.com
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Israel Awards Genesis Prize to Gal Gadot for ‘Bravery and Moral Courage’ in Defending Jewish State
Actor Gal Gadot gestures during the unveiling ceremony for her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, US, March 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Israeli actress and producer Gal Gadot has been awarded the 2026 Genesis Prize by Israel in recognition of her strong support and advocacy for her home country amid its war with Hamas in Gaza and despite the negative impacts it had on her career, the Genesis Prize Foundation (GPF) announced on Tuesday.
The annual $1 million Genesis Prize, which has been nicknamed the “Jewish Nobel” by Time magazine, honors individuals “for their professional excellence, significant impact in their fields, and dedication to Jewish values.” It is a global award that celebrates “Jewish contribution to humanity” and all recipients donate their $1 million prize to various philanthropic causes.
Gadot called herself a “proud Jew and a proud Israeli” who loves her home country in a statement released by the GPF. The “Wonder Woman” star and mother of four is donating her $1 million prize to organizations that are helping Israelis recover in the aftermath of the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent two-year war between Israel and Hamas. A date for the awards ceremony next year was not announced.
“I am humbled to receive the Genesis Prize and to stand alongside the amazing laureates who came before me,” the “Snow White” star said. “[I] dedicate this award to the organizations who will help Israel heal and to those incredible people who serve on the front lines of compassion. Israel has endured unimaginable pain. Now we must begin to heal – to rebuild hearts, families, and communities.”
GFP co-founder and chairman Stan Polovets praised Gadot’s “moral clarity and unwavering love for Israel.”
“The award recognizes her bravery and moral courage – her steadfast defense of Israel at great personal and professional risk, her advocacy for the hostages, her compassion for victims of terror, and her empathy for all innocent victims of this terrible war unleashed by Hamas,” he said. “Her decision to turn the Genesis Prize honor into a mission of healing embodies the very purpose of the prize – to celebrate achievement and channel it for good.”
Gadot condemned the Hamas-led massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, immediately after the deadly attack took place in southern Israel and has defended her home country repeatedly since the start of its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. She has called for the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, met with families of former hostages, and arranged in Los Angeles private screenings for Hollywood figures to see uncensored, raw footage that documents the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. In a magazine interview earlier this year, she pleaded for an end to the Israel-Hamas war that includes a “diplomatic agreement that allows all parts of the table to live a good and prosperous life.”
In August, hundreds of anti-Israel activists signed a letter calling on the Venice Film Festival to disinvite Gadot from the event because of her ties to Israel. The festival’s director ignored the boycott efforts and Gadot was still invited, although she did not attend. Award-winning American filmmaker and artist Julian Schnabel, who cast Gadot in his film “In the Hand of Dante” that was premiering at the Venice Film Festival, also criticized the efforts by anti-Israel activists.
Gadot in March became the first Israeli to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The star was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti in May, the same week that London’s Metropolitan Police arrested five anti-Israel protesters who tried to disrupt her film set in central London solely because she is Israeli.
Gadot played the Evil Queen in last year’s live action remake of Disney’s “Snow White.” She admitted in August that she thinks “pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel” was “greatly affecting” the film and contributed to its poor box office performance after its lead star, Rachel Zegler, proclaimed “Free Palestine” on social media.
Past recipients of the Genesis Prize include singer, actor, and activist Barbra Streisand; filmmaker Steven Spielberg; founder of Blue Square Alliance Against Hate and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft; the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and human rights advocate Natan Sharansky.
The 2025 recipient of the Genesis Prize was Argentina’s President Javier Milei, who was recognized for his strong support of Israel. Milei visited Jerusalem in June to accept the award.
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Mississippi State University Student Arrested, Withdraws From School After Antisemitic Rant at Dave Portnoy
Barstool Sports founder and online pizza reviewer Dave Portnoy outside a Starkville, Mississippi pizza shop on Nov. 7, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
A Mississippi State University student was arrested on Monday and charged by police for shouting an antisemitic slur at Barstool Sports founder and online pizza reviewer Dave Portnoy during one of his reviews outside a restaurant in Starkville, Mississippi, officials said.
Patrick McClintock, 20, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of disturbing the peace after being caught on video yelling “F–k the Jews” at Portnoy, who is Jewish, and then throwing coins at him outside a pizza shop on Nov. 7, according to the Starkville Police Department. The department launched an investigation following the incident last week and issued a warrant over the weekend. McClintock was processed and later released.
Portnoy was filming one of his “One Bite” pizza reviews outside Boardtown Pizza & Pints when McClintock shouted in the background, “Hey, f–k the Jews, f–k you, Dave” and threw coins at him.
Portnoy replied, “Why don’t you come in the camera, buddy?”
