Video Installation screen 7: Bill hess

Text Panel

Shalom, my name is Bill hess.
I live in New Orleans, Louisiana, now, but I was born in New York City to what I called evolved parents, so in my household growing up, there was no Jewish education, there was no celebration of Jewish holidays, no bar or bat mitzvah or anything like that. And had I stayed in New York, I probably could have kept going on as a secular Jew. But I moved to New Orleans and married a Jewish woman who felt that Israel was important, and that I should change my philosophy about that.
The second thing that happened was because we were involved in the reform movement, my parents had passed away, I felt the compulsion of engagement with the philosophy and the prayers.
The third thing that happened was that I got involved with the Zionist movement. And the Zionist movement showed me that there are Jews from all over the world who care deeply about Israel and want it to continue. So I want Americans to develop, reacquire, their sense of obligation and their sense of responsibility for Jews together. The story is yet to be written,
and I have a lot of hope.