Religious Tolerance Prize to Jacky Levy and Shlomo Gronich

“The existence of the prize indicates that those who practice tolerance are the few against the many,” says Levy. “Bad education is responsible for intolerance being so pervasive,” declares Gronich.

This Hannukah, the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies is awarding the Marc and Henia Liebhaber Prize for the Promotion of Religious Tolerance and Cultural Pluralism to popular artists Jacky Levy and Shlomo Gronich for their important contribution to this cause.

The NIS 100,000 prize, to be divided between the two, was instituted after the Rabin assassination, and is awarded yearly to individuals.

“Religious tolerance is supposedly part of our Jewish tradition,” Levy says. “The existence of the prize indicates that those who practice tolerance are the few against the many. I am pleased yet somewhat ashamed to receive this award; it makes me think, why is it not the other way around? People who exhibit intolerance should be punished.”

Gronich perceives a similar reality: “Intolerance is a worldwide phenomenon, but in our country we are not graced with a large measure of tolerance. We see it daily, in relation to foreign workers, Ethiopians, and Haredim.”

Gronich has worked for years on musical projects with Ethiopians and Russians, and with projects based on Jewish texts. “When I conduct these projects I am engaging in self-correction. The more people engage in self-expanding activities, which benefit society, the more we will see the light.

“We call ourselves a light unto the nations, but meanwhile this light is not visible. Bad education is responsible for intolerance being so pervasive,” he declares.

Levy also noted that "there are religious and non-religious people who believe that being religious is the opposite of tolerance.

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