Actor Michael Douglas credited his son and celebrity father, Kirk Douglas, for helping him reconnect to Judaism as he accepted the Genesis Prize, “the Jewish Nobel,” in Jerusalem.
The Academy Award winner accepted the $1 million award on June 18 for his commitment to Jewish values and the Jewish people. His wife, the actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, and children, Dylan and Carys, were on hand for the ceremony.
In his address, Douglas noted his new ties to Judaism at age 70. He said his son’s decision to have a bar mitzvah “made me think and it made me strong. And for that I will always be grateful.” His voice broke as he thanked Dylan, who had his bar mitzvah last June.
“My journey to this stage was a long time in the making,” Douglas said, adding that it led him “to be able to say those four words with great pride: I am a Jew.”
Douglas criticized those who “insist that to say those words” one has to be Jewish through the mother. His mother, Diana Dill, is not Jewish. Douglas said that choosing him to be the Genesis laureate “sends a message around the world.”
He said his father, the actor Kirk Douglas, also inspired him, having also reconnected to Judaism at 70. Kirk Douglas had a second bar mitzvah at 83.
“There was no contradiction between his Jewishness and his universality,” Douglas said of his father, who offered a videotaped greeting for the ceremony.
The prize is endowed by the Genesis Philanthropy Group, which endeavors to build Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.
Douglas said he “drifted away from the religion” because some didn’t consider him Jewish, but he began to explore his Jewish roots after his father, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew, was in a helicopter accident in 1991.
Douglas’ son, Dylan, has also brought him closer to Judaism. Dylan befriended Jewish kids at school and ate Shabbat dinners at their homes. Because of the experience, Dylan decided to attend Hebrew school and have a bar mitzvah.
Following the bar mitzvah, the family took a celebratory trip last year to Israel. In March Douglas wrote a widely published op-ed urging readers to fight anti-Semitism after Dylan was verbally accosted at a pool while wearing a Star of David.
“So that is our challenge in 2015, and all of us must take it up,” he wrote. “Because if we confront anti-Semitism whenever we see it, if we combat it individually and as a society, and use whatever platform we have to denounce it, we can stop the spread of this madness.”
Douglas intends to use the prize money to reach out to other Jews from intermarried families who are seeking a connection to the community. He plans to begin by funding an outreach program through Hillel, which serves many students with intermarried parents. — jta