Case Study, N.Y.C.:
The Flipside of Israeli-Diaspora Relations
By Uriel Heilman

When Radio City Music Hall in New York City opened its doors last spring for Israel’s Independence Day concert, there was no shortage of Israelis pushing to get into the star-studded, Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration.

Israelis from throughout the New York metropolitan area turned out for the gala, which showcased Israeli-born Hollywood actress Natalie Portman; American-Jewish Chasidic reggae phenom Matisyahu; French-Israeli singing sensation Yael Naim; Israeli world-music star Idan Raichel; and American musicians Paul Shaffer and John Zorn.
The evening symbolized a rare show of togetherness for American Jews and Israelis in New York, both on the stage and in the audience. Though they share the same city and religion, the two groups rarely intermingle.

“American Jewish life has developed its own American way of living and, in Israel they’ve evolved an Israeli orientation,” says David Borowich, founder of Dor Chadash, the American-Israeli group that helped put together the concert. “How many third cousins are you close to?”

New York is the Diaspora’s most Israeli city, evident from the proliferation of newsstands that stock Israeli dailies to hummus restaurants that have cropped up around the city to the Hebrew-speaking moving companies that troll Manhattan’s streets.

But Israelis in the Diaspora are far less evident at the communal institutions associated with American Jewry: synagogues, Jewish community centers, day schools, and Jewish federations. This is problematic on both sides of the divide, observers say.

If Israelis living in the United States do not maintain a Jewish connection, they— and, in particular, their children—are at greater risk of losing their Jewish identity and drifting away from the Jewish state. For American Jews, the Israeli community in the United States represents an opportunity to strengthen connections to Israelis and Israeli culture without actually going to Israel.

“It’s in Israel’s strategic interest to keep the Israelis who are in the Diaspora close and connected to Israel,” Borowich says. “The second question in parallel is: When an American Jew comes back from Israel, how does he stay connected? How do you sustain an American Jew’s passion for Israel when they’re not actually visiting?”

Israeli Culture Binds
One of the most successful strategies for bridging the gap, Borowich has found, is bringing the two groups closer together over their shared interest in Israeli culture. His group, Dor Chadash, organizes concerts, film screenings, and parties in New York—all designed to foster relationships between Israeli and American Jews, and between Jews and the Jewish homeland.

Moishe Rosenfeld, one of the producers of the Radio City concert and a booking agent for Israeli artists in the United States, says the strategy works. He has seen Israeli musicians’ bookings skyrocket.

“I see on a regular basis Israeli artists come and break records here,” he says. “There’s this synthesis of American and Israeli young people in New York, and there’s a really active synergy between their lives and Israel. Cultural events like Israeli concerts have a wide and broad appeal.”

Rosenfeld says American Jews and teenagers are drawn to groups like Dag Nachash and Subliminal—citing two Israeli rap groups, the former of which is featured in “You don’t Mess With the Zohan,” Adam Sandler’s recent movie about a Mossad agent turned hair stylist.

“The fact that there are these amazing rappers who have Hebrew as their main language is very appealing to young American Jews,” Rosenfeld says. “I don’t remember that ever happening [before].”

For Israel, cultural events like concerts are also a way to showcase a “softer” side of the Jewish state, beyond the political, religious, and ideological conflicts many American Jews—and Israelis—find alienating. It’s also a gateway that brings unaffiliated Israelis and American Jews into greater engagement with Israel, each other, and Jewish life.
“These types of events appeal to people who might otherwise not be drawn to other Jewish community events,” Borowich says. “In a non-threatening, apolitical way, it’s a great way to connect to Israel. There is a hunger to connect to Israel, and the challenge is to satisfy that and give people a meaningful way to connect.”

That hunger is evident in the growing audiences for Israeli cultural performances in New York. Those audiences are comprised both of American Jews and Israelis living in the Big Apple.

An overflow crowd turned out this summer for Central Park’s Summerstage concert featuring Yael Naim, whose catchy tune in last spring’s MacBook Air TV commercial propelled her to near the top of the iTunes download charts. At the Israeli film festival in New York last winter, queues stretched around the block as freezing moviegoers lined up for sold-out screenings. Even Israeli authors such as the enigmatic Etgar Keret are filling the seats at readings in New York.

After one recent Israeli musical performance in New York, featuring the U.S. debut of singer-songwriter Din Din Aviv, fans lined up after the show to pose for pictures with the diminutive brunette singer.

In the line, Israeli and American Jews could be heard jabbering in a mix of Israeli-accented English and American-accented Hebrew. “My God, I miss Israel,” one concert-goer said.

That was exactly the point.

This story is a follow-up to the Israel and the Diaspora story in the summer issue of the magazine, which is available online at: www.bnaibrith.org/magazines.