No doubt, unity is something to be desired, to be striven for, but it cannot be willed by mere declarations.
By showing hunger, deprivation, starvation and brutality, as well as endurance and nobility, documentaries inform, prod our memories, even stir us to action. Such films do battle for our very soul.
We Jews have a special attachment to the Book. The study of page after page in tomes yellowing with age was obligatory.
An actor is supposed to emulate life. Instead, alas, many are imitating other actors. You don't fashion your knowledge of theatre or your approach to a role on the basis of what other actors have done. This kind of thinking is a great danger, especially in dealing with TV producers who frequently say things like, 'This is a Sean Connery type.'
Despite a large body of work in films, TV, theatre and concerts, I am viewed by many as a Jewish artist. I do not resent the label, except for the fact that I disapprove of labels in general.
After the advent of the written word, the masses who could not - or were not permitted to - read, were given sermons by the few who could.
You cannot please all of the people all of the time, and that is truer in the arts than anywhere else.
But there is a difference here: When Jewish children are murdered, Arabs celebrate the deed. The death of an Arab child is no cause for celebration in Israel.
For I firmly believe that Jewish life, indeed any communal life, can only be organized according to democratic principles.
One might have thought the world would stop ascribing moral equivalence between acts of terrorism and acts of punishing terrorism. It has not happened that way.
I have always striven to raise the voice of hope for a world where hate gives way to respect and oppression to liberation.
Throughout my life I have cared as deeply about the songs of all peoples as I have about the rights of all peoples.
I refuse to do shows that are narrowly constructed, that appeal to only one sentiment. I do a lot of Jewish material in front of non-Jews and a lot of non-Jewish material in front of Jews on the simple theory that the non-Jews are entitled to a glimpse of a Jewish world and the Jews are entitled to a glimpse of the world.