Boulder’s Jonathan Bender wrote his one-man play “In the Belly of the Whale” to investigate what it means to be Jewish in America today. It was written to create dialogue among Jews of all denominations, nonpracticing Jews and non-Jews. A discussion follows each performance, led by local rabbis and prominent figures in the Jewish community.
Q. So we’ll bite. What does it mean to be Jewish in America today?
A. There’s no simple answer. In addition to numerous religious denominations, millions of Jews are secular. Are they “less” Jewish? My answer is no. “In the Belly of the Whale” presents nine characters, each with different answers. They may be seen as conflicting, or perhaps as part of a greater whole, like the parable about the blind men who each feel a different part of an elephant (or a whale) and don’t realize it’s the same animal.
Q. Is it frustrating educating the American public at large that there is more than one Jewish identity?
A. What’s most frustrating is the lack of awareness about Judaism as not just a religion, but also an ethnicity and a culture that’s thousands of years old.
Q. What triggered your interest in this project?
A. It began two years ago as my master’s thesis at Naropa University. After being secular most of my life, I had begun experimenting with some Jewish religious practice, but still felt quite ambivalent about it. So I faced it head-on and created a show about it, to look at all the issues. My hope is to encourage religious and secular Jews alike to really engage with the question of what it means to be Jewish, now and in the future. And to expose non-Jews to the diversity of Jewish culture, to create understanding and combat anti-Semitism.
Q. How did you compile your text?
A. I trained in interview-based playwriting at Naropa with Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project (“The Laramie Project”). I interviewed nine widely differing Jews and created a spoken-word performer as another central character. But the performance also incorporates dance and movement to represent the Jewish experience through the body, rather than rely solely upon language.
Q. What’s the difference between being a cultural Jew and a religious Jew?
A. It’s not as simple as eating bagels versus going to synagogue. A cultural Jew may just say they’re of Jewish heritage. There are many levels of religious observance — millions of Jews only go to synagogue on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, while Orthodox Jews pray and practice every day.
Q. What’s to be learned from the biblical story that inspired your title?
A. Jonah ran away from what he was called to do and ended up being stuck in limbo. It’s not until we really face all aspects of ourselves and choose to really wrestle with the question, so we can move forward. “Israel” translates as “God-wrestler,” which means that Jews are people who wrestle with God. My show does not prescribe what anyone should do, just that’s it’s essential to wrestle.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“In the Belly of the Whale”
7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, and at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, at the Dairy Center for the Arts, 2590 Walnut St., in Boulder. $10-$13. 303-440-7826.
