And There Was Light

“In Hollywood, we say representation matters. In the religious Jewish world, we believe that kiddush Hashem is one of the most holy acts we can engage in — sanctifying God’s name when Jews are positively represented,” said “Jew in the City” founder and executive director Allison Josephs at the Second Jewish Media Awards, held at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City last week. 

“Jew in the City” began as a YouTube channel in 2005 to combat negative representations of Jews in the media. In 2021, Josephs launched the Jewish Institute for Television & Cinema (JITC) Hollywood Bureau to champion authentic and nuanced portrayals of Jews, Judaism and Israel. 

“In Hollywood’s world of narrative story change, we do this work because we believe in the intrinsic value of every human being. In religious Jewish terms, we say that everyone was created b’tzelem Elokim — made in God’s image and deserving of dignity,” said Josephs.

But the state of antisemitism in the world today is “placing the Jewish community in the most precarious position in our lifetimes. Since Oct. 7, Jews have been getting beaten down on social media and in mainstream media, constantly being told how awful we are. The Jewish Media Awards is a chance to bask in the richness of our heritage.” 

As well, “celebrating great Jewish representation in Hollywood gives us the opportunity to make a tangible impact on how Hollywood depicts Jews moving forward.” 

This year’s honorees include Sheryl Sandberg’s “Screams before Silence”; Netflix’s “Fauda” and “Jewish Matchmaking”; FX’s “The Patient”; Amazon’s “Destination NBA: A G League Odyssey”; David Baddiel’s documentary, “Jews Don’t Count”; and Yariv Mozer, writer and director of the Nova Music Festival documentary “We Will Dance Again.” Daniel Posner was given the inaugural Lion of Israel Award on behalf of his work with the organization Athletes for Israel, and Ari Sacher won an All Star Award for being lead engineer on Israel’s Iron Dome Missile Defense System.

“The power of storytelling has never been more critical,” said “Fauda”’s Doron Ben-David. “On Oct. 7, we saw unspeakable horrors. Yet, in the midst of this darkness, shows like ours continue to shine a light on the truth, on our resilience, and on our humanity. May we continue to tell these stories with the honor and authenticity they deserve. And may we all see the hostages return to their homes and families where they belong.”

Upon accepting her award for “Screams Before Silence,” Sandberg said, “this is a film that I so deeply wish never had to be made. But we knew we had to bring these testimonials to the world to make sure no one ever forgets what happened on that tragic day, and to show the threat that Jews, Israel and the free world face from terrorist groups like Hamas.”

“Jewish Matchmaking”’s Aleeza Ben Shalom also took a moment to remember the 101 hostages still held captive by Hamas in Gaza. “At a Jewish wedding, we have a huge celebration, but before we go to the party and have the true simcha, we stand there, and we break the glass,” she told the crowd. “We take a moment to mourn, to remember the [destroyed] Temple. We’re not complete. We still have hostages. We still have a broken Jewish people and a broken world.”

Josephs talked about the eternal resonance of John Lennon’s “Imagine”: “It speaks about people living life in peace and the world being as one,” she said. “This is not so different from Yemos HaMoshiach, the days of redemption, which Jewish tradition teaches will be when the world will live as one and be at peace.

“How do we get to this place of oneness? With increased Jewish pride, commitment, unity, and kiddush Hashem. Hollywood could be the conduit to bringing about that pride and unity we speak of and dream of.”

“How do we get to this place of oneness? With increased Jewish pride, commitment, unity, and kiddush Hashem. Hollywood could be the conduit to bringing about that pride and unity we speak of and dream of.” – Allison Josephs

Is it merely a coincidence that so many boycott and discriminatory efforts have been focused on the arts? I’ve never thought so. Jews are indeed commanded to create light, and we’re actually really good at it. Our enemies don’t like that, in part because one can’t create light if one’s soul is filled with hate. Perhaps the next stage of JITC is to teach this message to those who want to destroy us.

Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor in chief of White Rose Magazine.