8 | The Jewish Press | November 5, 2021
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We need to set the bar higher
ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT Jewish Press Editor A few weeks ago, I ranted on this page about novelist Rooney, who wouldn’t let her novel be represented by an Israeli company. Every once in a while, we need to be reminded there are people out there who are not antisemites. Wednesday October 26, “more than 200 celebrities signed an open letter opposing efforts to boycott an LGBTQ film festival in Tel Aviv. The letter is a response to calls from activists with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to boycott the Tel Aviv International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, also called TLVFest, an annual film festival showcasing LGBTQ films that was founded in 2006. The letter was organized by Creative Community for Peace, an organization of entertainment industry professionals that works to counter cultural boycotts against Israel.” (Shira Hanau, JTA) First things first: who or what is ‘Creative Community for Peace?’ Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) is a nonprofit entertainment industry organization comprised of prominent members of the entertainment community who have come together to promote the arts as a bridge to peace, to counter antisemitism within the entertainment industry, and to galvanize support against the cultural boycott of Israel. According to their website, the CCFP was founded in 2012 “by David Renzer and Steve Schnur and is comprised of members of the entertainment industry who have come together to promote the arts as a means to peace, to support
artistic freedom, and believe in artists and their ability to affect lives and effect change.” Affecting lives and effecting change is certainly something any cultural event in Israel will do, for better or for worse. Either it will increase understanding, or it will bring the haters out of hiberna-
tion. The intersection between LGBTQ+ activism and anti-Zionism, unfortunately, is its own warzone (don’t attend the Dyke march with a mogen David on your pride flag; you’ll be kicked out). It’s all good and well if one wants to support the LGBTQ+ community, but not if members of that community live in Israel I guess? Do they know where Tel Aviv is on the map? Never mind—let me not go down that road. Back to the CCFP and that petition they’re asking
people to sign. “In Israel, movies have the unique power to bring together Jews, Arabs, and people of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds in collaboration under a shared love of the arts, working together towards the common goal of telling their stories, and building bridges of compassion and understanding,” the letter reads. Right there. The phrase ‘bring together’ is what’s central to this whole discussion. When BDS decides to boycott, they do so in the hope the entire event is canceled. That is divisive on a few different levels. It hurts the potential audience, which in Israel is by definition diverse. It takes away the artists’ ability to connect with their audience, which in turn affects their artistic muscles. It cuts off the opportunity of audience members to connect with each other. Anyone who has ever attended any type of cultural festival, whether it is film or music or visual arts, knows you connect with strangers fast when you both love the same thing. Art is its own language and it often allows us to communicate more clearly than were we to use words. So, having that petition is a good thing. I signed it too. But being so hungry for any kind of validation that I’m actually excited that Neil Patrick Harris signed that letter is a little troublesome. We’re getting crumbs and we’re supposed to be happy with it. Enough already. I’m done being grateful when someone decides to not be antisemitic. Can we set the bar a little higher?
