Premiere of Original Musical By and About Contemporary Orthodox Women

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 1, 2022

PREMIERE OF ORIGINAL MUSICAL BY AND ABOUT CONTEMPORARY ORTHODOX WOMEN

This past Sunday and Monday night, Nshei Players, a new religious women’s theater group in Montreal, Quebec, premiered Puzzle Pieces, an original musical written by, and about the lives of, religious Jewish women.  

This show was a first in North America and in the global Orthodox world, as it is an original musical comedy about the lives of contemporary religious Jewish women. 

Its audience was standing room only and brought together women from across the Jewish spectrum, from Chassidic and Litvak to Sephardi, Modern Orthodox and non-Orthodox.

While Puzzle Pieces is a character driven story that focuses on the inner questions people ask themselves, it portrays a host of characters who, together, capture the spirit of a vibrant community, and invites audiences to enjoy the humor of the mundane. 

The project was launched through the collaborative effort of three women, all landed immigrants in Quebec and “returnees” to Orthodoxy, drawing from their former theater experiences in Pennsylvania, New York, Israel and the UK.

Producer Miriam Leah Gamliel, professionally trained in musical theater prior to adopting Orthodoxy, directs ATARA, The Arts And Torah Association (artsandtorah.org), a network to support creative religious women worldwide. Gamliel recently finished a doctorate through Yeshiva University, but gained her early theater experiences in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.  Gamliel met Harrisburg born playwright Sarah Rochel Hewitt in the early 2000s while both were living in Bergen County, NJ.  Hewitt has a diverse background in writing and crafted the engaging script based on her observations of her current community.  The pair teamed up with Dr. Rachel Gray, a native of London, whose fun and funny original songs capture the special nuances of the busy lives of community women.  Gamliel and Hewitt co-direct, while Gray managed the show’s musical direction and choir.

The creative team are also members of the cast, along with an outstanding array of women who have never before had the opportunity to display their talents. The show includes native Montreal cast members Esty Gebus Krausz, Feigie Taub Moses, and Hindy Shechter Friedman, as well as others from Toronto, Los Angeles, CA, Providence, RI, New York, the UK, Belgium and South Africa, with co-choreographer Yonit Wenick from Chicago.

Puzzle Pieces brings to the stage the lives, humor, and stories formerly experienced only in private circles of religious women. The all-female audience delighted at connecting to drama and humor that reflected their own life experiences, whatever their level of religious observance.  In the aftermath of the show, women reported catharsis as they felt their own lives being accurately portrayed.  

The show fostered goodwill and unity among the various religious communities locally, as well as awe in appreciating the formerly dormant talent in the religious community.  More women have come forward with interest in performing, and the group hopes to continue creating productions that speak to the experience of women throughout the Orthodox world and its diverse subcultures and communities. 

PRESS CONTACT

Miriam Leah Gamliel (438) 763-8083 | drozmr@icloud.com

Mid-Atlantic Media acquires Philadelphia Jewish Exponent

A Week Highlighting Powerful Events, Timely Information, and Resources to Help Raise Awareness of the Importance of Genetic Screening NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release Date: March 1, 2022 Contact: Craig Burke, CEO, cburke@midatlanticmedia.com Mid-Atlantic Media acquires Philadelphia Jewish Exponent Baltimore, Md. (Feb. 28, 2022)—Mid-Atlantic Media, LLC announced today that it has expanded its media holdings with the acquisition of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, a regional Jewish publication covering Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs and South Jersey, was sold by the Jewish Publishing Group, a subsidiary of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. Terms of the deal were not released. “Our steadfast commitment to engage, educate, entertain and connect Jews across the religious, political, demographic and geographic spectra of our community has never wavered,” said Michael Balaban, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. “However, the ever-changing media landscape can make owning a local Jewish publication challenging to maintain. Under Mid-Atlantic Media, the Exponent will have proven experts in the field focusing on its growth, development and relevance in the marketplace. We expect under this ownership that the Exponent will remain an award-winning publication, better able to meet the needs of its readers including expanding its footprint in the digital media marketplace.” Mid-Atlantic Media CEO and Publisher Craig Burke said that the acquisition of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent fits in well with the media company’s strategic plans. “The Jewish Exponent has always been one of preeminent Jewish publications in the country. Seven years ago, we considered it an honor and privilege to help provide custom media services to Jewish Exponent. Now, the opportunity to acquire Jewish Exponent and bring it into our corporate media portfolio is a true thrill. “Jewish publications build and strengthen Jewish community with their content, both in print and digitally. We look forward to providing valuable content to Jewish readers in the greater Philadelphia area.” Burke continued, “And helping our advertisers grow their business with Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.” Mid-Atlantic Media is a growing media company with a strong presence in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Mid-Atlantic Media publishes Baltimore’s Child, Baltimore Jewish Times, Baltimore Style, Consumer’s Eye Magazine, Frederick’s Child, Home Services Magazine, Philadelphia’s MetroKids, Montgomery Magazine, Washington Family and Washington Jewish Week. The company — which maintains a corporate office in Owings Mills, Maryland — also operates a substantial national custom media division providing services to clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, Key West, Pittsburgh, New York, San Francisco and Scottsdale.

JScreen Promotes 3rd Annual Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week (JGSAW) February 1 - 7, 2022

A Week Highlighting Powerful Events, Timely Information, and Resources to Help Raise Awareness of the Importance of Genetic Screening Atlanta, GA – February 2022 – JScreen, a national non-profit public health initiative dedicated to preventing genetic diseases, announced plans to participate in the third annual Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week (JGSAW) February 1 – 7, 2022. Initiated two years ago with organizational partners across the nation, JGSAW serves to educate the Jewish community about the importance of screening for genetic diseases and raise awareness about testing resources through a week of powerful events and timely information. Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week will be officially recognized in the morning orders by the Georgia State Legislature according to the Proclamation Declaring Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week passed two years ago. JScreen makes genetic testing simple, accessible, and affordable by offering easy-to-use at-home saliva kits. JScreen’s reproductive test gives prospective parents a deep understanding of their genetic makeup and the risk of having a child with a genetic disease.  If a couple’s risk is elevated, genetic counselors privately address their results by phone or video teleconference and provide them with options to help them plan for the health of their future children. JScreen’s cancer genetic test alerts a person to their risk for hereditary cancer. If results are positive, it allows them to take action for the prevention or early detection of many common cancers. By providing convenient at-home access to cutting-edge genetic testing technology, patient education, and genetic counseling services, JScreen strives to prevent devastating genetic diseases and ensure a bright and healthy future for all. “Our #1 goal is to ensure a healthy future by preventing genetic diseases through screening and education,” says Karen Arnovitz Grinzaid, Executive Director of JScreen. “For the third consecutive year, we’re proud to promote Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week. We’re asking for your help in making that healthy future a reality by raising awareness and showing your support for the life-saving power of genetic testing. This week will showcase valuable resources and events to get more people tested and save more lives.”’ “It is my absolute pleasure to work alongside JScreen to raise awareness about the vital importance of genetic screening,” said Mike Wilensky, State Rep. of Georgia HD79 who introduced the resolution declaring Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week. “In our third year promoting Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week, we endeavor to make sure the message is understood loud and clear: take action, take control, and get screened.” During JGSAW, JScreen is offering a $72 off coupon code for testing. People can register for testing at www.jscreen.org and use code JGSAW72 at checkout to receive the discount. For more information, please visit www.jscreen.org. Proclamation Declaring Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week Senate Resolution By: Michael Wilensky A RESOLUTION Designating the week of February 3rd as Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week in Georgia and other purposes.  WHEREAS everyone is a carrier for a number of genetic diseases, and there are certain genetic diseases that are more common in certain ethnicities. WHEREAS, Jewish people are among the ethnic groups at high-risk for certain genetic diseases, some of which cause early death or severely debilitating symptoms. Non-Jewish people can also be carriers of these and other genetic diseases. WHEREAS, genetic screening is recommended for any couple thinking of starting or expanding their family. WHEREAS, carriers are healthy individuals who unknowingly have a mutation in a disease gene. They do not have symptoms, thus the only way they can know if they are a carrier is to get tested or to have an affected child.  WHEREAS, carrier couples have a twenty-five percent risk, with each pregnancy, of having a child affected by the genetic disease they both carry.  WHEREAS, many couples are only offered genetic testing once they are already pregnant and for a limited number of diseases. Educating the community about the importance of comprehensive pre-conception screening is essential to afford couples more options to plan ahead. WHEREAS, Jewish people are also at higher risk to have mutations in genes (e.g. BRCA) that increase the risk for certain cancers, and knowing those risks can be lifesaving. WHEREAS, genetic screening is now easily accessible to those in Georgia and nationwide via at-home screening on saliva.  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that the week of February 3rd shall be set aside and officially designated as Jewish Genetic Screening Awareness Week in Georgia.  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed to make appropriate copies of this resolution available for distribution to the public and the press.  Disclaimer: JRelease is a press release service of AJPA. AJPA does not endorse and cannot vouch for material distributed by this service.

The Association for Jewish Studies Announces

(NEW YORK, NY, December 2021) The Association for Jewish Studies has announced the 2021 winners of the Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards.

Since 2008, these annual awards recognize and promote scholarship in the field of Jewish Studies and honor scholars whose work embodies the best in the field: rigorous research, theoretical sophistication, innovative methodology, and excellent writing.

Winners and finalists are recognized for books in four categories:

Jewish Literature and Linguistics

Winner: Amelia M. Glaser (University of California, San Diego) for Songs in Dark Times: Yiddish Poetry of Struggle from Scottsboro to Palestine (Harvard University Press)

Finalist: Sheila E. Jelen (University of Kentucky) for Salvage Poetics: Post-Holocaust American Jewish Folk Ethnographies (Wayne State University Press)

Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History and Culture

Winner: Francesca Trivellato (Institute for Advanced Study) for The Promise and Peril of Credit: What a Forgotten Legend about Jews and Finance Tells Us about the Making of European Commercial Society (Princeton University Press)

Finalist: Eric Lawee (Bar-Ilan University) for Rashi’s Commentary on the Torah: Canonization and Resistance in the Reception of a Jewish Classic (Oxford University Press)

Modern Jewish History and Culture: Africa, Americas, Asia, and Oceania

Winner: Devi Mays (University of Michigan) for Forging Ties, Forging Passports: Migration and the Modern Sephardi Diaspora (Stanford University Press)

Finalist: Laura Leibman (Reed College) for The Art of the Jewish Family: A History of Women in Early New York in Five Objects (Bard Graduate Center)

Philosophy and Jewish Thought

Winner: Annabel Herzog (University of Haifa) for Levianas’s Politics: Justice, Mercy, Universality (University of Pennsylvania Press)

Finalist: Alexander Kaye (Brandeis University) for The Invention of Jewish Theocracy: The Struggle for Legal Authority in Modern Israel (Oxford University Press)

This book award program is made possible by funding from Jordan and Arlene Schnitzer through the Harold & Arlene Schnitzer Family Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation. Of this year’s awards, Jordan Schnitzer said “Now in its fourteenth year, I continue to be humbled to support critical scholarship in the field of Jewish Studies. This year, the award winners and finalists help us understand the past and add insight to today’s issues. Congratulations to each one of you!”

AJS Executive Director, Warren Hoffman, PhD, said "The AJS is grateful to Jordan Schnitzer for sustained support of the Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards, one of the most prestigious book awards that one can receive in the field of Jewish Studies. These awards prominently elevate Jewish Studies scholarship around the world."

The 2022 Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards will begin accepting submissions in spring 2022 in the categories of Biblical Studies, Rabbinics, and Jewish History and Culture in Antiquity; Jews and the Arts: Music, Performance, and Visual; Modern Jewish History and Culture: Europe and Israel; and Social Science, Anthropology, and Folklore.

Winners will receive a $10,000 prize; finalists will receive a $2,500 prize.

The Association for Jewish Studies is the largest learned society and professional organization representing Jewish Studies scholars worldwide, with more than 2,000 members in 33 countries. The mission of the AJS is to advance research and teaching in Jewish Studies at colleges, universities, and other institutions of higher learning, and to foster greater understanding of Jewish Studies scholarship among the wider public.

If you would like more information about the Jordan Schnitzer Book Awards or the Association for Jewish Studies, please contact Amy Ronek at (917) 606-8249 or aronek@associationforjewishstudies.org.

New Oral History of America Jewish Music Platform Brings the Past to Life

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 14, 2021) – The field of Jewish Music is gaining a valuable resource which will expand knowledge about the evolving nature of music of the American Jewish experience.

The Oral History Project of American Jewish Music, created by the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at The Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA in partnership with the Milken Archive of Jewish Music: the American Experience, is an audiovisual platform that will provide a portal for scholars, researchers, musicians, listeners, and fans of Jewish music to explore interviews of leading musicians, composers, cantors, and performers. A number of the oral histories feature historically significant individuals who are no longer living, such as Dave Brubeck and Freydele Oysher.

