CHICAGO (JTA) — Since the news of Gene Siskel’s death on Saturday, people the world over have eulogized him as a master movie critic, a dedicated family man and a modest person whose fame didn’t detract from his friendliness.
A lesser-known but equally important side to Siskel reflected his Jewish upbringing and his continued dedication to Judaism and his community.
Siskel, who died of cancer at age 53, was an active supporter of Israel and Jewish educational initiatives.
He spent his early childhood in a historically Jewish neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. After his parents died when Siskel was very young, he and his siblings were raised by their mother’s sister and her family in a north Chicago suburb. His aunt and uncle were founding members of Conservative Synagogue Beth El, where he celebrated his bar mitzvah and later became a member with his wife, Marlene.
Their daughter celebrated her bat mitzvah at Beth El in January, the last time he was out in public.
More than 1,200 people attended his funeral there on Monday, among them his film-critic partner and longtime friend Roger Ebert.
In April, just days before he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, Siskel emceed at Chicago’s community celebration of Israel’s 50th anniversary. At the time he was suffering from migraine headaches due to his illness.
“Gene was a revolutionary at his craft, known the world over, yet he never forgot where he came from,” said Steven Nasatirof the Chicago area Jewish federation.
“In an era when public figures often have little to do with their community, Gene was a mensch, whose Judaism was paramount in his life and who was a very willing and active member of his community.”
Siskel’s dedication to Israel was strongly influenced by a family trip there two years ago when his oldest daughter, Kate, was in eighth grade. Siskel’s children attended Moadon Kol Chadash, a small, family-run Hebrew school whose first graduating class was taken to Israel. Believing that such a trip should be offered to a greater number of local Hebrew-school students, Siskel took the project under his wing. As a result a group of eighth-graders went to Israel last February, and a second, much larger group, went earlier this month.
Siskel compiled a video chronicling Jewish stereotypes and anti-Semitism in Hollywood, which he used as an educational tool.
Friends say Siskel expressed Judaism with modesty and little fanfare.
“He was very low-key and never took himself too seriously,” said his longtime friend Howard Caroll, a retired Illinois state senator, “but he was fervent about his Jewish beliefs.”
Beth El Rabbi Vernon Kurtz said in his eulogy Monday that just weeks ago, prior to their second daughter’s bat mitzvah, Siskel and his wife told her that the two most important values in life were family and Judaism.
“Judaism,” Siskel said, “has taught me right from wrong,”