And perhaps pose a few of its own.
“As Israelis, we get the feeling that some American Jews, particularly the older generation, want Israel to be like ‘Exodus,’ with Paul Newman fighting for independence,” said Donny Inbar, the cultural affairs officer of the Consulate General of Israel in San Francisco.
“But there have been a lot of changes in Israeli culture in the past couple of decades.”
Many of those changes will be addressed during the event — the fourth annual Western States Conference on Israel-U.S. Cultural Ties.
This is the first time the event will be held in the Bay Area. The conference will include lectures, panels and workshops as well as performances by Israeli and Jewish American entertainers.
The conference will also provide a showcase for Israeli artistic talent and examine how to promote Israeli cultural events in the Bay Area, Inbar said.
The event takes place Sunday and Monday, April 2 and 3 at the Seven Hills Conference Center at San Francisco State University. In conjunction with the event, Israeli pop stars Gidi Gov, Danny Sanderson and Mazi Cohen will perform April 2 at Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco.
The conference is a collaboration between the S.F.-based Israel Center, the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State, the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity in Los Angeles.
“Israel today has a lot less Ashkenazi culture and a lot more Mizrahi culture,” Inbar said, discussing the influence of Mideastern and North African Jews. “Popular music is dominated by people like [the late] Ofra Haza [who was Yemenite], and Rita [an Iranian]. In Israel, they’re among the leading artists, but over here, they’re classified as ‘world music,’ or ‘exotic music.’
“When I left Israel two and a half years ago,” Inbar continued, “what I wanted more than anything was vintage Israeli music. It’s what really makes me feel at home and relaxed. It’s something that Israelis relate to…something that unites us.”
Then he added in jest, “Maybe it’s like the effect ‘I Love Lucy,’ has for American audiences.”
The existence of a distinct Jewish American culture — which doesn’t need to rely on Israel to define itself — will be discussed at the conference by Sam Edelman, a professor of Jewish studies at Chico State University.
Edelman, the director of the Modern Jewish and Israel Studies program at Chico, said that American Jewish culture is undergoing a renaissance.
Although he noted that he only recently received the topic for discussion — and consequently will be “winging it” — Edelman said that the event contained much food for thought.
“Are the two cultures closely tied, or going off in separate directions?” asked Edelman. Noting that both Israel and U.S. Jewish culture is becoming more “root-oriented,” Edelman said the argument could go either way.
“Organizations like A Traveling Jewish Theatre and RebbeSoul have made a case for an American Jewish culture,” Edelman said. “I think they’re on the forefront of an artistic movement dealing with Jewish roots.”
What’s really exciting, Edelman said, “is that instead of examining Israel from a geopolitical viewpoint, we can examine it from a cultural viewpoint, and I think that discussion is really exciting.”
Vavi Toran, the director of cultural and educational resources at the Israel Center, sees the debate differently.
“Israel, as a central part of American Jewish identity, is not as prominent as it used to be, in my opinion,” Toran said.
Saying that some of the factors could be that Israel is less dependent on U.S. dollars and the Holocaust is receding deeper in people’s memories, Toran opined that Israel may be slipping on American Jewry’s cultural radar screen.
“There is no feeling that anything could truly endanger Jewish survival in United States,” Toran said, “which is, of course, a wonderful thing.” But Toran noted that as a byproduct, “Israeli culture may be forgotten a bit” because of a diminished importance of the Jewish state as a mythical safe haven.
And that’s unfortunate, according to Toran, because Israeli culture can build bridges.
“We’re reclaiming our heritage,” Toran said. “In the past, anything that smelled like the diaspora was not something we wanted to experience. The language [of choice] wasn’t Yiddish, it was Hebrew.
“Now,” Toran continued, “we’re not shying away from the extensive body of cultural richness that has marked the diaspora.”
Inbar summed up the aspirations of the conference by saying it could be an opportunity for the two cultures to unite.
“We have to make the two branches of Judaism unite and evolve together,” Inbar said “The question is are we cousins who are best friends, or who just see each other at weddings and funerals?”