JI garners three Rockowers

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

It was with some pride that the Jewish Independent editorial board – Basya Laye, Pat Johnson and me – headed to Seattle last week to attend the banquet for this year’s American Jewish Press Association Rockower Awards for excellence in Jewish journalism. We knew that we had once again won an impressive three awards, but not whether they were first- or second-place accomplishments. While we would have been happy with either, we placed first across the board.

We were joined in the Smith Tower’s 35th-floor Chinese Room, which provided a stunning 360-degree view of Seattle and harkened back to another era, by Karen James, whose article “In honor of those murdered,” about her experiences at the 1972 Munich Olympics as a member of the Canadian Olympic swim team, won first prize in the personal essay category (newspapers under 15,000 circulation). In the article, with the 2012 London Games approaching, she made an impassioned plea to the International Olympic Committee to honor the many calls to hold an official minute of silence honoring the 11 Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists 40 years earlier. Sadly, those calls went unanswered.

Unable to join the Jewish Independent contingent because of another conference being held at the same time was Nurit Dekel, who won first place in feature writing in the Independent’s circulation group. A senior guest researcher in linguistics at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and principal linguist at Natural Speech Communication, Israel, Dekel won for the article called “What Hebrew do we speak?”

“Most Hebrew grammar classes worldwide are based on normative rules that have been defined by Hebrew scholars; spoken Hebrew is conceived as a poor language, with no consistent rules. As a result, Israelis in Israel and Hebrew learners outside Israel are trained to believe that they speak Hebrew with mistakes,” wrote Dekel. Supporting her argument with various examples, she concluded with the observation that all of spoken Hebrew’s “language systems are different from normative Hebrew. Some of the differences are minor, but many of them are major and critical. The gap is definitely large enough to define two separate languages. Hence, do not accept as an axiom the claim that the Hebrew you use contains mistakes; these ‘mistakes’ are probably contemporary Hebrew rules. And, do not fear to use your Hebrew in public. Spoken Hebrew is a living language and, like all living languages, it is continuously changing; it contains original and new systems and characteristics, and these features are what make it so special.”

Last but not least, my colleagues and I accepted the first-place honors in our circulation group for a set of three editorials: “Focusing on motives,” “Four other questions” and “Jerusalem: A Jewish city.”

The first examined police and media focus on the alleged connection with a white supremacist group of three Vancouver men facing charges after a series of assaults on visible minorities. The editorial acknowledged that racially motivated crimes must be condemned by society, but added that “we also must devote ourselves to promulgating – and living a life based on – the fact that an act that diminishes humanity in any of its forms diminishes humanity in all its forms.”

“Four other questions” was inspired by the types of articles that elicit reaction from readers, and those that don’t. It asked readers to consider why certain ideas provoke in us a visceral, uncompromising and uncompassionate response, and posited, “Perhaps by asking ‘why’ we can come closer to understanding that life and humanity is complex, that we all have biases, that we all are vulnerable and often do irrational things out of fear, hate or love. By understanding that others are motivated by the same impulses, perhaps we will move closer to our goal of tikkun olam.”

Finally, “Jerusalem: A Jewish city” was written in the months leading up to the United Church of Canada’s decision to boycott goods from Israeli settlements, including East Jerusalem. Critically examining the UCC’s most recent report on the issue at that time, the editorial concluded, “The idea purveyed by the United Church and countless other activist groups that the Jewish people must abandon the holiest part of the Jewish city of Jerusalem is unjust and immoral on bases historical, theological and legal. But the idea should be rejected by fair-minded people, if for no other reason, than the state of Israel is the only body that can be trusted to protect the people and the holy sites under its jurisdiction, regardless of religion.”

The entire list of Rockower Award winners can be found at ajpa.org/rockowerawards2013.php.

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