“Oral histories and personal interviews constitute some of the most important primary sources in the field of Jewish music. But there have long been barriers to access that have inhibited the field's progress. Interviews and transcripts generally take a very long time to consume and analyze, and finding the connections among different interviews is laborious,” said Jeff Janeczko, Curator of the Milken Archive of Jewish Music. “By integrating audiovisual and textual material with the power of search and metadata, the Oral History Project of American Jewish Music removes those barriers and opens up new avenues for research and exploration.”

The platform contains video interviews and searchable transcripts that allow for easy access to learn about genres, concepts, and works of Jewish music. The resource allows viewers first-hand access to the background of musicians, their teachers and their experiences in creating, performing and engaging with music. Students of famed Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt, colleagues of Leonard Bernstein, and performers of Yiddish theater share how they learned and the opportunities they had in performing Jewish music.

“This collection at present is only the beginning. We will continue to add interviews over time, including today’s leading scholars, cantors, and performers to make their experiences known,” says Mark Kligman, Mickey Katz Endowed Chair in Jewish Music, Professor of Ethnomusicology and Musicology at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and Director of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience. “Our intention is to build this platform in order to advance the field of Jewish music.”

“Finally, we can hear the vital voices of America’s eminent Jewish musicians of many generations and styles, a wellspring source for students, scholars, and music lovers everywhere,” commented Mark Slobin, Winslow-Kaplan Professor of Music Emeritus, Wesleyan University.

A team of UCLA students supervised by staff and faculty work to ensure the accuracy of each transcript and to create metadata for easy searching prior to making each new interview live to the public.

The Oral History Project of American Jewish Music is built upon state-of-the-art Aviary technology.

ABOUT THE LOWELL MILKEN CENTER FOR MUSIC OF AMERICAN JEWISH EXPERIENCE AT THE UCLA HERB ALPERT SCHOOL OF MUSIC
Established by a gift from philanthropist Lowell Milken in 2020, American Jewish music has its first permanent dedicated academic home in the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. It is dedicated to exploring American Jewish music through research, publications, performance, educational programming and community engagement in Los Angeles and beyond. The Lowell Milken Center expands the reach of the Milken Archive and its vast holdings of recordings, scores and historical materials to students, scholars and the public. For more information, please visit: schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/lowellmilkenmaje.

ABOUT THE MILKEN ARCHIVE OF JEWISH MUSIC: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Founded by philanthropist Lowell Milken in 1990, the Milken Archive has engaged an international roster of artists, composers and experts of different faiths and disciplines to share sacred and secular music pertaining to the Jewish experience in America, much of which was undiscovered or in danger of being lost. Engaging an equally global audience, the Milken Archive has completed more than 600 recordings, 200 oral histories and a series of 50 award-winning albums on the Naxos American Classics label. www.milkenarchive.org

CONTACT

Mark Kligman, Director, Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
T: 310-206-5282; mkligman@schoolofmusic.ucla.edu

Jeff Janeczko, Curator, Milken Archive of Jewish Music
T: 310-570-4746; info@milkenarchive.org

The 29th Annual Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ - On Zoom and YouTube Live*
Jewish Comedy on Christmas in a (virtual) Chinese Restaurant

Featuring Ophira Eisenberg, Jessica Kirson, Lisa Geduldig, & Arline Geduldig (Lisa’s 90 year old mother)

Friday, December 24 & Saturday, December 25 @ 5pm PST
(6pm MST/7pm CST/8pm EST) 

Sunday, December 26, 2021 @ 2pm PST
(3pm MST/4pm CST/5pm EST)

*San Francisco attendees’ option: Lazy Susan Chinese food delivery on Dec 25 & Dec 26

Info: www.KosherComedy.com

Tickets: $25- $50 (Pay what you want) | www.CityBoxOffice.com/KungPao

Partial Proceeds Benefit

San Francisco-Marin Food Bank
Shalom Bayit: Ending Domestic Violence in Jewish Homes

San Francisco, CA… Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ — Jewish comedy on Christmas in a (virtual) Chinese Restaurant — is an annual tradition in San Francisco, answering the age-old question, “What are Jews supposed to do on Christmas?” Due to the pandemic, the show, which has been operating in San Francisco’s Chinatown every December since its inception in 1993, was livestreamed on Zoom and YouTube Live last year catering to 2000+ people and reaching audiences throughout the country and some internationally. To keep everyone safe, Kung Pao will take place virtually again this year (vaccination still mandatory), but next year in 2022 for its 30th Anniversary, the show will be live in-person, while keeping the online component (aka a hybrid event) in order to continue to entertain the national audiences built during the pandemic. Last year’s virtual show was a Pick in the New York Times, The Forward, and Jewish newspapers in cities including Atlanta, Tampa and St. Louis, in addition to the San Francisco Bay Area press.

