Dying Before You Die: Writing the Play ‘kaddish (how to be a sanctuary)’
January 25, 2026
A play, written by two products of Reconstructing Judaism, calls to us to speak across generational differences.
Sam Sherman (he/him/they) is an actor, director, writer, producer and the playwright-performer of the Bobby Award-winning play kaddish (how to be a sanctuary), directed by and co-created with Lila Weitzner and produced in collaboration with Purp Door Productionz. It had its world premiere at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Sam is a proud beneficiary of the District’s vibrant arts scene, having trained for several years as a student with the Studio Theater Young Actors Conservatory, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and Folger Shakespeare Library before graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the School of Drama at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2020 under dean Scott Zigler. He has also taken his education abroad, engaging in specialized training with the British American Drama Academy and Kristin Linklater Voice Centre in the United Kingdom; from 2021-22, Sam completed a William R. Kenan Jr. Fellowship with Lincoln Center Education, focusing on honing his skills as a teaching artist in New York City.
Sam has also remained active in Jewish life, developing passions for Jewish history, historiography, politics and mysticism that would come to drive much of his artistic work. These interests were nurtured during his upbringing at Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Bethesda, Md., and over the summers at Camp Havaya (formerly JRF) in Pennsylvania, which he attended for many years as a camper and where he worked briefly as a camp counselor.
Bridging his experiences as a student coordinator with UNCSA’s Artists of Color collective and assisting mutual aid projects in D.C. during the George Floyd uprisings, Sam has been involved with various organizations associated with the Palestine Solidarity Movement and broader Jewish left since moving to New York in 2021, including Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, and the Ridgewood Tenants Union. Meanwhile, Sam has also balanced his theater artistry with working as a nonfiction specialist for Ruth’s Bookstore at the Center for Jewish History and is a contributor to the neo-Bundist online publication Der Spekter.
Since 2024, Sam has taken part in protective presence initiatives with the Center for Jewish Nonviolence. A member of CJNV’s 2026 Hineinu cohort, he is presently working with Palestinian and Israeli organizers in the Masafer Yatta region of the occupied West Bank, aiding endeavors to defend Palestinian communities from state-sanctioned Jewish supremacist violence. He is also currently preparing to perform kaddish at the 2026 Prague Fringe Festival in the Czech Republic, slated for May 2026.
A play, written by two products of Reconstructing Judaism, calls to us to speak across generational differences.
Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement
Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis
Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues
Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives
