H EADLINES
LGBTQ Orgs Partner for Chanukah Celebration
L OCA L
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
TWO LGBTQ
Jewish organizations partnered this
Chanukah to create an event
focusing on light, leadership
and love in their communities
aft er a year full of darkness.

Philadelphia’s Tribe 12 and
JQT Vancouver celebrated
the Festival of Lights with
“Hanukkah Hotties,” a virtual
celebration with guests who are
“lighting up their respective parts
of the world by queering Jewish
space and Jewifying queer space,”
according to the organizers.

Each night featured candle
lighting prayers and interviews
with LGBTQ Jewish community
leaders and artists in the United
States, Canada and Germany.

Canadian Indigenous Jewish
photographer Kali Spitzer
was scheduled to kick off the
celebrations for the fi rst night
with an interview about how her
heritage and identity impacts her
artwork, but she had to cancel
due to a death in her family. Host
Carmel Tanaka, founder and
executive director of JQT, shared
a poem from “In Honor of our
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6 DECEMBER 17, 2020
Grandmothers,” a collaboration
of Indigenous and Jewish poets,
to honor Spitzer’s loss.

Davinica Nemtzow, diver-
sity, equity and inclusion
associate at Tribe 12, fi lled in for
a discussion with Tanaka about
the importance of Chanukah
traditions and the strong bonds
shared by international queer
Jewish communities.

“Th at’s been one of the silver
linings of COVID, being able
to connect with other organi-
zations and people who are
doing similar work, and being
able to join forces and support
one another,” Tanaka said.

Night two featured New
York-based performance
artist Stuart B. Meyers, who is
touring “Th e Shabbos Queen,”
his Shabbat-based performance
focusing on self-love and love
of community. Meyers, who
grew up in South Jersey, stars
as the character of Yenta.

He talked with Tanaka about
his relationship with spirituality,
his visit to the mindfulness-ori-
ented Romemu Yeshiva and his
study of the Kabbalah, especially
his work studying healing
through dreams.

“Reading dreams is reading
Torah” he said.

Nemtzow made another
appearance on night three,
along with Galia Godel,
LGBTQ Initiative program
manager for Jewish Family and
Children’s Service, to talk about
their recent wins working with
the LGBTQ Jewish community
in Philadelphia.

Godel, who works as a
Jewish educator, a sex educator
and leader of J.Proud, said she
was happy to see so many of
the organizations she works
with taking initiative to make
their spaces more welcoming.

“One of the real wins, for
Greater Philly and for me,
is that I have to do so little
convincing,” she said. “It is
so much more frequent that a
rabbi or synagogue president
will reach out to me and say,
‘Hey, we’re enthusiastic about
doing this, we just don’t know
what the right next step is.’”
Nemtzow talked about how
momentous it felt to be able to
bring her vision of commu-
nity building to others. She
said she was especially excited
about providing a safe, inclu-
sive alternative to LGBTQ
spaces like nightclubs, which
can be heavily sexualized and
oriented around substance use.

Tribe12 Assistant Director
and matchmaker Danielle Selber
joined Chicago-based LGBTQ
matchmaker Kara Laricks on
Clockwise from left: Carmel Tanaka, Davinica Nemtzow and Galia Godel
Courtesy of Tribe 12
night four for a conversation
about their methods for arranging
matches for queer Jewish singles,
using Tanaka as a model.

“I like to ask everybody some
very basic — or for some people
they’re basic — questions about
gender identity and how you
date and what you’re looking
for,” Selber said. “But one of
the questions I ask that kind of
gives everyone pause is ‘Do you
experience sexual attraction?
And if so, to whom?’”
Laricks talked about the
importance of discussing non-ne-
gotiable priorities early on in the
dating process, whether it’s a cat
allergy or dietary preferences.

“Th is is the beauty of match-
making, being able to have
these conversations and learn
the nuances,” she said.

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Selber also noted that
interest in matchmaking has
exploded during the pandemic,
since people can’t meet in
person and realize they need
support in their dating lives.

Arya Marvazy, managing
director of JQ International in
Los Angeles, joined to light the
fi ft h candle. David Studniberg,
founding member of Keshet
Germany and curator of Jewish
Museum Berlin, and non-bi-
nary Russian-Jewish poet
Angelica Poversky lit the sixth.