Kung Pao is the brainchild of San Francisco-based Jewish comedian, Lisa Geduldig, and is one of San Francisco’s longest running comedy shows. Kung Pao has been featured in the NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune…and was the country’s first Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese restaurant show. The idea for Kung Pao came about in October 1993, when Lisa was booked to perform at The Peking Garden Club in South Hadley, Massachusetts at what she imagined would be a comedy club, but upon her arrival she discovered it was a Chinese restaurant. A phone conversation the following day with an old friend (Tobi Sovak) from Jewish summer camp (Camp Hemshekh) about the irony of telling Jewish jokes at a Chinese restaurant led to the idea of Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese restaurant, and a brainstorming session of Jewish, comedy, and Chinese food-related words led to the name, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™.

Feeding the soul as well as the stomach. – New York Times

A San Francisco institution. – San Francisco Examiner

Now in its 29th year, Kung Pao is a take-off on the tradition (law?) of Jews going to a Chinese restaurant and a movie on Christmas. Study: Safe Treyf: New York Jews and Chinese Food” (Treyf means unkosher in Yiddish.) The event has been consistently catering to over 2000 people each December (including last year in Cyberspace), with some people having attended 20+ years while others have attended every year since its inception in 1993. This legendary event has boasted a Who’s Who of household name Jewish comedians including Henny Youngman, Shelley Berman, David Brenner, and Elayne Boosler.

The New Asia Restaurant, Kung Pao’s home in San Francisco’s Chinatown from 1997 (the fifth year of the show) to 2019 and one of the last 2 Chinese banquet restaurants in San Francisco’s Chinatown, is currently operating as a supermarket due to the pandemic.

This year, attendees have the option to view the livestream on Zoom or YouTube Live; those watching on Zoom will be able to gather with friends and family worldwide in Breakout Rooms one hour before the show. The rooms, with names that include Bubbelah, Kvetch, Meshugganah, Barbra Streisand, and Joan Rivers, mirror the tables traditionally reserved by participants at the in-person event. Last year, Breakout Room participants kvelled about the ability to, during lockdown, nosh and schmooze virtually with loved ones before the show.

Kung Pao’s audience is encouraged to support and order Chinese take out from their local Chinese restaurants or cook recipes of Chinese dishes (i.e the signature dish Kung Pao Chicken or Tofu) posted on the event website. And for its San Francisco-based audience, Kung Pao has launched a new partnership with the new take-out and delivery restaurant Lazy Susan Chinese. On December 25 & 26 only (the chefs are off on December 24), San Francisco viewers will be able to order delivery of a price fixed Chinese menu including a vegetarian option along with a packet of custom-made Yiddish proverb fortune cookies from San Francisco Chinatown’s Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory (that has made fortune cookies since 1962 and Kung Pao’s since 1994). The Yiddish proverbs include the infamous “With one tuchus, you can’t dance at 2 weddings.” (You can’t be in two places at once). Last year, the fortune cookies were merely virtual (motion graphics). Lazy Susan Chinese will make a donation to this year’s beneficiaries (San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and Shalom Bayit: Ending Domestic Violence in Jewish Homes) from each order placed.

Last July 2020, a few months into the pandemic, Kung Pao creator, producer, and MC, Lisa Geduldig, introduced her audiences to online comedy shows with the monthly Lockdown Comedy every third Thursday of the month (and still running) on Zoom hosted from her mother’s retirement community in Florida where Lisa accidentally found herself marooned for 17 months after going to visit for two weeks last March, just before the pandemic hit. Lisa’s 90-year old budding comedian mother, Arline, has been a special guest each month, performing stand up on the show. The duo has received accolades and press: The LA Times ran How A California Comic Launched A Virtual Stand-Up Show and Discovered A New Star: Mom; the San Francisco Examiner ran the article, Kung Pao Kosher Creator Introduces “Lockdown Comedy”: Lisa Geduldig and Her Mom Stream Standup, with Guests, from Florida, and in September, the San Francisco Chronicle did a feature S.F.’s Lisa Geduldig Happily Sharing Comedy Spotlight with A Fresh Talent, Her 90-Year-Old Mother.