McClintock then approached Portnoy, and during their brief confrontation, McClintock shouted, “Get the f–k out of Starkville.” Witnesses then asked Portnoy what had happened.
“He said ‘F–k the Jews’ and threw s–t at me,” Portnoy replied.
On Monday, Portnoy posted online the video of his pizza review outside Boardtown Pizza & Pints and it included footage of the antisemitic encounter with McClintock. Portnoy also shared McClintock’s mugshot, calling him an “antisemitic piece of s–t” and a “f–king loser.” He added that the incident “did not ruin” his trip to Starkville and thanked locals for their support.
“I’ll never judge one asshole for the entire city,” Portnoy said. “Everyone was super nice and actually bending over backwards during the course of the weekend, being like, ‘We’re so sorry, that’s so mortifying. We wish that didn’t happen.’ And I don’t want simply your apologies. I want outrage and I had it, and that makes me feel good that people were like, ‘This is crazy.’ Thank you for everyone in Starkville who rose up and got [my] back. I do appreciate it.”
A few days before posting his pizza review of Boardtown Pizza & Pints, Portnoy shared on Instagram a review of the Mississippi State University bookstore and gave it a rating of 9.3 out of 10.
Portnoy addressed the global rise in antisemitic incidents in an interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” that will air over the weekend. In a teaser for the interview, Portnoy talked about his personal experience with antisemitism.
“I’ve seen in my own experience, just being Barstool, the difference between how much hate I get,” Portnoy said. “I mean, occasionally you get a k—k or Jew or whatever. It’s every day now. Like there’s a definitive shift in what’s going on. So yes, now, for me, being a Jewish person, you’ve got to step up. You’re kind of someone people look up to in the Jewish community. You have to be like, ‘Alright, this is not normal.’ People are coming in with real hate.”
Portnoy also revealed that he now has round-the-clock security at his house because of the antisemitic hatred that he has faced.
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Checking Iran’s Enriched Uranium Stock Is ‘Long Overdue,’ IAEA Report Says
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi addresses the media during their Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
Iran still has not let inspectors into the nuclear sites Israel and the United States bombed in June, the UN atomic watchdog said in a confidential report on Wednesday, adding that accounting for Iran’s enriched uranium stock is “long overdue.”
The IAEA‘s own guidelines say it should verify a country’s stock of highly enriched uranium, such as the material enriched to up to 60 percent purity in Iran, a short step from the roughly 90 percent of weapons grade, every month.
The IAEA has been calling on Iran for months to say what happened to the stock and let inspections fully resume quickly. The two sides announced an agreement in Cairo in September that was supposed to pave the way towards that. However, progress has been limited, and Iran now says the agreement is void.
“The agency’s lack of access to this nuclear material in Iran for five months means that its verification … is long overdue,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in the report to member states seen by Reuters.
CONCERNS ABOUT DIVERSION, INSPECTIONS CRITICAL
“It is critical that the agency is able to verify the inventories of previously declared nuclear material in Iran as soon as possible in order to allay its concerns … regarding the possible diversion of declared nuclear material from peaceful use,” it added.
The report said the quantity of highly enriched uranium Iran has produced and stored is “a matter of serious concern.” The IAEA has now lost so-called continuity of knowledge of Iran’s enriched uranium stocks, it added, meaning re-establishing a full picture will be arduous.
The agency has so far only inspected some of the 13 nuclear facilities that were “unaffected” by the attacks and none of the seven that were, it said.
ENOUGH FOR 10 NUCLEAR BOMBS
One reason Israel and the United States gave for their attacks, which destroyed one of Iran’s three enrichment facilities operating at the time and at least badly damaged the others, was that Iran was getting too close to being able to produce a nuclear weapon.
Western powers say there is no civil explanation for Iran’s enrichment to such a high level. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, and the IAEA said it had no credible indication of a coordinated weapons program there.
The IAEA estimates that before the attacks Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60 percent in uranium hexafluoride form, which can easily be enriched further. That is enough, if enriched further, for 10 nuclear bombs, according to an IAEA yardstick.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must send a detailed report to the IAEA on the status of the bombed facilities and its enriched uranium “without delay” but still has not done so, the report said. Only then can the IAEA inspect them.
NEW ENRICHMENT PLANT – STATUS UNKNOWN
While some enriched uranium will have been destroyed in the attacks, diplomats say much of the stock was likely stored at a deeply buried facility at Isfahan where the entrance tunnels were hit but damage appears limited.
Iran informed the IAEA shortly before the attacks it was setting up an enrichment facility at Isfahan, but the agency has not been able to inspect it.
“The agency does not know the precise location of [the plant], its status for safeguards purposes, including whether it contains nuclear material, or whether it was affected by the military attacks,” the report said.
While there is little sign of progress towards a nuclear deal between the US and Iran, both sides say they are open to the idea.