Eternity and Memory: "The Yahrzeit"

In the final episode of the series, Rabbi Soloveichik examines Moritz Daniel Oppenheim's painting "The Yahrzeit," which depicts Jewish soldiers sheltering amid the Franco-Prussian War so one of them can recite the kaddish prayer. Wearing both a spiked Prussian helmet and a prayer shawl, the lead soldier embodies Oppenheim's central message: a Jew can be both devout and patriotic. Rabbi Soloveichik unpacks the painting's rich symbolism—from bullet holes to wounded men—to show how kaddish is not just about mourning, but also about defying despair and affirming life. He also reflects on the word "yahrzeit" itself, a borrowed German Christian term that was transformed into a deeply Jewish one.