Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Introducing...

The cover of my new book! Debuting October 2012. Stay tuned for news about tour dates, blog tour, giveaways, excerpts and more! Hot Mamalah: The Ultimate Guide for Every Woman of the Tribe (Andrews McMeel Publishing) is a start-to-finish celebration of the strengths, challenges and triumphs of Jewish women: the good, the great, the PMSy and the menopausal! This "ABCs of She" dishes up a delicious smorgasbord of everything whole-y and holy feminine for having fun and having chutzpah, with humorous essays, adorable illustrations, how-to's and more. From cocktails to cupcakes, Purim costumes to bar aliases, Hot Mamalah whets an appetite for getting the most out of life, love, and your closet. Hot Mamalah is the much anticipated companion to the hilarious 21st century Jewish catalog, Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe. Like us here!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Purim Recap!

Hey Friends, Heebsters and Honoraries,

What an amazing year it has been already!!!

In the past few months, Cool Jew has been on the go... on stage and on tour, with a lot of super fun return visits to some of my favorite events across the country!













The book tour that keeps on giving has included these wonderful events:

Schmooze Conference - my fourth on the Schmooze Conference Team and my first as assistant director!
Moderator: "NextGen Magnets: Programming for 20s and 30s"
City Winery, NYC, January 11 - 12, 2011

Limmud NY -- my third in a row as a presenter!
"Cool Jew: A Cultural Ride for Every Member of the Tribe," sell-out crowd, standing room only!
January 14 - 17, 2011

Midrasha of the East Bay Annual Fundraiser
Moderator of "The Business of Bagels and Blessings," a panel discussion with authors, Noah Alper, Business Mensch, and Sue Fishkoff, Kosher Nation
Temple Isaiah, February 13, 2011

Limmud LA -- my third in a row as a presenter!
"Jewseum: The World's First Virtual Interactive Jewish Museum"
February 18 - 21, 2011

Jewlicious Festival 7.0 -- my fifth consecutive as a presenter!
February 25 - 27, 2011

"Author at large," moderating and presenting at three sessions

* Moderator and presenter at "Shmooze Talk:" short, sweet inspirational talks with four presenters:
Tal Brody, Israel's Goodwill Ambassador and Basketball Superstar
Dan Sieradski, Director of Digital Strategy, Repair the World
Rabbi Yonah Bookstein, Co-Founder, Jewlicious Festivals

* StorySlam: Creative Storytelling Workshop

* Moderator: Why We Give a Damn - Roundtable
Activists speak the "why" of "what" they do

Limmud Shabbat/Limmud Winnipeg -- the inaugural event!
March 11 -13, 2011
Another three sessions:
* "Jewseum: The World's First Virtual Interactive Jewish Museum" and
* A "Cool Jew: A Cultural Ride for Every Member of the Tribe Double Header" with a big Saturday night show in Winnipeg's massive Rady Center Theatre and a repeat performance, standing room only, on Sunday!

All those awesome Limmud experiences came into this fantastic JTA article, "Limmud becoming new favored networking tool for Jewish authors, artists, groups" by Sue Fishkoff.

And now... it's Purim! It's also time for this Cool Jew to get back to the business of writing. My new book, also with my fantastic publisher, Andrews McMeel, is in progress and so much fun!

In the meantime, wishing you a l'chaim in your punim and a fun-filled, meaningful Purim Sameach!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Catch Cool Jew

at several upcoming gigs!

I'll be emceeing the Saturday night show at the upcoming Hazon Food Conference - West!

I'll be on hand, helping run the program and moderating as assistant director of Schmooze 2011.

And I'll be in the mix at Limmud NY. Have you always wanted to check it out? Well, if you sign up by Friday, December 24, you’ll get $50 off your registration fee by entering a special “Friends & Family” discount code. Okay, it’s really just my name, Lisa Alcalay Klug. All you have to do is enter it in the “Other Source” box when asked: “How did you hear about Limmud NY?” on page 4 of registration and you’ll automatically save $50. Register now and you might qualify for an additional scholarship.

