Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City is partnering with JCRB|AJC and a handful of other local Jewish organizations to “shine a light on antisemitism” during Hanukkah week and beyond.
The Federation, leveraging a grant from The Jewish Federations of North America, has commissioned an original one-act play dealing with antisemitism, written on demand by a local Jewish playwright. The play will be performed by volunteer teen actors twice during Hanukkah week: an initial performance for the community in the White Theatre on the afternoon of Sunday, November 28 (the first night of Hanukkah) and another performance for Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy students in the Jewish Community Campus social hall on Tuesday, November 30. Staff members from The J and HBHA were eager to partner on and participate in this effort.
After the first two shows, the goal is for the play to be performed in local schools in the following weeks and months to educate the wider community about antisemitism and its harmful effects. To that end, Jewish Federation and JCRB|AJC are working in partnership, and also hope to bring in Jewish Student Union clubs to “host” the play in the schools where these clubs currently exist. JCRB|AJC staff is advising on various components of the project and will lead post-show discussions when possible.
The project came together in a matter of just a few weeks, following an idea that was raised in early October in a Congregation Beth Shalom Polsky Religious School class activity about how to disrupt antisemitism. A group of seventh-graders suggested a traveling play that would go from school to school to educate and spark discussion about antisemitism. A couple of weeks later, the opportunity to seek national grant funding came up, and Jewish Federation was able to secure the funding to advance this student-generated idea. Now, Federation staff hope to involve some of those students as volunteer actors, crew members or promoters.
“Shine A Light On Antisemitism” is a national initiative through the Jewish Federations of North America to raise awareness, share educational resources and empower people to stand against Jew hatred. During Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, the idea is to shine a light on antisemitism “to dispel the darkness in all its forms.” Shining a light includes a widespread social media campaign with opportunities for people to share their own light of support, as well as different events and programs taking place simultaneously during Hanukkah in cities across North America. In Kansas City, that is the original short play.
Community member and playwright Victor Wishna is drafting the script, and is excited about the opportunity to educate through theatre, he says. "Writing a piece of theatre for teens to perform, to educate other teens about a problem as serious and misunderstood as antisemitism, is a challenge, but also an important opportunity I am excited to take on,” Wishna says. “I think connection is the point of theatre, which is the most humanizing art form--it's real people, right there onstage, interacting with the people in the audience."