Nate Looney, manager of racial
justice initiatives at Avodah,
joined for the seventh and tarot
reader Azra Silverstein joined
for the eighth. ●
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H eadlines
Where to Binge Jewish/Israeli Content
S CREEN
SOPHIE PANZER | JE STAFF
IF YOU’RE LOOKING to
fill the Jewish content void
that yawned open after you
finished the latest seasons of
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,”
“Unorthodox” or “Shtisel,”
2020 saw the launch of three
new streaming platforms
dedicated to Jewish and Israeli
movies, TV shows, documen-
taries and web series.

Not sure which one to start
with? Read on.

“From OY to JOY,” for
programming that is meant to
cheer viewers up, “You Gotta
See This!” for classic and criti-
cally acclaimed films, and
“When Do We Eat?” which
features food documentaries
like “Make Hummus, Not
War.” The streaming service is still
in its beta version, and it retains
a certain homespun quality.

The user experience copy
embraces liberal use of the caps
lock and exclamation point
keys (the film “Dark Horse”
is captioned “VERY FUNNY!!
entertainment,” the website
reads. Since ChaiFlicks has been
available for a bit longer
than JEWZY, it offers a more
polished user experience as
well as a wider selection.

As a platform that mainly
focuses on Jewish religious
and cultural identity in the
diaspora, its main strength
is in the diverse scope of
its international offerings,
with browsing categories
allotted to Latin America,
Europe, Israel and North
America. There is a lot of
content dedicated to Jewish
history and World War II,
plus lighter U.S.-based fare
like the Orthodox dating
comedy series “Soon By
You” and productions by the
Los Angeles Jewish theater
company The Braid.

After a 14-day free trial, a
ChaiFlicks subscription will
run $5.99 a month or $18 a
year (this is a holiday offer —
a typical annual subscription
costs $65.99).

IZZY W hereas JEWZY and
ChaiFlicks place a special
emphasis on Jewish religion,
See Streaming, Page 8
Name: Kellman Brown Academy *
Width: 5.5 in
Depth: 7.375 in
Color: Black plus one
Comment: JE Newspaper 12/17
Ad Number: 00092755
Dear Teachers & Administration of
Kellman Brown Academy,
The Parents of your Students would like to express our
sincere gratitude for the extraordinary job you have done in
maintaining the safest of school environments as you continue
with 5 days a week, in-person learning without compromising
the high academic standards.

We are grateful…
Screenshot of JEWZY home screen
JEWZY CINEMA & TV
A London-based group led
by CEO and founder Jeremy
Wootliff recently launched the
beta version of JEWZY Cinema
& TV, a streaming service
dedicated to celebrating Jewish
American identity.

“JEWZY is the new
positive reason be a proud
Jewish American,” reads the
FAQ section of the website.

“Our specialty is HIDDEN
GEMS of Jewish American
entertainment.” An annual subscription
offers access to 100 titles from
around the world, especially
the United States, Israel,
France and Germany. The
JEWZY genres with the most
plentiful offerings are comedies
and documentaries, and the
platform also offers segments
of i24 News and the series “Old
Jews Telling Jokes.”
The browsing category
names are adorable. There’s
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM FIVE STAR COMEDY!)
Audiences can sample
JEWZY using a seven-day free
trial. Afterward, a subscription
costs $7.99 per month or $59.99
per year.

CHAIFLICKS After a beta version premiered
early in the year, ChaiFlicks
launched on Aug. 20 with more
than 150 Jewish or Israeli-
themed titles.

T he
pl at for m
was co-founded by Bill Weiner,
Neil Friedman and Heidi
Oshin. Friedman, founder
of the Jewish-focused distri-
bution company Menemsha
Films, said the idea emerged
in response to Netflix focusing
more on original programming
than on externally produced
content. “ChaiFlicks has been
created to preserve our Jewish
heritage by presenting the finest
Jewish- and Israeli-themed
… that you made even our youngest children feel excited and
engaged yet comfortable with the rules of safe interactions.

… that you made sure that there is PE, music, art and after
school activities including the school fall musical.

… that you have found ways for our children to still participate
in electives and special projects like the award winning
“Names Not Numbers” program.

… that new students, from South Jersey to Philadelphia,
have been supported in integrating seamlessly through
your philosophy of individualized learning.

… that you keep us connected and continue to honor our
children’s accomplishments and milestones as a school
community. In this holiday season, like the Maccabees, you
are our warriors and your lights shine bright.

www.kellmanbrownacademy.org JEWISH EXPONENT
DECEMBER 17, 2020
7