My Opening Remarks At JITC’s 2nd Jewish Media Awards

Good evening and welcome to JITC’s 2nd Jewish Media Awards: The Greatest Night in Jewish Representation. Welcome esteemed honorees, presenters, and studio executives joining us here tonight from Disney, Paramount, Amazon, Sony, and Netflix.

The last time we gathered in this prestigious hall for a night of immense Jewish pride was in December 2019. None of us had any idea that, in just a few short months, the world would be coming to an end with COVID. For Jews, our world has ended twice since then, as we pray for 101 hostages to be released. The state of antisemitism in the world today is placing the Jewish community in the most precarious position in our lifetimes. It makes the work that we do here at JITC Hollywood Bureau that much more urgent and necessary.

Jew in the City began as a YouTube channel in 2005 to push back at negative perceptions of Orthodox Jews. The name was inspired by the first scripted YouTube show I heard about called Lonelygirl15. She was a lonely girl who was 15. I was a Jew in the city. In the last 20 years, our name has grown into a deeper meaning. To be a “Jew in the City” is to be able to fully lean into one’s Jewishness with pride and confidence while engaging with the larger world. This is in opposition to a mindset that began during the Enlightenment, when Jews were emancipated from the ghetto on a conditional basis: “Be a Jew in the home, but not on the street” was the refrain of our ancestors. It’s time we put that message to rest once and for all.

JITC Hollywood Bureau came about in a very accidental way. In the entertainment world, you might call it synchronicity. In Judaism, we call it hashgacha pratis, divine providence. In 2021, I learned that the Muslim community had organized a Hollywood Bureau to improve their representation. I had noticed it had been getting better in recent years. I was both in awe and also a little bit jealous of what they had built.

I went onto Instagram to tell our fans that someone should build one for Jews, but when I tried to tag MPAC Hollywood Bureau, I accidentally tagged NAACP Hollywood Bureau. I then Googled “Asian Hollywood Bureau” and discovered CAPE. I suddenly understood that every minority group had been organizing for decades for better representation, and all these groups had four letters. Which was perfect—because JITC became Jewish Institute for Television & Cinema. We came to the space decades behind and severely underfunded. We were out of our league, much like the Maccabees, who we’ll be celebrating during Chanukah in just a few weeks.

Fortunately, we’re not at war, but it is a battle to improve Jewish representation. Like the Maccabees, we jumped right in, trusting that God would provide what we needed. Two and a half years into this journey and looking at this room tonight with Hollywood here as our partners, I am delighted that our audacious dreams have come to fruition, and thrilled that the pre-event nightmares are finally over!

Jew in the City was originally only focused on Orthodox representation, but through our Hollywood Bureau, we began to advocate for the entire Jewish community. What that means at an event like this is that we are gathering one of the most diverse crowds and honorees imaginable. We have Hollywood to Hasidim and everything in between here tonight. In our post-October 7th world, we can’t have it any other way. Jews of all backgrounds must find ways to be under one roof, outside of gas chambers.

I would argue that, despite people usually focusing on what separates us, we have many values in common.

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.

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.

Oscar-winning movies like Barbie tell us that the future is female. As a female-led organization, we love this message. But in religious Jewish speak, we say nashim tzidkaniot will bring about the geula. The righteous women of the generation will bring about the final redemption.

There are many fans in Hollywood of John Lennon’s Imagine—it’s called the anthem of atheists—but it speaks about people living life in peace and the world being as one. This is not so different than Yimos 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.

What entertainment insiders, Hasidim, and everyone in between have probably never considered is that Hollywood could be the conduit to bringing about that pride and unity we speak of and dream of. The stories here tonight will uplift and inspire you. With our work, they will only be the beginning of what we will see on the big screen. Imagine what the future can bring.

Photo by Meir Kruter photography

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