Going global by doing good in the wake of tragedy

TALI FEINBERG

Penn knew Bernstein from when he was a little boy attending cheder lessons at her school, and watched him grow up, celebrate his barmitzvah and become a madrich, volunteering at her shul. His father, Gideon Bernstein, is a community leader “equal to what would be the head of the Jewish Board of Deputies in South Africa”, says Penn.

She grew up in Johannesburg and describes the Californian Jewish community as equally close-knit, with a strong focus on community spirit. This came to the fore when Bernstein, age 19, went missing on January 2 while visiting his family during varsity holidays. This led to a massive search operation and online campaign.

The community rallied around the family, providing meals and running errands, and many handed out fliers, joined search operations and took drones to the sky to search for the young man.

“We were so worried because it was so unlike him to disappear – he was such a good kid,” says Penn, who described him as a “Renaissance man” as he was talented in both mathematics and the arts. Bernstein, an activist who loved cooking and writing, was studying psychology at the University of Pennsylvania at the time of his murder. He was recently chosen to edit a campus culinary magazine.

His passion for food was evident in one of his last activities – cooking a sumptuous meal for his family. After dinner, Bernstein messaged acquaintance Samuel Woodward on Snapchat, and Woodward drove over and picked him up.

Bernstein’s family would never see him again. His body was found eight days later in a shallow grave near the park where he had gone with Woodward – he had been stabbed at least 20 times.

Woodward was arrested on DNA evidence after crime laboratory technicians determined that blood found on a sleeping bag in his possession belonged to Bernstein. “This case was solved through old-fashioned detective work and surveillance, as well as sophisticated examination of digital, physical and DNA evidence,” said Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. “This is a senseless murder of a young man who possessed a combination of a high-calibre mind and the heart of a poet.”

Interviews with police show that Bernstein may have been killed for being gay, and on Tuesday, media sites reported that Samuel Woodward was an “avowed Nazi” and a member of Atomwaffen Division, an extremist neo-Nazi group. He “was as anti-Semitic as you can get”, a source told ProPublica, a non-profit investigative news website.

Indeed, speculation was rife on social media that Bernstein may have been killed because he was Jewish. The Jewish Democratic Council of America tweeted: “Blaze Bernstein was murdered by a neo-Nazi because he was gay and Jewish. We cannot let our leaders normalize such hate. #Antisemitism #homophobia”

Bernstein’s parents, Gideon and Jeanne, said: “Our son was a beautiful, gentle soul whom we loved more than anything. We were proud of everything he did and who he was. He had nothing to hide. We are in solidarity with our son and the LGBTQ community.

 “If it is determined that this was a hate crime, we will cry not only for our son, but for LGBTQ people everywhere who live in fear or who have been victims of hate crime.”

Instead of retreating from the world, the couple chose to respond to the outpouring of grief around them by guiding others on how to honour their son in a way he would have wanted: by “doing good” in his memory.

Their Do Good for Blaze campaign is going global. “The idea behind it is simple,” explains Penn. “It’s about how small deeds can make a big difference, and about making people aware that they can affect the world around them. It’s taking Tikkun Olam from a concept to a reality by being an ‘up-stander’ instead of a bystander.”

The Facebook group, Help Us Remember Blaze Bernstein, which already has more than 17 000 members, shows how people around the world, both Jewish and not, have taken this message to heart. Under the slogan Blaze It Forward, they have taken to doing random acts of kindness and encouraging others to pay it forward in honour of the slain student.

Some have simply bought coffee for the person next in line. Teens have taken to doing good deeds to mark their birthdays. People have knitted blankets and beanies for babies in hospital. A woman donated sleeping bags to the homeless and another bought food for those in need.

While doing good is a hallmark of the South African Jewish community, the Blaze It Forward campaign can inspire even more mitzvot and bring the campaign’s message to all South Africans.

“There is such potential for this project to expand in South Africa,” says Penn.

With her knowledge of our community, she recommends sharing Bernstein’s story at schools, shuls, youth movements and in community organisations, in the hopes that it will ignite a movement of doing good, especially in the context of South Africa’s history and current challenges.

As Blaze’s mother wrote on Twitter: “His life was short but the message is clear: we all have a story, we all can make a difference, we can all dream of a better world… this is a message of hope. We can all repair the world in our own way. #DoGood4Blaze”

Poem by Susan Penn

BLAZE

A flame that will never be extinguished, lighting the way into the future

A mark that quietly and purposefully touched those in need, without expectation in return

A caring, sensitive soul

A way with words well beyond the norm

A champion for the underdog

An up stander, not a by stander

A Renaissance man

A poet

A scientist

A genius

A true mensch

A beautiful and resonant memory

A flame that will never be extinguished, lighting the way into the future.