Israelis*In*America

Amnon Peery, Organizer: Ensuring Cultural Continuity for the Next Generation

"I don’t know exact numbers of Israelis here but definitely we’re a big part of the American Jews now.. We’re part of the community. "

A native of Tel-Aviv, Amnon Peery earned a masters degree in Agriculture at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem after serving in the Israeli army. He arrived in Califorinia is 1963 to attend UCLA, where he obtained a masters degree in physiology and an MBA. After many years in medical research he established his own printing company.

Amnon Peery is a member of the board for both the Israel Festival and the Council of Israeli Communities (CIC). He is particularly concerned with the future of Israeli culture in America and the identity of the second-generation.

We still call ourselves Israelis. Although we are American citizens, but the way we feel and the way we think about ourselves is “Israeli-American.” By citizenship we are dual citizens. By [ethnic] nationality, then Jewish … I don’t know how [one would] classify it.
We live here, we are citizens of the United States. We are bound by the laws and by the politics, by the neighborhood and the surroundings. We vote, almost every time we make sure that we vote. We are very biased as far as voting goes, because to us, it’s not who you are, but what you think about Israel and your relationship to Israel. So that’s our criteria basically.

I was very active in the Israeli community for many years. It started with Macabi athletic club for many years while the children grew up, then the Shalom lodge which is the Israeli lodge [of Bnai Brith]. And now I am involved for the last fifteen years with the Israeli Festival. I’m a member of the board. And the Council on Israeli Communities – I’m a member of the board there as well.

When we came here in 1963 there was one Israeli restaurant here –– Sabra. And Joe used to be the owner, he lived on the second floor, his restaurant was on the first floor. It was at Sunset and Stanley, I think. And all the Israelis used to come. All of our friends used to work there. [laughs] At that time they said there was seventy thousand Israelis here. I don't think there were that many, but today, forty years later, I don’t know how many Israeli restaurants are here in town but probably a couple thousand at least.

Every place you go you hear Hebrew. Everybody can quote some numbers, I don’t know how true they are or not. They say 100, 150, 200, 250 (thousand), I don’t remember numbers… You talk to consulates and officials and they say thirty or forty, but you talk with the people – has to be a lot of people. Like every place I go and I go to a lot of Israeli gatherings, there could be a few or a thousand people come in and I know only a few of them. Before I used to know everybody but I don’t know anyone now.

Our children – I don’t know how to classify them – I really don’t. I mean nobody really classified it. Are my children Israelis? Americans to Israeli parents

Funny thing, but in Israel one is very conscious of the Ashkenazi, Sephardic this or that. Here, no. I’m involved in the Israeli Festival and for years we showcased heritage –– Middle Eastern, Yiddish, etc. …. Socially, we have a hodgepodge and we really don’t make a distinction. Only when we talk about a little bit about background when it comes up but in a completely different way than it’s in Israel.

When we first came here there was, the Israeli population were a lot of students. A lot of students. As years went by there were more people that came in as immigrants. I mean, we came to study, I was twenty-five when I came here. And we came study so we went to school and all of our friends went to school also. As the years went by, a lot of older people came here as immigrants. Uh… there was a lot of Israelis in specific professions like in the construction business, all the way from the plumber to the developer to the contractor. So in that sense I think it changed.

Now there are a lot of business people. Most Israelis are kind of very aggressive at that; once they have a few years in business they say, you know, now I’m on my own. Most of our friends are independent business people. Or teachers and engineers or stuff like that…

It’s funny, a lot of our friends, the older generation, not too many of them come to the Israel Festival. As far as running and putting it together, we didn’t change much. We do always, we do the same thing because we want to bring the Israeli experience and the Israeli “ way of life” or celebrating for us and for American Jews that come. So we didn’t change too much. We are trying to bring more the younger generation so we have a special stage for the younger ones … we had the DJs there. So as more we try to attract more and more young people. Last time there were a lot of young Israelis. Some of them are second generation; a lot of them speak Hebrew.

I started to work on this festival for the fortieth anniversary of Israel, our first Israeli independence day celebration – it was a big shindig. We got three thousand people in there. We bought in our own small group that we rehearsed with the singing and stuff, and an Israeli singer who at the time was a big name. So that was the first time. After that, the festival moved to Hanson Dam, Hanson Park and in 2000 we went to the North JCC. And then we went to Pan Pacific Park.

The biggest one was the fiftieth anniversary and we had a big celebration –– I would say we had about fifty thousand people. Then we moved to Woodley Park. We’re trying to be emphasize one thing or another, keeping on this heritage thing which I’m doing all the time –– represent the Yiddish side, and then a Persian singer, etc. We tried to bring the heritage [of different Jewish ethnic groups].

The Federation of American Jews and Israelis is something we’re trying to make as an [important] issue right now. And one of the ways to do it is through the Israel Festival. We live here and we can’t ignore the American Jews. The other thing is, I don’t know exact numbers of Israelis here but definitely we’re a big part of the American Jews now. The Federation cannot ignore it and we cannot ignore it. And we live here and we can’t live in a bubble. We’re part of the community.

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