The attack on Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue last October that killed 11 people shined a light on the ugly truth that anti-Semitism in the U.S. and Europe has been sharply increasing in recent years. According to a survey published October 23 by the American Jewish Committee, nearly one in three American Jews avoid wearing or carrying objects that will identify them as Jewish, and the same percentage said that Jewish institutions with which they are affiliated had been the targets of anti-Semitic attacks and threats.
Chicago has had theaters dedicated to Jewish culture in the past. The National Jewish Theater, housed in the Mayer Kaplan Jewish Community Center in Skokie, operated from 1986 to 1996. It was succeeded by the shorter-lived Chicago Jewish Theatre, which opened in Andersonville in 2003 and shut down after an unsuccessful bid to move to the Kaplan JCC in 2006. One of the things that Chack hopes comes out of both the festival and the conference is an expanded appreciation and understanding of what Jewish theater is.
