Beth Becker (Photo credit: Kristen Arter)
By Faygie Hol
Jewish history is replete with stories of heroism and triumph, of joy and beauty. Yet, too often, those are not the stories that are shared or recounted, which is something that Beth Becker is working to change as the program manager for Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media, a program of The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.
“I feel like a lot of our stories are told through trauma,” she said, acknowledging that Jews have been subject to many horrors throughout history, like the expulsions from Spain and elsewhere in Europe, pogroms and the Holocaust. But, “I think the Jewish experience is more than just what happened to us. We are a 3,000-year-old culture that spans the globe, and there’s so much joy and culture; there’s music and literature and film and thought, and so much more to explore that is not focused around those stories.
“And the more we focus on them as our only stories, the more we lose who we are as a joyful, resilient and diverse culture,” Becker said.
To that end, when the opportunity arose to run the “Unapologetically Jewish” social media contest in 2024, Becker was quick to sign on. For the past three years, Jewish social media influencers have competed in an effort to increase their “Unapologetically Jewish” content online. The program culminates with the Mazel Tov Moment, when the top finalists travel to Philadelphia and give a presentation about their experiences with the campaign, as well as the announcement of the winner. This year the event is slated for Sept. 24.
Becker is also responsible for Philadelphia Jewish Film and Media’s other programs, like the annual fall film and media festival, being held this year from Nov. 12-21, and the upcoming “Latkes and Vodkas,” a Chanukah event, though its date is still pending.
Born and raised in Cherry Hill, Becker said she comes from “a family of union organizers and labor rights people.” She and her family remain in her hometown.
“For me, Judaism is the lens through which I live my life,” she said. “I really think that everything I do, even if I’m not doing it in a religious setting, is informed by being Jewish and being raised with what to my family were the Jewish values of seeking out where you can offer help.”
One of those places is the Girl Scouts, where Becker serves as the co-service unit manager for the region, which includes 50 different troops. Becker’s involvement in the organization dates back to when she was a child and a Girl Scout herself, until she had to choose between scouting and dance lessons; dance won. She was reintroduced to the organization when her daughter joined when she was in kindergarten and continued her participation until graduating high school.
One of the things that scouting provides, she said, is a sense of belonging and community, noting that the girls in her daughter’s troop didn’t always hang out together in school, but “when they get together, they are like family, they have each other’s back no matter what.”
And, somewhat like Judaism, she said, the Girl Scouts see things in the world that need to be fixed and go about trying to fix them. “It teaches kids so many amazing skills in a setting where you have an instant group of people who love you and who have your back and are with you forever,” she said. “I am confident that the kids going off to college will be friends forever and always have this connection.”
“Also, having a goal, working toward it and all the life lessons they learn for it is wonderful,” she adds.
Becker is also on the board of the Friends of Barclay Homestead, a historic home in Cherry Hill that dates back to 1816. That role may not be surprising given that her master’s degree from the University of Delaware was in American history. Her specific focus was on a Jewish American history with a certificate in museum studies, while her undergraduate degree was from the University of the Arts, where she was a musical theater major.
An avid reader — her favorite genre is, no surprise, historical fiction — Becker also loves going to the theater and is a “big fan of the Philadelphia theater scene.” In fact, Becker’s photo may be on the wall at the Walnut Street Theatre, where she performed as an actor for several years.
She believes the arts — be it books, films or theater — are a valuable way to educate people about Judaism, in part because they provide a human link and connection.
As she explains, “Someone can tell you that X number of Jews came to America between 1899 and 1912, but when you watch a story about a family making the decision of whether or not to leave, and who they left behind and who made the decision to stay … you make connections to your own experiences.”
And that, in turn, “creates human connection between people who may feel they have nothing in common because they are from different cultures, and for people who are a part of the culture, it reminds of who our people are and what they’ve been through.”
Faygie Holt is an award-winning journalist whose articles have been published worldwide and translated into multiple languages.