This annual festival of Jewish diversity, culture, and ideas takes place January 14-17 at the Hudson Valley Resort in Kerhonkson, NY and it’s packed with Heebsters: Joshua Nelson & the Kosher Gospel Choir, Chana Rothman, Eden “Epryhme” Pearlstein, Naomi Less, Sarah Aroeste, Shir Yaakov Feinstein-Feit, Bodi, Rachel & Matti and more than 300 sessions with leading Jewish thinkers, artists, public figures, educators and activists like writer/moderator Abigail Pogrebin, Jay Michaelson, mystical scholar Avraham Sutton from Jerusalem, Kabbalist DovBer Pinson, Rabbis Simcha Weinstein, David Ingber and a few dozen others, Yaffa Epstein of the Pardes Institute in the Holy City and many others, including me. I’ll be there doing my ‘Cool Jew’ book thang Saturday night. And if you’re coming with some little people, there’s a terrific kid’s program featuring Karina & Coco of 92Y Shababa.

For more info, call 212-908-2525 or email info(at)limmudny.org. Remember, drop my name and register by Friday, December 24, 2010 for your discount to Limmud NY at www.limmudny.org. See you there!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Latest

Heebsters, Friends and Honoraries,

We've got lots of great news to share! My recent trip to Israel and Limmud Hungary was a wonderful success and so many of you were a part of it. Because of the generous donations to the Friends of Lisa's "Latte Campaign," we quickly met our goal to underwrite the costs of the trip. It was an awesome, heartwarming experience to watch the numbers climb so quickly over a short period of time. Abundant thanks to you all and to the crowd sourcing whiz team at IndieGoGo.com for making this dream a reality. We ♥ you! Not only was Limmud Hungary a fabulous experience--where we shared, celebrated and explored what it means to be Jewish today. But so was the "after-party." We've been invited by a number of Hungarian organizations to join the fabulous festivities that fill the historic Jewish Quarter in Budapest every Chanukah. We’ll keep you posted with more great news ahead. In the meantime, let us know if you’ll be in those parts and/or want to join the street team as the story of the Cool Jew Project continues. We'd love to have you on board!

Limmudarama

It’s hard to believe but since last December, the Cool Jew story--and several other sessions about innovations on the Jewish cultural landscape, tikkun olam and more--have appeared at a whopping seven Limmud conferences: UK, NY, LA, Atlanta, Berlin, Holland and, as you just heard, Budapest. These festivals are filled with learning, sharing, presenting, schmoozing, exploring... and so much more. With that in mind, I couldn’t suddenly go cold turkey in 2011, so next calendar year will bring at least three three Limmuds in a row: Limmud NY in January, Limmud LA in February and this just in, Limmud Winnipeg in March. I’m honored to be part of a first: the maiden voyage of Limmud in Winnipeg. Join us!

The Word Was Spoken

My trip to Israel had so many highlights: presenting at the Conservative Yeshiva, performing at Off The Wall Comedy Basement, appearing on a few radio shows and much more. This week, I broadcast via Facebook my longing for Jerusalem. And then, suddenly, I’m part of a pre-recorded broadcast from Jerusalem. "An Evening of Spoken Word at Avram Cafe" airs in just a couple of hours, starting at 10 pm Israel time, on http://live.106fmj.co.il/ Most of this totally awesome program is in Hebrew, but my autobiographical piece about visiting Poland with my dad, “Shoah Camp 2000,” is the English-language finale. Tune in soon and check it out!

Schmooze By Day/Oyhoo By Night!

Where can you find Achinoam Nini "Noa", The Klezmatics, and Joshua Nelson jamming by night and Ari Roth and other Jewish luminaries schmoozing by day? There's only one place and it's name is Schmooze! January marks my fourth year as part of the team creating the annual Schmooze Conference on Jewish arts and culture in NYC. Join us for this fab gathering of Jewish cultural leaders, artists, curators, critics, agents and more. We're upping the schmooze factor to make this year's gathering more valuable than ever with: SpeedSchmoozing * Artist Showcases * Panels * Cocktail Parties * Discussions * Art Bursts * Presentation of the new IJPA site JewishPresenters.org for Bookings, Tour Info, Networking and More * Gourmet Cultural Pairing Lunch and a host of valuable sessions! Oyhoo launches January 10th at 8 pm and Schmooze at 9 am on January 11th at City Winery, New York City. For additional information and registration, contact info@oyhoo.com.

As always, the eight days of Chanukah are eight great days to share Cool Jew! Pick up copies for your friends, fam and yourself on Amazon here. And check out more our logo gear at the Cool Jew store on Cafe Press. Discounts apply all week--no coupons required.

Wishing you Happy Chanukah blessings of light, love and miracles!

And, of course, a l’chaim in your latke!

