True Mensch
From the December 2003 issue of Moment Magazine
by David Rosenberg
To date, only one Jew has “survived” Survivor, the popular reality TV show on CBS. Last year, Ethan Zohn overcame all obstacles on “Survivor Africa” and after 42 days in the wilds of the Shaba National Reserve in Kenya, his fellow teammates chose him to take him the million-dollar prize.
Rather than take it home, the 29-year-old used the money to fight AIDS in Africa, creating an organization called Grassroot Soccer. The group educates African soccer superstars about the disease, and sends them out to rural areas of Zimbabwe to talk to school children about prevention.
“By the decade’s end a third of all children living in Zimbabwe will be AIDS orphans,” explains Zohn, a former professional soccer player who saw the devastation the disease leaves in its wake when he played for Zimbabwe’s Highlanders soccer team after college. More than 76 percent of the world’s AIDS cases appear in southern Africa.
The values and steadfastness that made Zohn’s Survivor teammates vote him the winner came in part from his strong religious upbringing. He feels particularly indebted to his hometown synagogue, Temple Emunah of Lexington, Mass. “When my father died of cancer when I was 14 I wanted to sit in a corner, and my temple reached out. My faith gave me a sense of community.”
The Jewish traditions of community and charity gave Zohn the advantage in Survivor, a contest that requires physical stamina, strategy, and social alliances, and in which, one by one, contestants vote each other off the show. Zohn chose to be “selfless in a selfish game” and to look upon the experience as a chance to enlighten his teammates and millions of TV viewers. When producers sent Zohn and other hungry finalists a breakfast of ham and eggs, a contestant named Tom cheered the site of the ham because he knew there would be more food for him. “He’s a Jew, he’s a Jew,” Tom shouted. “He won’t eat the ham.” Zohn chose not to be angry, vote Tom off, or eat the ham, but to educate Tom about Judaism. “I had the unique opportunity to respect my culture and teach someone in the process.”
Grassroot Soccer isn’t the only charity Zohn supports. He raises money to combat diabetes, cancer and pediatric AIDS, and he’s on the New York board of directors of American Scores, a group that uses literacy and sports to help inner-city children. Maybe some day, he’ll even give lessons in menschlikeit.
Article © MOMENT 2003