The annual Jewish Christmas tradition, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™, spans three days December 24-26 (with the last day being a matinee so audiences in Europe can join), and this year features NY Jewish comedians Ophira Eisenberg and Jessica Kirson, along with Arline Geduldig (Lisa’s 90 year old mother) and Lisa Geduldig.

COMEDIANS’ BIOS

Ophira Eisenberg is a stand up comedian, and writer. She was the host of NPR’s Ask Me Another for 9 years where she interviewed and played silly games with Sir Patrick Stewart, Rosie Perez, Awkwafina, Roxanne Gay, Bob The Drag Queen, Jessica Walter, Bowen Yang, Debra Messing, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Handler and more. She’s a regular panelist on Hulu’s Up Early Tonight and has appeared on Comedy Central, This Week At The Comedy Cellar, The New Yorker Festival, Kevin Hart’s LOL Network, HBO’s Girls, Gotham Live, The Late Late Show, and The Today Show. Her stories have also been included in two of The Moth’s best-selling collections, including the most recent: Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible. Ophira’s own comedic memoir, Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy was optioned for a TV series. Her comedy special Inside Joke is available on Amazon, and her new comedy album Plant-Based Jokes will be available soon. www.OphiraEisenberg.com

Jessica Kirson is a powerhouse on stage and a hilariously relatable performer of sheer silliness, vulnerability, and ridiculous characters. Her countless comedic character videos have racked up over 30 million views on social media. In an era where only 10% of all touring comedians are female, Jessica stands out as one of the strongest, regardless of gender. She executive produced FX’s Hysterical, a feature-length documentary, that premiered at SXSW 2021, exploring the changing landscape of women in stand up and features Margaret Cho, Nikki Glazer, Chelsea Handler, Fortune Feimster, and other notable comedians. Her one-hour special, “Talking to Myself,” debuted on Comedy Central. She is a regular on This Week at the Comedy Cellar and has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The View, and Kevin Can Wait. Last year, Jessica was featured playing herself on the HBO series Crashing and recently acted in and served as a consultant, producer, and writer on the Robert De Niro film The Comedian. Her prank call album, The Call Girls, also featuring Rachel Feinstein, was released in September. Recorded virtually during the depths of quarantine, the album features characters such as old Jewish grandmothers and a conservative mother and her gay son. Jessica’s characters are coming to life in her new podcast, Disgusting Hawk. Through her Relatively Sane podcast, she has interviewed the likes of Bill Burr, Jim Gaffigan, Margaret Cho, and Rosie O’Donnell. Jessica was recently awarded “Best Female Comic” by the MAC Association in New York City and received the prestigious Nightlife Award for “Best Stand-up Comedian.” She is also a regular contributor to The Howard Stern Show, where she produces and stars in prank calls. www.JessicaKirson.com

Arline Geduldig, mother of comedian and Kung Pao Kosher Comedy producer, Lisa Geduldig, is a Florida-based budding stand up comedian who took to the (virtual) stage for the first time* in July 2020 on her daughter’s monthly Zoom comedy show, Lockdown Comedy; she has been performing and charming audiences on the monthly show ever since. Arline grew up in Brooklyn, raised her kids on Long Island, and retired to Florida, as is Jewish law. She offers her keen observations on aging, hearing aids, and hot young firemen and reminisces about her first kiss. Arline, who is 90 years young, has always been funny, and it was time for her to share her natural humor with her daughter’s audiences.

*She hadn’t been onstage since she was a teenager when she performed in a play while working as the rabbi’s secretary at Temple Israel of Jamaica (Queens).

