Weekly Kibbitz
Two Jewish women join all-new cast of
‘The Real Housewives of New York’
Javits Center featuring panels and performances
from the cable network’s favorite celebrities.

For the fi rst time in its history, “The Real
Housewives of New York” will be rebooted entirely.

As executive producer Cohen told Variety in March,
the network was seeking a more diverse cast “that
better refl ected New York City.”
The cast will be rounded out by Sai De Silva,
Ubah Hassan, Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank and
Brynn Whitfi eld.

“I would love an opportunity to kind of pass the
baton virtually to them and say, ‘Wishing you the
best, and just keep it real,’” Jill Zarin, “RHONY”’s
best-known Jewish cast member, told People mag-
azine. She left the show more than a decade ago.

Though many celebrated the announcement,
there has been social media backlash to the inclu-
sion of Savetsky, with many decrying her identity
as a “proud Zionist,” according to her Instagram bio.

Cohen, who is Jewish, tweeted on Oct. 18: “The
amount of antisemitism coming from all corners is
alarming,” though he did not refer to any remarks
specifi cally.

Savetsky was not at BravoCon because, as she
Ira and Lizzy Savetsky attend a Thomas
Ashbourne Craft Spirits and Fleishigs magazine
event in New York City on Sept. 18.

explained in an Instagram story, she was observ-
ing the Jewish holiday of Hoshana Rabbah, the
seventh and fi nal day of Sukkot, which took place
from Oct. 15-16.

Cohen called the group of women “the most
diverse cast yet” during the taping of his show.

“We were looking for a group of friends who
were actually connected and who are vibrant, liv-
ing all over New York City, with interesting jobs and
interesting relationships, and we found them in this
group,” he told “Entertainment Tonight.”
The 14th season of “Real Housewives of New
York City” is expected to begin fi lming sometime
this fall. A release date has yet to be announced,
though Bravo confi rmed the season will premiere
sometime in 2023.

— Julia Gergely/New York Jewish Week
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Among the new cast members is Jewish Internet
infl uencer and social-media activist Lizzy Savetsky.

Originally from Texas, the 37-year-old, who uses her
platforms to celebrate Jewish traditions and declare
her support for Israel, recently moved to the Upper
East Side with her three kids and husband, plastic
surgeon Ira Savetsky. News of her casting was unof-
fi cially announced over the summer.

Also joining the cast is Erin Lichy (neé Yitzhari),
a 35-year-old Tribeca-area mom and real estate
agent with Douglas Elliman. Lichy, who grew up in
Manhattan, is “one of fi ve children in a close-knit
Israeli family,” according to her bio on the Bravo
website. She also owns home design and renova-
tion fi rm Homegirl.

Lichy’s husband, Abraham, who runs a law fi rm,
as well as DJs on the side and founded a fash-
ion brand, graduated from Benjamin N. Cardozo
School of Law in 2010.

The announcement about the reality juggernaut’s
all-new cast was made during the Oct. 16 live taping
of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,”
which also concluded the festivities of BravoCon,
a three-day convention and party at the Jacob K.




local
Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of
Commerce Hires New Leader with
Israeli Background
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
R avid Butz was born in Israel;
he grew up in Israel; he never
expected to leave Israel.

But as a teenager, he did. His father
had business in South Africa, and the
family followed him there. Then the
businessman, whose company made
packaging machinery, went to a trade
show in Philadelphia and got more
orders, so his family followed him
there, too.

And Philadelphia is where they
stayed, and where Butz went to college
at Temple University, and where he
eventually met his wife, Sibyl Weidner.

The couple started a photo lab,
PhotoLounge, in Center City in 1997
and built it into a successful company.

They also moved to Bucks County and
raised three kids.

Butz thought his story would be an
Israeli story, but it blossomed into an
American one. Except now, for the first
time since his childhood, he’s going back.

Butz, 52, was named executive direc-
tor of the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber
of Commerce. The PICC connects
business people in the Philadelphia
region and the Jewish homeland,
according to Butz. The organization
announced the Philadelphian and
Israeli as its new executive director in
an Oct. 14 email, succeeding longtime
leader Vered Nohi.

The new executive director said the
position combines Israel, Philadelphia
and business, perhaps the three things
he cares most about outside of his
family. “I’ve never had a career in Israel or
with an Israeli company,” he added.

“Just experiencing working with Israeli
firms is very exciting to me.”
Mike Krupit, the chamber of com-
merce president, said “the match
between the PICC and Ravid could not
have been more perfect.”
“We are thrilled to be working with
him and looking forward to his engag-
Ravid Butz 
ing with the community,” he added.

Butz was born in 1970, just a genera-
tion after the founding of modern Israel
as the Jewish state. As he explained it,
“Israel and the story of how it came
to be was everything to me.” He said
he was “really absorbed in the miracle
of Israel’s creation.” He studied the
history, the literature, everything, and
found it to be “a very romantic period
of history.”
After his family left his homeland,
the boy was sure that he was going
back. He dreamed about joining the
Israel Defense Forces. Every stage of
Photo by Pano Kalogeropoulos
his life in South Africa and the United
States was about getting to the next
stage, he explained. That way he would
be closer to returning.

But then, “I realized I wasn’t going
back,” Butz said.

Instead of serving in the Israeli
army in his early 20s, he met his wife.

Butz worked with someone who knew
Weidner, and after a night when they
all hung out, he missed his train home.

It got too late, Butz recalled, and he just
had to stay.

He thought she was cute; she thought
he was arrogant; they’ve been together
ever since.

“We just connected,” Butz said.

As he started a family with Weidner,
the young man also ended up managing
a camera shop. He always had a passion
for photography, so it was a good fit.

And after the owner closed the shop,
Butz opened his own. PhotoLounge
was born.

As time went on, Butz started to
network with people who were found-
ing other companies in the area. Then
he launched a startup with a digital
technology product that he developed
at PhotoLounge. In the late 2000s, the
couple raised money to sell the product
to other retailers and made a profit for
a couple of years.

After the 2007-’08 financial crisis,
though, they sold part of that busi-
ness, and Butz started a master’s pro-
gram in technology management at the
University of Pennsylvania. He com-
pleted his degree in 2012 and came out
with a new mission: coaching.

“I’m very interested in the personal
development of the leader of the com-
pany before we even tackle the product
side of things,” Butz said.

Butz began working as a consultant
and met the people involved with the
PICC in 2017. He also started a consult-
ing firm to help founders in their 30s
and 40s clarify their missions.

“They are not sure why they are
doing it,” he said.

The consultant has helped bring a
series of life science labs to Philadelphia.

He also has worked with Grovara, a
Philadelphia company that serves as
“the world’s first marketplace for food
distributors in the wellness category,”
he explained.

And pretty soon, he will work with
Israeli companies, too.

“Israel is a leader in tech. Philadelphia
also has an active startup culture,” Butz
said. “Merging this leader in tech in
Israel and this hotbed in Philadelphia
is very exciting.” JE
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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