On this day, 15 September 1888, the first ever Yom Kippur ball was held in London, England. It was organised by local Jewish anarchists through the East End Yiddish newspaper Arbayter Fraynd (Worker’s Friend), and was intended as an explicity anti-religious gathering in an area populated largely by Jewish immigrants.
Billed as a dinner with lectures and recitations followed by singing and dancing, support was drummed in the day before under the slogan “Down with superstition! Long live the spirit of freedom!”.
There was an exceptionally high turnout and despite numerous attempts to disrupt the gathering leading to the police making several arrests, the 24-hour event was seen as a victory. Yom Kippur balls were subsequently organised by Jewish radicals elsewhere in cities like New York and Montréal.
Learn more about Yiddish-speaking revolutionaries at this time in this book: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/products/revolutionary-yiddishland-a-history-of-jewish-radicalism-alain-brossat-and-sylvia-klingberg
Pictured: members of Arbayter Fraynd in London, 1912 https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1808017586050050/?type=3