Lisa Geduldig is a San Francisco-based comedian and the creator, producer, and MC of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy™ — Jewish comedy on Christmas in a Chinese Restaurant, which celebrates its 29th year this December (albeit in Cyberspace). Lisa appeared in a Canadian documentary, Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas, which aired on Canadian and European TV in December 2017. Before the pandemic, Lisa had been running Comedy Returns to El Rio, a monthly decade-long comedy show at El Rio in San Francisco where her comedy career began 30+ years ago. Since July 2020, she has been producing Lockdown Comedy every 3rd Thursday of the month on Zoom from her mother’s retirement community home in Florida, where she accidentally got marooned for 17 months during the pandemic (and became a fan of the Early Bird special). Lisa also has been instrumental in helping thousands of people in Florida and visitors from Latin America get vaccinated against Covid-19 through two South Florida Covid vaccine Facebook pages that she helps moderate, Being bilingual (Spanish/English), she has helped countless travelers in their native tongue through the Spanish language Facebook page she co-founded. SF Comedian’s Side Hustle: Helping People Get Vaccines in Florida Lisa is also a freelance arts publicist in both English and Spanish. www.SFPublicist.com

BENEFICIARIES

Over the past 28 years, Kung Pao has raised 10’s of 1000’s of dollars and awareness for numerous organizations. www.koshercomedy.com/beneficiaries In keeping with the Jewish tradition of tzedakah (charity, in Hebrew - tied in with a sense of duty and social responsibility), each year Kung Pao donates partial proceeds to organizations and causes in which we believe.

THIS YEAR’S BENEFICIARIES

San Francisco-Marin Food Bank’s mission is to end hunger in San Francisco and Marin. Before the pandemic, one in five neighbors was at risk of hunger, the pandemic upended thousands of people’s lives and livelihoods forcing more people than ever before to wonder where their next meal would come from. While we see our community slowly recovering, there is no vaccine for hunger. It will take time for those most impacted by the crisis to get back on their feet. The Food Bank continues to serve more than 50,000 households, compared to 32,000 pre-pandemic, and traffic to the find food page on our website is still up four times what it was pre-pandemic. We’ve met this need so far with the help of community partners, volunteers and other supporters. After more than a year responding to the pandemic, we are focused on returning to solutions that work and continuing to implement services developed during the crisis. It will take a collective effort to ensure we can continue to feed our neighbors facing hunger. www.sfmfoodbank.org

Shalom Bayit: Ending Domestic Violence in Jewish Homes is the Bay Area’s Jewish resource for responding to domestic violence and sexual harassment. Throughout the pandemic, Shalom Bayit has been on the front lines providing free, confidential counseling, crisis intervention and safety planning (including bilingual services in Russian) to those abused at home. Promoting healthy relationships and a culture of respect, Shalom Bayit’s innovative prevention/education programs like Love Shouldn't Hurt (consent education for teens and parents), MenschUp men's education, and We Commit workplace harassment trainings are transforming the Jewish community’s response to abuse, empowering women to safety in the places that matter most. www.shalom-bayit.org

First Bobble Menorah and Dreidel Unveiled Ahead of Hanukkah

MILWAUKEE – This morning, the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum unveiled the first Bobble Menorah and Bobble Dreidel. The Bobble Menorah features nine bobbling flames and comes in three color patterns. One version has blue candles, another has blue and white candles and a third has a multi-color assortment of candles. The Bobble Dreidel is on a gelt-shaped base with each side inscribed with the Dreidel’s Hebrew letters—Nun, Gimel, Hey and Shin, in a different color. The limited-edition bobbles were produced by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum.

Each bobble is individually numbered to 5,782 to commemorate the current year. They are only available through the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum’s Online Store. The bobbles, which will ship out to customers the third week of November, are $25 each plus a flat-rate shipping charge of $8 per order.

The Menorah is the nine-branch lamp used to celebrate, remember, and honor the miracle of Hanukkah. It consists of a center branch with four branches on each side and holds candles or oil lamps. On each night of the eight-day holiday, one more light is lit than the previous night, until all eight branches are illuminated on the final night. The ninth branch is the shamash (“helper” or “servant” branch), which is used to light the other branches. The shamash must be offset on a higher or lower plane than the main eight candles or oil lamps. Since 1979, the White House has been represented at the lighting of the National Menorah in celebration of Hanukkah. Two large Menorahs are in New York City, each standing at 32 feet. One is at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, and the other is at Fifth Avenue and 59^th Street in Manhattan near Central Park.

