Episode #54: Audio Replay of Jewish Women – An Archive of Our Own

In case you missed it…Who are the shoulders we stand on and where can we find their stories? Meet JUDITH ROSENBAUM – feminist, educator, historian, writer, activist—and CEO of the Jewish Women’s Archive, the pioneering national organization that documents Jewish women’s stories, elevates their voices, and inspires them to be agents of change!

Visit their website: https://jwa.org

Moderated by author and JWT writer Lisa Rosenbaum. With a dramatic performance by one of JWT’s wonderful actors along with a Q & A.

Click Here for a Video Replay

Judith Rosenbaum, CEO of the Jewish Women’s Archive, served for nearly a decade as JWA’s Director of Public History and Director of Education, developing its major programs and educational initiatives. A graduate of Yale University, with a PhD in American Studies from Brown University, she has taught and lectured widely on Jewish studies and women’s studies. She writes for academic, popular journals and blogs including Tablet, The Forward, Huffpost, The Jewish Week. Tikkun Magazine, Sh’ma Magazine, PresenTense, Reform Jewish magazine, My Jewish Learning, Kveller, Role/Reboot, and in anthologies.

Click Here to join us September 6 @ 11am PDT for our next Sunday Morning at The Braid virtual event, THE COMEDY OF COPING with celebrated writers Cindy Chupack and Annabelle Gurwitch

Episode #54: Audio Replay of Jewish Women – An Archive of Our Own2020-08-24T15:55:16-07:00

Episode #41: NEXT @ The Braid presents Santa Monica Speaks Pt. 1

Join us on a little experiment from our Emerging Artists of NEXT @ The Braid! In this episode, you will hear 3 stories that materialized out of a writing exercise that took place during a recent meeting of the council. The stories are loosely inspired by the theme of NEXT’s upcoming Salon, For Goodness’ Sake which will debut in June. Are you an artist in your 20s/30s with a story to tell?? CLICK HERE to find out how you can submit your story to For Goodness’ Sake by March 6th!

Quick note: the Fellows did not read their own stories so as to anonymize the content.

Don’t miss JWT’s Second Salon of the season: Sex, Addiction & Love in the 21st Century! CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS <–Some dates are already selling out!

The 2019-2020 NEXT @ The Braid Fellows are Leenie Baker, David Chiu, Amanda Horowitz, Charles Volk, Rachel Minkoff, Isaac “Izzy” Salant, Sara True Rosenthal, and Sophie Stern Greenbaum. Daphna Shull serves as NEXT Literary Manager and Ora Yashar serves as NEXT Literary Consultant. NEXT Council Coordinator is Andrew Fromer.

For more information on NEXT @ The Braid, JWT’s Emerging Artists Fellowship, click here.

Episode #41: NEXT @ The Braid presents Santa Monica Speaks Pt. 12020-02-23T21:30:14-08:00

Episode #40: Mapping of the Mind Part 1

“A window into his soul.”

On this episode, Andrew sits down with Laura Ornest, Co-Producer of Mapping of the Mind, to discuss her late brother Maury Ornest. His story is one of several featured in our latest Salon which has been received with such incredible support as we shed light on humorous, heartfelt and hopeful stories from those touched by mental illness.

Maury was a promising young baseball talent in the 80’s, drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, and working his way through the minor leagues until injuries got in the way. Suddenly, his life took a sharp turn when he was struck by severe mental illness. At one point on his journey, a doctor suggested painting as part of his treatment and he fell in love with art, colors, even snails, and sharing his feelings on a canvas. When Maury passed away at 58 from heart disease, his family discovered an unknown storage unit filled with 1400 paintings and countless journal entries detailing his experiences in art and life.

Also in this episode, you will hear excerpts from the performance including some of Maury’s writings and as an added piece, a piece written by multi-talented artist Julie Chafets Grass, who also has artwork featured in our art show!

CLICK HERE for info on viewing our art on display at The Braid

PIECES FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:

MO’s Journal #2 and #3*
Written by Maury Ornest.  Adapted by Ronda Spinak from journals.  Performed by Josh T. Ryan.

*Music: “Maury’s Theme” by Mike Himelstein & Michael Turner.  

The Queen of MORE
Written by Julie Chafets Grass [adapted from The Queen of MORE, Poems by her Sidekick, ©2018 Julie Chafets Grass.  All rights reserved.]  Performed by Nadège August.