Lisa

Twitter: @lisaklug
Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7305188571
http://www.facebook.com/lisaklug

Monday, October 11, 2010

Cool Jew in Jerusalem

Two special events on tap this week in Jerusalem!

1. An Evening of Spoken Word
אירוע "ספוקן וורד " בירושלים

Come here the debut of my newest piece at a bilingual "Evening of Spoken Word" on Tuesday, October 12th, 2010. אירוע "ספוקן וורד" בירושלים at the Avram Coffee Bar, 97 Jaffa Road, Jerusalem. בר-קפה אברם ,רח יפו 97.

Big thanks to meshoreret Michaela Lamdan for putting together an amazing program!

משוררים, מוסיקאים ושחקנים
בערב יוצגו טקסטים מלווים במוסיקה במגוון סגנונות ה"ספוקן"
משתתפים:
Harold Rubin &JC Jones
ורדה בן חור, חגית גרוסמן ואופיר לוקיי, ללי ציפי מיכאלי בלווי סקסופן ,יחזקאל נפשי וא.ב. דן , אמיר מנשהוף, נעם פרתום , שירה ז' כרמל , מיכאלה למדן,אפרת קוזין,מרפי ,גילי א' דנון
אורחת מיוחדת - הסופרת ליסה קלג מקליפורניה
If you don't read Hebrew, that last line reads "Special guest: author Lisa Alcalay Klug from California!"
כניסה- 20 ש"ח
מומלץ להזמין מקום
טל' להזמנת מקום:
0774450701

2. Catch the Cool Jew show at the Conservative Yeshiva

Wednesday, Oct. 13th, 2010, 12:30 pm

Cool Jew: A Cultural Ride for Every Member of the Tribe

A fun-filled romp across the contemporary Jewish cultural landscape. Includes musical samplings, slides, poignant personal anecdotes and humorous escapades fresh from the United States and the massive tour across North America, Europe and Israel that launched the best-selling book, Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe, the first humor book honored in the 50-year history of the National Jewish Book Awards.

Lisa Alcalay Klug is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author of Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe. She has published hundreds of articles in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Report, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Moment, Hadassah, Forward and many other mainstream and Jewish media outlets. Over the past two years, she has co-curated, performed and presented at more than 100 events in the U.S., Canada, Israel and Europe at a wide variety of venues. These include universities, synagogues, book fairs, Jewish Federation events and festivals including Jewlicious and Limmud conferences in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, London, Berlin and Amsterdam. She holds a Masters of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies (Phi Beta Kappa and with highest honors) from the University of California at Berkeley. She also completed post-graduate work at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem with a focus on Contemporary Jewry. Lisa is the founding director of Tolerant Nation, which provides innovative arts and cultural events for young Jews to interact with one another, connect to their Jewish legacy and explore cross-cultural experiences.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Bring Cool Jewie-ness From the West to Budapest

Dear Friends,

At this point, you've probably heard about our campaign to bring Cool Jew to Limmud Hungary. It's the first time a survey of Jewish pop culture in the west will hit Budapest -- and any former communist country!

We've raised $387 in just a few days toward our $1,000 goal. Now, we only have four days left to earn a 5% bonus from IndieGoGo if we "fill the mug" all the way up! Donations will cover one coach ticket to Budapest to bring Cool Jew's poignant, fun and inspiring message of Jewish affiliation to Limmud Hungary.

Limmud is strictly volunteer. I'm very happy to donate my presentation. With slides, music, personal anecdotes, and stories of my father's survival of Buchenwald and his impact on my Jewish identity, there's nothing else quite like it! I'll also lead other sessions, including a panel discussion on how to use public programs like these to make a difference. After presenting all across the U.S., Europe and Canada, I have been told again and again that this work leaves audiences with a lasting impression of strength and pride in being Jewish -- and that has the power to open the door to so much more along the path of learning and living and loving to be a part of our Tribe.

It's a modest ask: if just 125 people would give just $5, or of course, a larger donation or a slew of mileage points, we'd meet the goal in a jiffy. So if you can "spare a latte" and know of anyone else who might be interested in supporting the cause, please click below and share the love by help to spread the word even further.

http://www.tinyurl.com/lattecampaign

This just in: we are now featured on the IndieGoGo home page under "Final Countdown"

Please take a minute to help make a difference.

Thank you so so much for your assistance in making this a reality.

Wishing you a Shana Tova U'metukah -- a good, sweet and blessed New Year!

Lisa and the FOLs

Thursday, August 19, 2010

The Latte Campaign!