The Gays have Pride Weekend; the Blacks have something similar. Why not a Jewish Pride thing? Let’s have a big party where it’s cool to be Jewish, celebrate what we have in common and give people an opportunity to learn more about their heritage. This would be a mix of elements of the UK’s Limmud Program and what L’Chayim does best. Anyone who stages such a program will build lots of contacts in the metropolitan communal affairs community and immediately gain international recognition in the Jewish world and beyond.
Best way to describe it is to outline it. This assumes a weekend before summer time returns and stays away from Shabbat because it is murderous to organize big things over Shabbat, especially first time around. This event assumes a turnout of between 1,500 and 2,000 people at $100 a ticket (no rationale behind the price at this point except that it seems what the market will bear) to be run on a break-even basis and the utilization of 500 hotel rooms and the facilities of a major hotel such as a Hyatt (hotel rooms cost extra for those who want them).
Saturday Night
Saturday 8pm: Entertainment Festival — a dozen different entertainment options to choose from. Wander as you like. Mix of various types of music and performance art drawn from spectrum of Jewish entertainment. People register and check-in as they arrive beginning at 7pm.
10pm: Kickoff Extravaganza: A really big show with song, dance, video, etc. produced for the occasion. Meant to celebrate what Jews contribute to the world and what we inherit such as: Monotheism, Ten Commandments, Hebrew Language, Israel. Something you walk out of and feel great about. I don’t something like this has ever been done before. Once produced, it could tour.
11pm: Choose between workshops on some kind of educational topic, other entertainment options or cocktail party (all events non-alcoholic with an obvious eye toward security and decorum).
Sunday
From 9am to 6pm, about a dozen options each 90 minutes (figure about 6 periods total or 72 slots) featuring lectures, debates and performance art on all kinds of Jewish subjects. Boxed meals available to pick up during meal times. Certain slots to be dedicated toward higher volume attendance items and thus reduce amount of choices at that time period. Here’s a list of some selected sessions held at the Limmud Conference in Manchester, England in 1997: Jewish Life in New Orleans during the Civil War; Genetic Theory Related to the Rise of Modern Orthodoxy; the Jews of Kaifeng China (14th century); South African Jewry today; Liturgical Music of 19th century
Germany; Exegesis of the story of David and Batsheva; 25 years since the death of Rabbi Heschel; A Millennia of Illuminated Jewish Manuscripts; Life for One’s Grandmother in early 20th century Britain; performances by klezmer band, Greek-Jewish ballad singer, Israeli-Palestinian storytelling
troupe; and one-on-one guided study session of classical religious texts (ie: Bible, Talmud).
Sunday evening: Another big show but done as a mainstage cabaret with areas in the ballroom for sitting and/or dancing. Every 15 minutes or so another act so that in 2-3 hours you have seen a lot and the audience doesn’t look to leave. Educational opportunities continue in the evening for those who don’t want entertainment and overflow cocktail parties in side areas (perhaps with closed circuit video feeds from the mainstage). One of these cocktail parties can be oriented toward sponsors with face-time between them and entertainers.
Monday Morning
Educational programs continue in the morning till lunchtime. A breakfast or lunch with a good number of VIP’s from the Jewish community introducing themselves and their organizations — a chance for people to get an impression of those who claim to represent them. Also perhaps a non-Jewish VIP or two giving his endorsement of the Jewish contribution to the world.
An exhibition of various movements and opportunities in the Jewish World in a side hall for those who want to visit it. Exhibitors pay a fee to exhibit.
This is best if done over a holiday weekend. Otherwise, the fair takes place on Sunday afternoon and the event ends Sunday evening. If the Monday morning program is hot enough, I think people will stay for it and go to work late.
Some Details
I have no idea what the Financials and Logistics are in terms of organizing and staging such an event but I suspect that it is not rocket science to find out from people who have done this before (ie: The Eidah conference in the Hyatt last February is a good comparison event). I have to assume though it will take someone a few months of full time work to do this and that person will need to be paid.
For security reasons (and to reduce associated expenses), the promotional value of celebrity might be outweighed in advance by not publicizing names of participants and emphasizing instead the educational and pride-inducing elements of the program. This should be enough to produce sell-out.
Some Mission Statement Thoughts
The idea here is not to become a staging ground for various ideologies to take a whack at indoctrinating the audience, either in the political or religious arena. This event is to appeal to anyone Jewish — observant from birth to unaffiliated, and to let them meet other people, learn something they didn’t know, feel good about being Jewish and find things they share in common.
Forums that deal with hotly contested opinion issues such as the Middle East peace process and Who is a Jew are to be avoided in favor of strictly educational or theoretical situations which focus on teaching knowledge on all levels, informing and stimulating thought. These need not necessarily be mealy-mush. Examples: (i) The David and Bat Sheva Saga: Textual and Historical Analysis. (ii) Challenges to the Divinity of the Bible by Archaeology and Science. (iii) Giving in this Generation: Foundations Challenge the Established Communal Order.
The audience is not restricted by age or Jewish denomination (although I think this should be restricted to a Jewish audience) but an effort should be made to attract and accept a diversified crowd within Judaism. Programming should be constructed in an innovative way to produce events that will bring forth diverse audiences (ie: an Orthodox rabbi speaking on a Talmudic topic will attract a sea of black skullcaps; an Orthodox rabbi discussing the merits of monotheism with a Moslem imam will attract a diverse audience).
I expect that there will be good sponsorship opportunities to underwrite many costs and subsidize some attendees, and that certain organizations such as L’Chayim will be useful in securing the participation of celebrities and bringing to the table innovative ideas for activities constituting such an event. The very fact that such an event is staged will both bring pride to a Jewish community in search of positive forward-looking messages for this generation and will also generate positive images for the rest of the world to see.
Temptations will arise by various factions to attempt to hijack this project to advance their agendas. Past attempts at Jewish unity events (ie: Israel Parade) have run into controversy by virtue of including participation by fringe groups (ie: homosexual organizations). Certain segments of the community do not wish to participate in public activities that appear to give legitimacy to others by virtue of their participation. Sensitive decisions will have to be made to balance these forces and the director of such a project will be as much an arbitrator as organizer. It may be an impossible job.