CLICK HERE to purchase Julie’s book on Amazon

Interested in booking a performance of Mapping in the Mind in your community? CLICK HERE to email Andrew

*Mapping of the Mind is underwritten in loving memory of Jack Spinak by his beloved brother Sydney Spinak and his niece Ronda*

MAPPING OF THE MIND CREDITS
Material Adapted, Curated and Produced by Ronda Spinak
Directed by Susan Morgenstern
Co-Produced by Laura Ornest
Dramaturg Lisa Rosenbaum
Literary Manager Suzanna Kaplan
South Bay Producer Liz Altman
San Francisco Bay Area Producer Carol Kirsh
Assistant Director Aysha Wax
JWT Assistant Artistic Director Andrew Fromer
Associate Producers Rose Ziff, Susie Yuré
Artistic Associate Daphna Shull
Stage Manager Amanda Horowitz

Performed by Nadége August*, Nicole Lipp, Josh T. Ryan and Kate Zentall*
*Actor is an Abby Freeman Artist in Residence at JWT

CLICK HERE for tickets to JWT’s upcoming events including Sex, Addiction & Love in the 21st Century and Creative Couples with Angella Nazarian!

Episode #40: Mapping of the Mind Part 12020-02-25T18:29:06-08:00

Episode #38: Thanksgiving with a Persian-Jewish Twist

Happy Thanksgiving!! On today’s episode, a delicious treat for you…we are proud to present a recording of a classic, beloved piece from our Salon Saffron & Rosewater, which highlighted the experiences of Iranian Jews through a fragrant evening of incredible stories, song, and lovely surprises. Hear a celebration of being Jewish and American with Saffron Rice and Cranberry Sauce, written by Esther Amini and performed by Roxana Rastegar.

FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE:
Saffron Rice and Cranberry Sauce
Written by Esther Amini adapted from A Persian Thanksgiving, published in The Jewish Week, Performed by Roxana Rastegar

Click here for more info on Saffron & Rosewater

Don’t forget to grab your tickets for A Very Happy Goyisha Hanukkah and The Wendy Chronicles!

Episode #38: Thanksgiving with a Persian-Jewish Twist2019-11-24T08:27:56-08:00

Episode #36: Getting Older without Getting Old with Ruth Weisberg and Rosaline Zukerman

Two amazing guests from Sunday’s sold-out event! USC Professor Ruth Weisberg and family law attorney Rosaline Zukerman have a lot of wisdom to offer on the subject of living deep, meaningful lives, well into their elderhood.

Our November 3rd Sunday Morning at The Braid event, “Getting Older without Getting Old: Jewish Women Gracefully Ageing and Still Doing it All” will also feature Rabbi Emerita Laura Geller who will join Ruth and Rosaline for an incredible morning of laughter and wisdom. The event is sold out so have a listen to today’s episode for a little preview of the incredible insights these women have to offer.

ABOUT RUTH WEISBERG
An Artist, Professor of Fine Arts and former Dean at the USC Roski School, Ruth is currently the Director of the USC Initiative for Israeli Arts and Humanities, and the founder and President of the Jewish Artists Initiative of Southern California. She has had over 80 solo and 190 group exhibitions, including a major exhibition at the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena and a retrospective, at the Skirball Museum, Los Angeles as well as a solo exhibition at the Huntington in San Marino. Her work is in sixty major Museum collections including The Art Institute of Chicago; The Biblioteque Nationale of France; Paris; Istituto Nationale per la Grafica, Rome; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and lives with New York; The National Gallery, Washington, D.C. and the Whitney Museum. Weisberg has two children and lives with her husband in Santa Monica, California.

ABOUT ROSALINE ZUKERMAN
Rosaline “Roz” Zukerman enrolled in law school in her late 40s, when most women decide to take a breather from the heavy lifting of bringing up a family with four kids. At the age of 50, Zukerman launched her own family law firm. Over the next 39 years, she built a successful Century City law firm of five attorneys, of which she is still the titular head. In a family law practice which incorporates her background in psychology, education and counseling, Zukerman has adapted to the shifts of an ever-changing culture, including her LGBT clients. An exemplary 95% settlement record has won Roz the admiration and respect of clients and peers. Devoted to her husband, children, and twelve grandchildren, she is active in civic and cultural affairs in Los Angeles and in mentoring young women.

Episode #36: Getting Older without Getting Old with Ruth Weisberg and Rosaline Zukerman2019-10-31T10:41:26-07:00

Episode #35: Living After with Jenna Fields of Sharsheret and Cynthia Freeman

We are standing up to cancer during National Breast Cancer Awareness month with two very special performances of a brand new show, Living After! It is a moving, funny, and poignant collection of stories and songs that will uplift and create a conversation around this challenging subject.

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS FOR LIVING AFTER

In part one of today’s episode, Lisa and Maureen are joined by Jenna Fields, California Regional Director of SHARSHERET, a national non-profit organization, working to improve the lives of Jewish women and families living with or at increased genetic risk for breast or ovarian cancer – JWT and Sharsheret have partnered together to present Living After and a portion of the ticketing proceeds will be donated to Sharsheret. Jenna joins us to talk about the amazing work they are doing, as well as the services available to the Jewish community through Sharsheret.

