Jewish Memorial Wallpaper: Synagogue Yahrzeit Plaques as Material Memory and Communal Concern

Judaism has a robust, and well studied, set of rituals for the work of mourning and remembering dead loved ones. Less attention has been paid to the material aspect of these rituals and the objects associated with Jewish memory of the deceased. This paper examines one modern phenomenon of Jewish material memory, particularly in the American context: yahrzeit (death anniversary) plaques that decorate many an American synagogue. These bronze plaques, which are ubiquitous in contemporary American synagogues across all denominations, are notable for their egalitarian aesthetic where all names are displayed similarly. This paper asks about the moral function of these objects in relation to their aesthetic effect. What do they do for the memory of loved ones for American Jews and how do they turn the individual memory of a deceased loved one into a larger communal concern?