20 June 20 • 2019
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of different groups but demanded
participants display no Jewish stars.
Berman and a friend decided to
attend and to display Jewish symbols.
When she shared that idea with
another friend, a talented public rela-
tions expert, he said, “You can’
t do
it that way as two people. You need
a social media presence, an Internet
presence, a logo, a title, an organiza-
tional name. You need to show up in
numbers.”
He came up with the name
Zioness. “It feels exactly right to me,”
Berman said.
He arranged this in a few days. “It
turned out that a lot of people felt
the way I did, feeling excluded from
causes that matters to them because
of anti-Semitism.”
Though Zioness began with activ-
ities, in August of 2017 it began to
form chapters. “We quickly grew to
28 chapters,” she said. “We need more
professional staff to keep track of all
our activities.”
All sorts of progressive causes
now are infected with anti-Semitism,
according to Berman. When non-
Jews explain that they are anti-Zion-
ist, not anti-Semitic, we need to chal-
lenge their assumptions. No one has
standing to tell black Americans what
anti-Black rhetoric is legitimate; so,
too, no one should have the standing
to tell Jews what anti-Semitic rhetoric
is legitimate. “We need to reclaim
Zionism as a progressive value.”
Rabbi Emeritus David Nelson of
Beth Shalom said, “Ms. Berman . . .
is a visionary and an important new
voice in our polarized U.S. world.”
Sheyna Wexelberg-Clouser of Oak
Park said, “I found Amanda Berman
to be an inspirational speaker. She
starkly described how anti-Semitism
has taken root in the political left.
She also spoke passionately about the
need for pro-Israel Jews to be present
and fight for our right to participate
in the dialogue and not allow our-
selves to be shut out.
“She made me aware that we can-
not be passive and abandon the caus-
es that we feel strongly about because
those who are pro-Palestinian have so
effectively changed the paradigm.” ■
For details on the Zioness Movement, go to
zioness.org.
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Community Film & Conversation
on Racism and White Supremacy
Join the Lenore Marwil Detroit
Jewish Film Festival, Haddassah
Greater Detroit and Anti-Defamation
League Michigan for a screening
of the Academy Award-winning
short film Skin beginning at 2 p.m.
Sunday, June 23, at the JCC in West
Bloomfield.
In a small supermarket in a
blue-collar town, a black man smiles
at a 10-year-old white boy across
the checkout aisle. This innocuous
moment sends two gangs into a ruth-
less war that ends with a shocking
backlash. Note: This film includes
violent content.
Following the screening of this
short film, join a panel discussion
featuring: Moderator, Bankole
Thompson (Detroit News); Guy
Nattiv (director); Jaime Newman
(producer); Daryle Lamont Jenkins
(production designer; founder of
One People’
s Project); and Rev.
Kenneth James Flowers (senior
pastor, Greater New Mount Moriah
Missionary Baptist Church).
Free and open to the public.
Light refreshments will be served.
Registration requested. More infor-
mation and registration at jccdet.org/
skin or (248) 432-5459.
Central High School Shabbat at CSZ
Graduates of Detroit’
s Central High School from the years 1941-1955 are
invited to the Central High School Shabbat at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield on June 22 at 9 a.m.
Shabbat morning services offer a participatory, clergy-led service, a trien-
nial Torah reading, a sermon and songs of the Musaf service with keyboard
accompaniment. Following services, everyone will join for a festive Shabbat
lunch.
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