More info at sharsheret.org

In part two, Ronda and special guest Cynthia Freeman join in to talk about JWT’s Abby Freeman Artists in Residence program. Cynthia is the sister of Abby, JWT’s very first employee who passed away from breast cancer at the age of 37. Abby’s legacy lives on through our program, a way to honor hard-working artists who share the mission and ideals of our organization. There will be a reception in honor of the Abby Freeman Artists-in-Residence program following the 2:00 p.m. performance of Living After, on Sunday, October 27.  And now, we would like to welcome Cynthia Freeman, Abby’s sister. 

BUY TICKETS
Saturday Oct. 26 @ 8pm
Sunday Oct. 27 @ 2pm (reception to follow)
@ The Braid in Santa Monica
2912 Colorado Ave. #102,
Santa Monica, CA, 90404

ABOUT JENNA
Jenna Fields, MA, MSW, California Regional Director, is a graduate of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management at Hebrew Union College and the School of Social Work at the University of Southern California. Jenna oversees Sharsheret’s office in the Greater Los Angeles community, and all local programmatic efforts including outreach, education, partnership development and fundraising.

ABOUT CYNTHIA
Senior program director Cynthia Freeman oversees an $8 million-plus portfolio of fiscal sponsorship projects; manages capacity-building initiatives and regranting programs for foundation, government, and corporate clients; and supervises staff and consultants. Prior to joining Community Partners in 2006, Freeman worked as a policy director for the Association of Community Human Service Agencies, a trade association of community-based human service agencies that contract with Los Angeles County to provide child welfare and mental health services. Previously, she spent seven years in the field of philanthropy, most recently at the New York Foundation, making grants to community organizing, advocacy, and start-up projects in New York City’s low-income neighborhoods. She also planned new grantmaking and technical assistance initiatives and ran a summer internship in philanthropy. Freeman has served as a consultant to numerous nonprofit organizations and worked on initiatives with government entities including the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, Burbank Police Department, and New York City Department of Homeless Services. She began her career as a community organizer and fundraiser for ACORN, a grassroots community organization of low-income people. She has served on the steering committees of Interfaith Funders and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy and is prior board chair of Jumpstart and co-leader of the Southern California Fiscal Sponsors Network. Freeman is a graduate of Brown University and has an MPA in nonprofit management from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.

Episode #35: Living After with Jenna Fields of Sharsheret and Cynthia Freeman2019-10-17T17:04:54-07:00

Episode #34: Season 12 Preview with Ronda and Susan

CLICK HERE to buy your 2020 Subscription!

A show exploring mental illness – a collection of outrageous stories of the carnal sort – incredible life-changing moments. These are set to be shared in JWT’s inspiring 12th Salon Season! On today’s episode, JWT Artistic Director Ronda Spinak and JWT Producing Director Susan Morgenstern return to discuss what has them excited for this year’s 3-Salon Season which is sure to be our best season yet! Hear about the excitement shared when a writer reveals a secret for the first time on our stage, what we can look forward to in each Salon and what does it mean for a JWT piece to “marinate.”

Subscriptions are on sale now, click to buy!

Want more info on Salon Theatre? Check out this video.

Episode #34: Season 12 Preview with Ronda and Susan2019-09-18T11:34:06-07:00

Episode #33: Both/And from True Colors!

“I emerged from the birth canal strangling on the umbilical cord.  I wonder if God was giving me a chance to change my mind: are you certain you want this adventure of life as a Cuban Catholic daughter of a Jewish mother?”

On this episode, hear the incredibly moving piece “Both/And,” one of the favorite stories from the hit show True Colors which returns to The Braid in Santa Monica for four performances September 19-22. Written by Maria Ramos-Chertok and performed by Heidi Mendez (bios below), “Both/And” is from the collection of pieces that makes up our wildly popular Salon show True Colors – full of humorous, revealing and inspiring stories from Jews of Color exploring identity, community and being a Jew in modern times.

TRUE COLORS CREDITS
Material Adapted, Curated, and Producedby Ronda Spinak
Producedby Eric Greene
Directed by Susan Morgenstern
Dramaturges Lisa Rosenbaum & Susan Baskin
Literary Manager Suzanna Kaplan
South Bay Producer Liz Altman
San Francisco/Bay Area Producer Carol Kirsh
Assistant Producer Barbara Koletsky
Associate Producers Rose Ziff & Susie Yuré
Artistic Associate Daphna Shull
Assistant Artistic Director Andrew Fromer

Starring: Brie Eley, Kimberly Green, Heidi Mendez, Joshua Silverstein and Katherine Washington

Written By: Ruth Behar, Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, David Chiu, Marcos Cohen, Courtenay Edelhart, Marra B. Gad, Marissa Tiamfook Gee, M.A. Hosein, Maria Ramos-Chertok, Larry M. Sanders, and Joshua Silverstein

Featured on this episode:
Both/And
Written by Maria Ramos-Chertok. Performed by Heidi Mendez.

