The Play

Opening night is Sunday for On Being Jewish Now

On Being Jewish Now is now… on stage! Ronda Spinak at The Braid reached out to me last June and asked if I’d be interested in her organization adapting and producing a spoken word performance based on my book. Um, YES. We’ve been working together diligently (as in: many, many emails) over the past ten months and now, it’s time!

Four actors will be performing fourteen of the essays written by contributors to the On Being Jewish Now anthology: Joanna Rakoff, actor Mark Feuerstein, Rebecca Raphael, Jacqueline Friedland, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Courtney Sheinmel, Jeanne Blasberg, David Christopher Kaufman, Keren Blankfeld (Keren’s Substack), alison hammer, film producer Jeremy Garelick, Shirin Yadegar, Elizabeth Silver, and me!

The play will be performed in person at different locations across the greater L.A. and San Francisco areas for the next six weeks, plus on Zoom (so no excuse to miss it!). Contributors will do talkbacks after many of them. I’ll be at all events between March 22nd - 29th in person.

We’ve gotten really wonderful press already! The Hollywood Reporter broke the news and since then the Times of Israel, the Jewish Journal (even the print edition), Broadway World, and the Santa Monica Daily Press have written about with more coverage to come.

It’s so crazy to me how everything has happened with this book project. What started as an idea I had while perched on the edge of the couch, scrolling my phone in the dark after the kids had fallen asleep one late June evening, frustrated and devastated after hearing about another attack on Israel, has turned into a community. A movement.

The book was on the USA Today bestseller list for 27 weeks. It has led to hundreds of events. I’ve personally traveled all over North America meeting groups of amazing people, often with other contributors. Think: Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Louisville, Toronto, Palm Beach, Miami, Boca Raton, Naples, Milwaukee, Scottsdale, L.A., New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, D.C., Connecticut, Long Island, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marin, and so many other stops.

The On Being Jewish Now Substack, which launched on pub day for the book, is still going strong. We publish 1-2 essays a week from around the globe.

Who knows what’s after this? After California, we have tentative stops planned in Houston and New York. If your organization would like to host us and bring the performance to you, please get in touch with Ronda.

And boy, don’t we all need a little joy and connection in this dark time? Jewish or not, these stories and performances are about connection. Community. Culture. Resilience. Grief. Love.

I hope you’ll all come out, spread the word, and support the new iteration of the book. Ticket info is here. Here’s to bringing light to each other this Passover. And peace.