Connecting With Your Heritage
A few months back, I went to see a play that a few friends were doing. It was a reading actually, just trying to get the show on its feet. It was a show called "A Letter to Harvey Milk." I had no idea what it was about.
It turns out it was a really touching Jewish story about two people; a man who had survived the Holocaust and refused to tell his story to anyone, and a young Jewish writer who was trying to find out as much about her heritage as possible. These two meet in a JCC writing class where the young girl convinces the older man to write down his memories and his story. He ends up writing about the Holocaust and his subsequent friendship with Harvey Milk.
As a reading, it could use some work. As an idea, it's phenomenal. The younger generations are looking to genealogy websites and library textbooks to find out where they come from. I think it's important for the older generations to share their culture, to tell their stories, to write Jewish literature, share their recipes and teach what they know.
The young girl in the reading expressed a deep desire to learn Yiddish. When the older man scoffed, called it a dead language and asked her why, she replied that she wanted to get closer to her past. This idea is something that we can all associate with regardless of religious affiliation or ethnic background.
On a personal level, I learned Gaelic at my grandmother's knee and I can't tell you how much that has meant to me over the years. To teach someone the tongue of their forefathers, to share with them the stories and the hardships that they faced, is to bring them closer to their past.
I feel this is exceptionally strong in religious communities like Judaism who have faced such trying times. Even though the Holocaust stories may be painful, hurtful, and graphic (to say the least), they are important to a modern day self-worth as a community. These stories of the past and of heritage are a rallying point for a proud younger generation. They are the banner under which they gather to talk about their culture which they want to keep alive, despite some of the older generation's assertions that it is dying out.
"A Letter to Harvey Milk" might not win the Tony anytime soon, but it gave me a lot to think about. It made me marvel at the bonds of community, culture, and pride that the Jewish community possess and the importance of passing on those Jewish stories to the next generation.
About the Author
"I Sleep In Hitler's Room" is a Jewish story of an American political dramatist and journalist traveling today's Germany and the modern anti-Semitism he faces. For more information, visit the blog at http://www.isleepinhitlersroom.com
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