Jewish Cultures Day creates concern, and then pride

It's 9 a.m. on a blustery spring morning in North Oakland. A young Jewish boy with a violin stands in the cool sunlight playing a medley from "Fiddler on the Roof" in front of his entire school.

He plays proudly during Park Day School's annual Cultures Day, a five-year tradition at the school, which focuses on one particular culture "in a very intensive day" each year, said Tom Little, school director for 24 years.

"Our goal is to do something for the kids to gain an appreciation for the beauty and fabric of a culture. We want the kids to take with them a positive association they will carry through their lives."

Yet the decision to focus on Jewish culture last Friday did not come easily. And among those who were uncomfortable at the prospect were some of the Jewish parents.

Each year, the school's diversity committee convenes to decide which culture to feature next. This year's deliberations took on an unexpectedly emotional intensity at the school, which serves a diverse mix of 224 students.

Since 20 percent of Park Day students have at least one Jewish parent, the possibility of a Jewish Cultures Day arose. But the suggestion was greeted with a firestorm of emotions on the part of some Jewish parents.

"Park Day School is a very open, wonderful place for anyone," said Carolyn Cavalier Rosenberg, head of the diversity committee and a parent who has been associated with the school for 10 years. "It's totally committed to diversity. As a Jew, I've always felt comfortable here, yet somehow when this idea came up, we had some questions about doing it."

Those questions ran deep. Even in the supportive environment of the school, some parents found themselves asking, "Do we want to be visible?"

"Most Jews, for most of our lives, have worked on other people's issues," said Rosenberg. "We've worked for civil rights, for feminism, against classism, against homophobia, you name it -- we've worked in the trenches. The sudden prospect of being in the limelight ourselves was uncomfortable for some of us."

Beyond that issue arose an eternal question: Is Judaism a culture or a religion? If it's a religion, Park Day parents and officials asked themselves, would the school then move to adopt Buddhist Cultures Day, Christian Cultures Day, etc.? Some non-Jewish members of the diversity committee suggested Middle Eastern Cultures Day or European Cultures Day, but in each case Jewish committee members felt they did not fit comfortably into those categories.

Facilitators were called in to conduct an all-school meeting on the topic of Cultures Day. An African-American woman and a Jewish woman, cross-cultural psychologists from the Todos Institute in Oakland, led the half-day discussion, which drew a diverse crowd.

"It was incredibly powerful for the whole school to go through this process," said Connie Cronin, a parent. "The depth of feeling came as a surprise to us all. Many of the non-Jewish parents didn't understand why this was so hard for us. It's powerful for a school community to examine imbedded racism, anti-Semitism, even how we turn against ourselves, and do it in an open and supportive atmosphere. We talked about 'passing,' that is physically being able to pass in the larger world as non-Jewish, and about an entrenched awareness of the danger of being Jewish."

Those adult concerns were not evident by the time Jewish Cultures Day rolled around.

"What makes a person Jewish?" Lynn Feinerman, storyteller, singer and filmmaker, asked the children assembled on the playground.

"Bagels?" she asked.

The children laughed.

"I don't think so," she said.

"Belief," called out one child.

"History."

"Matzah."

One little girl blew a shofar. The kids sang "Hinei Mah Tov," then rushed into the warmer confines of their classrooms to hear stories, make tzedakah boxes, and cruise through the "museum," which contained artifacts from Park Day's Jewish families -- kiddush cups, seder plates, menorahs, Hebrew books, mezuzahs and family photos.

Holocaust survivors came to talk to the fifth- and sixth-graders.

An enthusiastic but unscientific survey demonstrated that, for the kids, the heart of Cultures Day is the food.

"My mom was the head of cooking this year," said Emily Friedberg, a 10-year-old fifth grader. "We cooked tons of kugel and challah."

Will Roberts, the 11-year-old fifth grader who played the violin at the opening ceremonies, took a sociological view.

"I think Cultures Days are very important. They change some of the stereotyped ideas you have about certain cultures. Like Native Americans. I only had stupid movie ideas about that culture, like teepees and stuff. I never really appreciated anything about the culture, but now I do. And after today, other kids will feel the same about us. I'm very proud of my Judaism."