Film critic Siskel eulogized as ‘mensch’ and active Jew

JUF News
CHICAGO, Feb. 23 (JTA) — Since the news of Gene Siskel’s death, Chicagoans and people the world over have eulogized him as a master movie critic, a dedicated family man and a modest person whose fame didn’t detract from his friendliness. Yet there is a lesser-known but equally important side to Siskel, one reflected in his Jewish upbringing and his continued observance of and dedication to Judaism and his community. A long-time contributor to the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Siskel, who died Saturday at the age of 53, was an active supporter of Israel and of Jewish educational initiatives. A Chicagoan by birth and by passion, Siskel spent his early childhood in West Rogers Park on Chicago’s North Side, a historically Jewish neighborhood. His parents, Nathan and Ida, passed away when Siskel was very young, and he and his siblings were raised by their mother’s sister and her family in Glencoe, a northern suburb of Chicago. His aunt and uncle were founding members of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, a Conservative synagogue, and it was there that he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. The breastplate on one of the Torahs in use at the synagogue was donated in honor of his Bar Mitzvah. Siskel, whose wife also grew up at Beth El, remained a member, and their daughter celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at the synagogue last month, the last time he was out in public. More than 1,200 people attended his funeral there on Monday, including Oprah Winfrey and his film critic partner and longtime friend, Roger Ebert. Last April, just days before he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, Siskel was master of ceremonies for Chicago’s community-wide celebration of Israel’s 50th anniversary. Although he was already suffering from migraine headaches at the time, he stoically emceed the event, organized by the Jewish federation. “Gene was a revolutionary at his craft, known the world over, yet he never forgot where he came from,” said JUF/Jewish federation president Steven Nasatir. “In an era when public figures often have little to do with their community, Gene was a mensch, whose Judaism was paramount in his life and who was a very willing and active member of his community.” Siskel’s dedication to Israel was strongly influenced by a family trip there two years ago when his oldest daughter, Kate, was in eighth grade. Siskel and his wife, Marlene, sent their children to Moadon Kol Chadash, a small family-run Hebrew school whose first graduating class was taken to Israel. According to those who knew him, Siskel was deeply touched by the way the trip affected his daughter’s Jewish identity. Upon talking to his friend Howard Swibel, the president of the Community Foundation for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago, the two agreed that such a trip should be brought to a greater number of local Hebrew school students. Siskel pledged his help, and true to his word, took the project, now called Taam Yisrael, under his wing. The first group of eighth graders went to Israel last February, the second group — with six times as many students — went earlier this month. The trip is a six-day whirlwind tour of Israel. A critic of bigotry and racist portrayals in movies, Siskel took a stand several years ago when Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan appeared on the Arsenio Hall show. Upset that Farrakhan appeared and feeling that the interview failed to press him on his anti-Semitic record, Siskel and Ebert decided not to appear on the show. Siskel wrote a column explaining their reasons in the Chicago Tribune. Siskel also put together a video chronicling Jewish stereotypes and anti- Semitism in Hollywood, which he used as an educational tool. Friends of Siskel say that he expressed Judaism in much the same way he expressed everything else in his life — with modesty and little fanfare. “Gene never wore anything on his sleeve, not his fame, not his accomplishments and not his Judaism,” said longtime friend and retired Illinois state Sen. Howard Caroll, who grew up with Siskel and his siblings. “He was very low-key and never took himself too seriously, but he was fervent about his Jewish beliefs. He was a believer.” His rabbi, Vernon Kurtz of Beth El, recalled in his eulogy Monday that just weeks ago, prior to their second daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, Siskel and his wife told her that the two most important values in life were family and Judaism. “Judaism has taught me right from wrong,” he told his daughter. Siskel’s modesty is something Jewish community leaders here have known. When the Community Foundation for Jewish Education asked to honor him at its annual dinner last year, he turned them down, saying he didn’t like to be honored. Instead, he offered to chair the event, at which he showed a videotape that he narrated about the first Taam Yisrael trip. He told the audience that he made the video in order to raise awareness about the benefits of an Israel experience such as Taam Yisrael. Then, he told them that he gave the movie “two thumbs up.”