Molly Rae (Yonii) Bock joined Kolot with her mother at the age of 4, and 28 years later, she is still an active member. Yonii first experienced Kolot when it was a weekly gathering in people’s homes and she was there as it evolved into the community it is today. When Yonii moved back to Brooklyn with her newborn, she began attending services. She brought her son with her to services, as her mom had done with her, and this encouraged others to bring their newborns as well. Yonii’s perspective changed when she became a parent and she started to see the cracks within Kolot. She became the co-chair of both the Race Working Group and the Membership Committee. Yonii worked to obtain a grant that hired consultants to advise Kolot on where it was as a community in terms of being antiracist. The results were pretty harsh and Yonii did outreach and held an open event with the community. She is proud of the conversation that she facilitated and continues to do extensive work with the raceworking group. Yonii currently resides in Maine and is the co-owner of a lash company, manager at a beauty supply store, gas station employee, and attending school to get her aesthetic license. She loves being a mom and tries to spend as much time around her son as she can!
In this interview, Yonii Bock, 32, discusses her lifelong membership with Kolot Chayeinu: Voices of Our Lives, which has spanned three generations of her family and persisted through physical distance and the pandemic. Bock discusses being biracial in an all-white family, and being a Jew of color at a predominantly white, Ashkenazi synagogue. She describes her roles as co-chair of the Race Working Group and the Membership Committee, as well as her hopes for the future of Kolot. Bock reflects upon the community and relationships formed through Kolot, and the role Kolot has played in finding her own identity as a person and a mother.
“Chosen family.” Yonii discusses the “magic” of relationships made at Kolot.
“I just want to tell the truth.” Yonii describes the atmosphere at Kolot after receiving the report back from the Organizational Racial Equity consultation, and the decision to speak at the annual meeting.
“They know how to throw a great party.” Yonii reflects on why she loves being co-chair of the Membership Committee.