Film Academy Rabbi Remembers 40 Years of Membership

I feel so proud when I read my news. the hollywood reporter About young people of the most diverse ethnicities who enter the wonderful world of cinema. Last month, nearly 400 people, many from the Asian, African-American and Latino communities, were inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Not a few of them faced hardship, discrimination and intolerance, but they persevered and can now be proud members of the film industry’s most prestigious organization.

I know the feeling well.

I was born on the Lower East Side in 1939. My parents were born in Europe and were lucky enough to come to this country before the Holocaust, unlike other members of our family who were killed by the Nazis. We lived in projects near East River Drive. Years later, after graduation, I was ordained an Orthodox rabbi and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, as a rabbi at Congregation Shara Tzedek, and then to Los Angeles with my wife. We came to the West in 1977. A year later, we founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Before the center opened, our former board member, Esther Cohen, took a guest to see a slide show that was supposed to tell the story of the Holocaust. The visitor looked intently at the six slide projectors on the far wall, then came to me and said, “Rabbi, I hope you don’t mind my telling you, but this won’t work. When visitors start arriving, they want to get closer to the photos and this will block the projection for others. I think it would be much better to ditch the projectors and focus on making a documentary that can be seen up close and in the distance without interruption.”

I nodded, and after a few minutes I turned to Esther and whispered, “Everyone has their own opinion. Who is this lady?” Esther looked at me in disbelief and said:this lady is Faye Kanin, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.” I’m sure I blushed when I realized that Mrs. Kanin was probably right.

Of course, we took our projectors back and started shooting the documentary that eventually became GenocideDirected by Arnold Schwartzman and, through the mediation of Frank Sinatra, an early proponent of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, narrated by Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles. If that wasn’t enough, the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary in early 1982, becoming the first Holocaust film to receive such a high honor. And then, later that year, the icing on the cake: a letter from Faye Kanin inviting me to become a member of the Academy.

This year marks 40 years since I joined the Academy. I understand that I am the only rabbi nominated for an Oscar, and for the past four decades I have never missed an opportunity.

Since I became a member of the Academy, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and its Museum of Tolerance have grown to more than 7.5 million people, including four US Presidents, six Prime Ministers of the State of Israel and leaders. The Arab world, as well as my association with the film industry, through which I was lucky enough to meet stars like Gal Gadot and Tom Cruise, whom my wife and I hosted for Saturday dinners at our house, and leaders like Jeffrey Katzenberg. . , Ron Mayer, Jim Giannopoulos, Bob Iger, Ted Sarandos and Jonathan Dolgen, who were the Center’s main supporters.

In addition, the center’s film division, Moriah Films, overseen by my colleague and co-producer Rick Trank, produced 17 films, including another documentary about the Holocaust that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary. a long way home.

I vividly remember the 1997 Oscars, when Robert De Niro opened the envelope and announced that a long way home won After writer Mark Jonathan Harris and I took our statues dedicated to “Holocaust survivors who rose from the ashes, rebuilt their lives, and helped create the state of Israel,” I and I went backstage. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon passed, about to take the stage as presenters. Lemon looked at me, Oscar in hand, and blurted out, “Walter, they have to change the rules! Once upon a time you had to go to a good acting school to win an Oscar; Now it seems that all you have to do is go to a good yeshiva. [rabbinical school]!”

Although Lemon was joking, I think that’s the new message from Hollywood: be proud of your ethnicity, your identity and your beliefs. Always remember that there is only one planet Earth and it is our responsibility to strengthen it by rejecting hatred and intolerance and creating lasting works that we can pass on to future generations. That, my friends, I would do Worldwide Oscar worthy.

Rabbi Marvin Hier is the founder and leader of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, its Museum of Tolerance and Moriah Films division. Moria’s last film, Never Stop Dreaming: The Life and Legacy of Shimon PeresIt is currently streaming on Netflix in 190 countries and is watched by millions around the world.