Could I Be Any Prouder of the Wine Industry?

Reflections on my industry's Response to Disaster.

In the wake of the recent pogrom carried out against Jews in Israel—the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust—could I be any prouder of the wine industry’s response?

In my long 30+ year career in wine, I’ve watched the wine industry stand up, express its support, and give greatly in the face of need, outrageous events, and disastrous situations requiring response. When disasters befell the industry itself, wine stood up and took action. When Russia invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine, the wine industry took symbolic and actual action to stand with that nation. In the wake of the George Floyd murder and the rise of Black Lives Matter, the wine industry took to expressing its outrage, took action, and worked to be part of the solution. And with the rise of recognition of the LGBTQIA+ community, the wine industry has stood up and called for change.

Could I be any more proud of the wine industry then, given what I’ve seen from it in response to the genocidal attack on Jews that has led to more than 1,200 deaths, the rape of Jewish women and girls, the massacre of babies and children, and the kidnapping of innocent civilians?

Before I go on to highlight the extent of the wine industry’s response to the catastrophe in Israel I should note my own experience with the Jewish people, such as it is.

I’m Jewish.

I’m just not very Jewish. I grew up not knowing what I was other than a Wark and an American. I was adopted at birth by George and Alverna. They were midwesterners raised protestant, but not significant practitioners of their Presbyterian faith. I spent a bit of time in Sunday school at my mother’s insistence but wasn’t very good at taking it and its lessons seriously and was eventually asked to leave. I did. Happily. I grew up basically a happy, agnostic, American boy whose knowledge of Jews came through my reading of history and relationships with a few Jewish friends.

I learned in 2018 that both my biological mother and father were Jewish. But my real connection to the Jews and the Jewish faith is through Kathy, my wife, and her family who are all Jews of both the cultural and religious type. My father-in-law—a man of extraordinary generosity and strength—escaped Nazi-occupied Poland and then France with his family. And so it is largely through Kathy and her family that I have faced the Jewish experience, though I’ve not become a practicing Jew. However, it is safe to say that my empathy for the Jewish people has expanded considerably since Kathy came into my life, while the discovery of my own Jewish heritage through my biological parents has enhanced that empathy. Plus, I would have never known the joys of Manischewitz nor Sweet Kugel had these changes in my life come to pass.

And so, perhaps I am only somewhat more attuned to the extraordinary suffering and shock that has befallen the global Jewry in the wake of the massacre of 10/7. But honestly, it does not or should not take a connection to the Jews such as mine to experience the revulsion and sadness that is the natural, human response to this tragedy.

And so then, again, could I be any prouder of the response by the wine industry?

Yes. I could.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that response is best described as Silence. No outpouring of support. No hashtags. No press releases announcing new foundations and fundraising to support victims. No declarations of solidarity. No articles explaining “what the industry can do”. No Blue-Out Tuesday in support of the Jewish community.

Yes, I could be prouder.

Perhaps there is a certain “cause fatigue” not only within the wine industry but in society as a whole. We all have been subjected to seemingly one disaster, outrage, emergency, and catastrophe after another over the past five years. So perhaps it is not surprising or perhaps it’s understandable that the first-ever televised and videoed pogrom aimed at Jews with its genocidal slaughter motivated by the fact that the victims were living while Jewish, just doesn’t rise to the kind of occasion that can generate outrage and response inside my industry.

The collective silence in the wine industry is not total. Let me be clear about that. This message was issued yesterday:

“In support of those who have been affected by the attack, Southern Glazer's is making equal donations to American Friends of Magen David Adom, United Hatzalah, and Hadassah Medical Organization. These organizations are on the ground providing emergency medical and humanitarian services to the thousands injured and in crisis.

In an unthinkable time like this, unity and compassion are paramount. As the world watches the aftermath of this horrifying terrorist attack, Southern Glazer’s expresses its support for Israel. The Company extends its deepest condolences to the families of those brutally murdered, wishes for a quick recovery for wounded victims, and prays for the safe return of all hostages.”

I stand with Southern Glazers.

Those who know me will understand that those are five words I’ve never written before. But I write them now and I’ll never take them back. I will disagree politically with Southern Glazers, I will work toward opposite political ends than Southern Glazers. I will write about their efforts that I think others should oppose. But I’ll stand with them on this and if anyone ever asks me, I’ll tell them the folks at Southern Glazers were among the very few in the American wine industry that publicly did the right thing. What Southern Glazers publicly said wasn’t courageous. It was merely human. And it’s shocking that they are nearly alone in acting human.

The American wine industry, in all its forms, is generous. It is filled with caring, intelligent people. It is often fearless and ready to leap into action. Knowing all this is the source of my shock.

For those interested in Helping…

The 2023 Israel Community Fund
Urge World Leaders to Stand with Israel
Blue Ribbons for Israel
Support Israeli First Responders
ZAKA—Providing full Jewish burial for those who meet a sudden death
Friends of the Israeli Defense Force
Help Spread the Message of Hadassah