Snowstorms, bears and Stars of David RABBI ABRAM GOODSTEIN JTA I grew up Jewish in Alaska. The Jewish community in Anchorage, the city where I grew up, did things their own Jewish way. It was the only kind of Judaism that I knew. For example, I used to think that everyone had their bar or bat mitzvah during the summer, because in Alaska, anyway, that was the best time to invite relatives. Later, of course, I encountered many forms of Judaism. I have lived in Jerusalem. I have worshipped and worked at Jewish communities too small for a synagogue and congregations with over 1,500 families. All these experiences convinced me to become a rabbi. But I would have never predicted that, after ordination at Hebrew Union CollegeJewish Institute of Religion in 2017, I would come back to my hometown as a rabbi. I now officiate at b’nai mitzvah in the very sanctuary where I received mine. As a lover of nature and someone who has grown to appreciate Judaism in smaller cities and towns, I feel Alaska is a great place to be Jewish. While some may think it’s distant and cold, I have always found it cozy and welcoming. Except when it isn’t. This past year, as our state officials and politicians decide on how to best fight COVID, we saw an uptick of people comparing health mandates to the Holocaust. During a contentious Assembly meeting on mandating masks in Anchorage, protesters against mask mandates started wearing yellow stars of David, appropriating the Holocaust and the Nazis’ genocide against the Jewish people. Anchorage’s mayor at one point even exclaimed that the Alaskan Jewish community would support these protesters’ message. A small community of some 4,500 people, far from the large centers of Jewish life, might have been expected to let this go. Or perhaps grumble among ourselves and let “outsiders” object for us. Instead, at a hearing on masks in September, one of my congregants, State Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar, read a letter I had written. “It was heartwrenching for me when I noticed individuals were wearing yellow Stars of David, mimicking my Jewish ancestors who perished during the Holocaust,”
he read, quoting me. “For myself and most Jews, and yet we are surrounded by mikveh possibilities. seeing the yellow Star of David on someone’s chest Every one of Alaska’s 3 million lakes are pristine, elicits the same feeling as seeing a swastika on a and most of them are remote. Every summer I flag or the SS insignia on a uniform. I believe it is a ready laminated mikveh prayer cards for Jewish constitutional right to protest for your values. But Alaskans who wish to enjoy a mikveh experience I request that you do not use symbols that diminish against the incredible backdrop of rugged mounthe 6 million Jews who were murdered during the tains and emerald green forests. Holocaust.” The mayor apologized the next day, thanks to the work of a confident Jewish community that showed him how hurtful his remarks were for Alaskan Jews. Our confidence comes with deep roots. In 1900, a community of 60 Jews celebrated Rosh Hashanah in Nome using a Torah brought by Sam Bayles, a Latvian immigrant who sought his fortune in the Alaska Gold Rush. The Bayles Torah stayed in Nome until after World War A moose pays a visit to the grounds of Congregation Beth Sholom in I, when it was moved slightly Anchorage, Alaska, May 17, 2018. Credit: Margie Bauman, Congregation south (537 miles) to my congre- Beth Sholom gation, Congregation Beth Sholom in Anchorage, Most people’s Jewish experience, I imagine, come where it remains today alongside other Torah from a connection to Jewish institutions, Jewish scrolls with their own uniquely Alaskan histories. professionals and Jewish friends. My Jewish expeTheir stories are much the same as the story of riences seem always to be nestled among the splenhow Jews came to Alaska. Whether through a pio- dor of God’s creations. neering spirit, a sense of amazement or a need to The dispute over Holocaust analogies and its resconnect with tradition in the farthest North, Jews olution was a great reminder that Jews in Alaska have been coming to Alaska since before it was are a part of, not apart from, Alaska. We are not an even a state. isolated shtetl, but rather working members of the I often feel that Jews in the lower 48 consider Ju- Alaskan community. There are several current daism in Alaska to be diminished due to its isolation Alaskan Jewish lawmakers, and we have been repand its limited population. We certainly have our resented in state leadership all the way back to the own unique problems here. Starting Shabbat is a dif- framing of the Alaska Constitution. Prior to the ficult venture when our sunsets are swinging from current Anchorage mayor’s hurtful comments, light most of the night to dark most of the day. Moose three of the city’s previous mayors were Jewish. get in our sukkahs, and snowstorms and bears have We love this place, and we support it in every way prevented us from coming or leaving shul. we can. However, I believe that Judaism is beautiful here. Rabbi Abram Goodstein is the rabbi of ConThis is not a place where Judaism just survives, but gregation Beth Sholom in Anchorage, Alaska a place where Judaism thrives. We have our own and the co-host of the podcast What Divines Us. special Alaskan way of being Jewish. The views and opinions expressed in this article are For example, our community, which has 160 fam- those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the ily members, has no formal mikveh, or ritual bath, views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
