People’s Menorah

Chanukah Accordion Book

by Jay Saper

In the wake of the 2018 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, I turned toward the power of Risograph to ground our community. I embraced the transformative power of art to help us both mourn as well as commit to building safety through solidarity with other groups targeted by the virulent white supremacists emboldened by Trump’s ascent to power. I designed and printed a Risograph accordion book sent as a Chanukah present to hundreds of Jewish activists throughout New York City, inviting them to take action in the streets.

I used the traditional Jewish folk art of the papercut to create the cover illustration of a menorah, which I chose to depict as the Tree of Life, with eleven leaves, one commemorating each of the martyrs. Opening the book one direction reveals eight grounding Jewish texts from our ancient tradition, one corresponding to each night and each candle we light during the holiday. Opening the book the other way illuminates eight social movements we are committed to building alongside. The accordion book expands to honor the distinct elements of each movement, while also collapsing together to highlight how our collective liberation is bound up together.