Wednesday, December 7, Jewish Community Partners hosted An Evening with Jerry Springer. The TV talk show host is well-known for the antics of guests on his syndicated show, now in its 26th season. Less famous is his Jewish heritage and a family history sadly familiar to many American Jews.
Traveling at his own experience and waiving his standard speaker’s fee, Springer’s involvement in the evening was a low-cost way for JCP to offer something out-of-the-ordinary to its donor base. The plan was set into motion by Memphis Jewish Federation board member and long-time donor Lester Lit, who has known Springer since college, when they were fraternity brothers at Tulane. Springer extended his generosity by making a donation to the 2017 Annual Community Campaign, which runs through February.
Springer was born in London in 1944, to Jewish parents who were among the last 100 German Jews to be granted visas to leave Germany before the invasion of Poland. All four of his grandparents and every aunt and uncle were unable to escape, and were ultimately murdered in death camps across Nazi occupied Europe.
Springer fought back tears as he told the 200 or so gathered in the MJCC’s Belz Theater about discovering the fate of many members of his family, long after the death of both of his parents. In 2008, Springer was invited to appear on the BBC One television show Who Do You Think You Are?, which thoroughly researched his family and took him on a ten-day journey across Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic, visiting sites important to his family legacy.
He was taken to a cold stream running through the center of a killing field at a death camp, into which his grandmother’s ashes were unceremoniously dumped by German soldiers, anxious to destroy evidence of their war crimes as the Soviet army advanced. There, he met a cousin he never knew he had, a man close to his age who had also somehow escaped the horrors of the Holocaust to raise a family of his own in Haifa, Israel. The cousins remained connected, and Springer smiled as he told the crowd about recently attending a wedding hosted by his newly discovered extended family.
Springer closed by taking questions from the audience, answering candidly about his career path from politics to journalism and ultimately to his iconic show, which he fondly referred to as a “stupid circus.”
“As the major philanthropic entity in the Memphis Jewish community, Jewish Community Partners is honored to be able to host events that offer something new and meaningful to donors,” said Laura Linder, JCP’s president and CEO. “Because of the generosity of our new friend Jerry Springer, we’re able do that without sacrificing any of our ability to help people in need in Memphis, Israel and around the world.”
Open only to Campaign donors, the night’s program was filled with examples of ways Memphis’s communal giving has impacted the lives of people in need.
JCP debuted its new series of short films, made by local filmmaker Brian Manis, which delved into the impact made by the community’s giving. The films took the audience to the people and places that benefit from Memphis Jewish philanthropy, from pet therapy dogs bringing joy to residents at Memphis Jewish Home and Rehab to the Israeli Scouts teaching traditional songs to summer camp kids at the MJCC. Keep an eye on JCPConnect for the online debut of the films.
JCP Laura Linder and director of financial resource development Sheryl Alexander warmed up the crowd with a game-show inspired quiz session, prowling though the theater with handheld mics and asking questions about Campaign impact. Having just seen the films, the crowd was quick with their answers. They knew about the security upgrades at schools and synagogues, the free books for Jewish kids through PJ Library, the Kosher Food Pantry at Jewish Family Service.
Next up, JCP vice chair of financial resource development Anthony Morrison conducted an eye-opening exercise with the crowd, asking them to stand as he read a list of the ways lives are impacted by Campaign giving. Morrison asked those who have had loved ones cared for at Memphis Jewish Home and Rehab to stand, and those whose children attended summer camps or days schools, those who were able to make Birthright journeys to Israel. After five such questions, more than 90% of the audience of 200 people was on its feet.
While all eyes were on the iconic and controversial celebrity guest, all thoughts were on the impact we can make when people come together to give generously. To quote Jerry’s signature send-off at the end of each show: “Till next time, take care of yourselves and each other.”