MARIA RAMOS-CHERTOK (Writer) is a writer, workshop leader, and coach who facilitates the Butterfly Series, a writing and creative arts workshop for women who want to explore what’s next. Her book, The Butterfly Series: Fifty-two Weeks of Inquiries for Transformation, was published in August 2018. She is finalizing her debut novel, Rosie’s Blues, inspired by the experience of her mother opening their family home in Hackensack, New Jersey, as a shelter for battered women and children. Maria’s manuscript won the 2018 Adult Fiction Mentorship prize from the Word for Diversity. She is a contributor to All the Women in My Family Sing: Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedom (Feb. 2018), edited by Deborah Santana, and She’s Got This! Essays on Standing Strong and Moving On (Feb. 2019), a Write-on Mamas project. Since 2014, she’s cohosted women’s salons showcasing women-of-color artists. For more info, visit: www. mariaramoschertok.com.

HEIDI MENDEZ (Actor) is a bilingual actor/director/educator who has worked professionally in Madrid, Mexico City, Utah, Texas, and now California. Her favorite roles include Lady Bracknell, Prospero, and most recently Amanda in The Glass Menagerie. Some favorite shows as director/choreographer include Cats, Working, Fiddler, and The Diary of Anne Frank. She is known as the Rapping Grandma to kids in juvie where she volunteered for two years which led her to be founder/director of ACT RISK NO MORE, a nonprofit whose mission is to rescue troubled teens through theater. Heidi is married to Nick (a Mormon bishop) and is the mother of three boys, resulting in her being afraid nothing. For fun, Heidi takes hip-hop classes and plays dress- up with her granddaughter. Education: BA in acting from BYU and MA in directing from Texas State, plus two Utah teaching certificates for theater and Spanish.

For more info on True Colors, click here.

Episode #33: Both/And from True Colors!2019-10-17T16:26:19-07:00

Episode #32: Hippie Woman Wild! with Carol Schlanger

Why did a not-so-nice Jewish girl, expelled from Yale Drama School during the Vietnam protests, abandon her acting dream to follow the man she loves to an off-the-grid commune in Oregon? CAROL SCHLANGER, acclaimed actress, writer and JWT favorite will read and perform a hilarious, bawdy and true story from her new book as she celebrates the publication of her memoir, Hippie Woman Wild: A Memoir of Life & Love on an Oregon Commune.

Sunday, August 11th 10:00am – 12:00pm
At The Braid Performance and Art Space
2912 Colorado Ave. #102, Santa Monica, CA, 90404

On this episode Lisa and Maureen are joined by Carol and Arlene Sarner, award-winning screenwriter and moderator of the event. They chat about how laundry is done – commune style, what it was like suddenly swapping Manhattan for rural Oregon and why Carol never wants to see a chicken again…enjoy the episode! RIP Eddy the Ram.

Click here to purchase the book and/or leave a review on Amazon!

CAROL SCHLANGER is a professional award winning actress and writer, best known for her honest, fearless and outrageously funny work. She’s billed as “a baby boomer’s answer to Lena Dunham.” A native New Yorker, Carol first received notice and rave reviews as ” The American Housewife” at the New York Public Theater. Carol is a graduate of Yale Drama, where she began her professional acting and writing career working with Improv Guru, Paul Sills at the Body Politic in Chicago. Since, she has worked consistently in film, television and on stage. Her plays have been produced both in New York and L.A.

Carol has worked as a staff writer for Imagine Television and created two pilots, Back to the Garden and Hello Pilgrim for CBS. Her one-woman play, Mouth to Mouth (1995) received L.A. Critics Awards for Acting and Writing. She was the 2011 winner of the L.A. playwrights story slam. A much in demand storyteller, she performs in high-end venues throughout L.A including The Moth, Sparc, Tasty Words, the JWT and I Love A Good Story.

An old hippie, and lifetime organic farmer, Carol has just completed her memoir, Hippie Woman Wild, about a 24 year old urbane and, radicalized New York actress from privilege, and Yale, who joins her cowboy lover, Clint, in a back-to-the land movement of the 1970’s, living on in the Oregon wilderness on a commune. The wild, multi-layered story is the unheard female voice of a generation.

Episode #32: Hippie Woman Wild! with Carol Schlanger<