A Dreidel is the four-sided spinning top typically made of wood, plastic, or clay. It has Hebrew letters on each side and is commonly played during Hanukkah. It is a game of luck that uses candy, coins, nuts, or other betting tokens. The four sides of the Dreidel are Nun, Gimel, Hey and Shin. Nun means the player does nothing. Gimel means the player gets all the tokens from the pot. Hey means that the player gets half of the tokens from the pot. Shin means that they player has to put one token in the pot. The four letters are an abbreviation for the Hebrew phrase “Nes gadol haya sham,” or “A great miracle happened there,” in honor of the rededication of the Temple. According to some scholars, the dreidel developed from an Irish or English top introduced into Germany known as a teetotum, which was popular around Christmas time and dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times.

"We’re thrilled to be releasing the very first Bobble Menorah and Bobble Dreidel just in time for Hanukkah,” National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum co-founder and CEO Phil Sklar said. “Hanukkah has always been one of my favorite holidays, and it has been exciting watching this concept come to life over the past year. I hope people proudly display their Bobble Menorah and Bobble Dreidel to celebrate the Festival of Lights every year.”

About the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum:
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, which is located at 170 S. 1st St. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, opened to the public on February 1st, 2019. The HOF and Museum also produces high quality, customized bobbleheads for retail sale as well as organizations, individuals, and teams across the country. Visit us online and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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JScreen.Org Adds CancerGEN to National Genetic Screening Program Just in Time for Cancer Awareness Months This Fall

October 2021 (ATLANTA) – JScreen, www.jscreen.org a national public health initiative based out of Emory University School of Medicine’s Department of Human Genetics, adds yet another way to save lives with the successful hard launch of its CancerGEN testing initiative. This new JScreen initiative offers at-home testing for more than 60 cancer susceptibility genes associated with hereditary risks for breast, ovarian, prostate, colorectal, skin and many other cancers.  

During the Pandemic we have all learned how critical it is to take healthcare into your own hands.  With October Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Prostate and Ovarian Cancer Awareness months in the fall, and the staggering statistics showing that half of all men and a third of all women will develop cancer during their lifetime, JScreen understands the importance of giving people a heads up if they have a hereditary risk for cancer. This not-for-profit home education and genetic screening program started in 2013 with reproductive genetic testing called ReproGEN, and now tests for risk for over 40 types of hereditary cancer with the addition of the CancerGEN test.  

“Making cancer genetic testing accessible is key,” said Jane Lowe Meisel, MD, Associate Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, and medical director for JScreen’s cancer program. “This type of testing is important because it alerts people to their risks before they get cancer. They can then take action to help prevent cancer altogether or to detect it at an early, treatable stage.”   

Getting tested through JScreen is easy. All you have to do to receive your simple at-home test is sign up online, provide a saliva sample and use pre-paid postage to mail it in, making JScreen.org pandemic proof since before the pandemic!  JScreen’s tests use state-of-the-art genetic sequencing technology to ensure highly accurate results. The robust cancer testing panel includes genes that are actionable, meaning there is something that can be done to help prevent cancer if a person tests positive. JScreen provides risk information in the record-breaking time of three weeks or less. Importantly, licensed genetic counselors provide consults via phone or secure video conferencing to ensure that people understand their results. 

One of JScreen’s goals is to make testing affordable. ReproGEN currently costs $149 and CancerGEN is $199. JScreen also offers need-based financial assistance. The proof of JScreen’s passion for saving lives is in the incredible stories they hear, the healthy babies that are born and the people that can now take action to avoid a cancer diagnosis. As the JScreen team likes to say – “we are a small team with a huge footprint.” 

“Knowledge is power. With an understanding and awareness of their cancer risks and available options, individuals can work with their health-care providers on next steps,” said Karen Arnovitz Grinzaid, MS, CGC, Assistant Professor of Human Genetics at Emory University School of Medicine, and JScreen’s Executive Director. “Launching our new cancer program and providing convenient and affordable access to cancer genetic testing across the US will help save lives.”    

About JScreen 

JScreen is a national non-profit public health initiative dedicated to preventing genetic diseases and cancer. Headquartered in Atlanta at Emory University School of Medicine, the JScreen initiative provides convenient at-home access to cutting-edge genetic testing technology, patient education and genetic counseling services. JScreen believes the combination of education, access to premier genetic screening technologies and personalized, confidential support are the keys to preventing devastating diseases. 

Please visit JScreen.org for more information.

For additional information:

Stacey Bender
T + 1 (973) 650-1218
Sbender@bendergrouppr.com