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!

Cool Jew Cabaret II

This weekend, I'm heading to Limmud LA, that awesome festival of Jewish learning, community and volunteerism. I'm presenting a pair of sessions on my book, Cool Jew, and the Jewish Cultural Revival.

Meanwhile... in parts north, Limmud Toronto is taking place this Sunday.

This year, you can study Torah and liturgy, go green with a panel on eco-Judaism, learn to write your family memoir, sing along with an instant choir, join a drum circle, improvise and analyze scenes from Tanakh, speak your Jewish experience in poetry, and more!

The day of learning will be capped off with Cool Jew Cabaret II, inspired by my book. The first Cool Jew Cabaret was part of my book tour at the Koffler Centre of the Arts.

The 2nd Cool Jew Cabaret sponsored both by the Koffler and Limmud Toronto features

The spoken word stylings of Ariel Platt & the man at the centre of TO's Poetry Slam scene, David Silverberg.

A new musical project with a Brazilian flare from Eric Stein together with his music buddies.

And, its a multi-generational Schlanger acoustic set with the always fun & funky, Soozi Schlanger and her fabulous mother, Miriam.

Then get ready to shake your tuchas to the Sephardic sizzle of Ibtissam, the city's best bellydancer
Date: February 15, 2009
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Latvian House, 491 College Street
Fees: $12

Up Next?

What's new for this Jew?

I'm teaching two sessions at Limmud LA next weekend all about Cool Jew and what I call the "Jewish Cultural Revival."

I'm also presenting about my book at the Jewlicious Festival in Long Beach, Calif. at the end of the month. A whopping 500 copies of Cool Jew will be presented as free gifts to the first 500 guests to arrive at the Jewlicious Festival as part of a rockin' gift swag bag. Thanks so much to the generosity of Allen and Deanna Alevy for sponsoring the biggest Cool Jew giveaway in history!

And I'm exhibiting my first art installation at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco starting Feb. 25th. It's all part of a show entitled, "New Works, Old Story: 80 Artists at the Passover Table." Naturally, my piece, which combines music, light and flying holograms of Jewish stars, is right in tune with the Heebster vibe. If you're in SF, you can catch the show on view from February 27 through June 2. So come on over and shine your Hebraic loud and proud!