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‘Schitt’s Creek’
Stars Champion
Community at
Main Event
LO C AL
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FOR 50 YEARS,
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SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
JEWISH EXPONENT
BEFORE POPULAR CANADIAN
comedy series “Schitt’s Creek”
swept the Emmys this week
with a whopping nine wins, the
show’s Eugene Levy, Dan Levy
and Sarah Levy headlined
Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia’s virtual Main
Event on Sept. 16.

The show follows the
wealthy Rose family after they
lose everything and move into
a tiny rural town they once
purchased as a joke. As they
learn to embrace their new
neighbors, the show empha-
sizes how people from different
backgrounds can enhance each
other’s lives.

Eugene Levy, the Canadian
Jewish actor known for his roles
in “SCTV” and “American Pie,”
as well as for his iconic eyebrows,
and his son Dan Levy are execu-
tive producers. They also star as
the father-son duo Johnny and
David Rose. Sarah Levy, Eugene
Levy’s daughter, plays sunny
local waitress Twyla.

The family
members discussed identity, ritual and
the importance of commu-
nity to cap off a showcase of
Jewish Federation’s response to
the unprecedented challenges
facing the local, national and
global Jewish communities
this year.

Alison Lebovitz, former
co-chair of National Young
Leadership for the Jewish
Federations of North America,
moderated the actors’ discus-
sion. She noted that the show’s
focus on a family living
together in close quarters took
on a new meaning during 2020
quarantines. “What should we take from
the Rose family, and from the
‘Schitt’s Creek’ community,
as a lesson of how important
community is, especially in
times of crisis?” she asked.

Dan Levy said the ultimate
goal of the show was to prove
that community is the key to
true happiness.

“Ultimately, being in a
community that is open,
accepting and supportive
without question creates a
safety net that allows people to
be unabashedly who they are,”
he said. “And I truly believe
that when you honor people
for who they are, they become
their best selves and they
contribute back into society
with a tremendous amount of
love and a tremendous amount
of enthusiasm and passion.”
Before watching the Levy
family address 10,000 viewers
from Jewish Federations
across the country, 1,000
audience members from the
Greater Philadelphia area
joined a separate Zoom to
hear representatives from
Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia speak about the
organization’s community
outreach during the economic
and health crises.

“This community has raised
$2.6 million in response to the
pandemic,” campaign chair
Sherrie Savett said. “Money
raised was given to numerous
local agencies and organi-
zations that has impacted
more than 280,000 lives.

With your support, we have
provided masks and monthly
food deliveries to more than
424 Holocaust survivors. We
helped eight summer camps
open safely, which meant that
640 kids were able to have a
Jewish day camp experience.”
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
North America in response to
the cancellation of other Jewish
leadership programs during
the pandemic. They received
mentorship from professionals
in their fields and planned
service projects together.

When the headliners took
the virtual stage, Lebovitz
asked Eugene Levy whether the
story of “Schitt’s Creek” draws
from his personal history.

He responded that the
fish-out-of-water story draws
from his own experiences
growing up Jewish in the
predominantly non-Jewish
community of Hamilton,
Ontario. The
interfaith marriage between Eugene
Levy’s Jewish Johnny Rose and
Catherine O’Hara’s Christian
Moira Rose also reflects the
real Levy family. Eugene Levy
is Jewish, his wife Deborah
Divine is Protestant and his
children Dan Levy and Sarah
Levy are a “delightful half-half
combination,” as Dan’s character
David Rose likes to put it.

The family also spoke about
Jewish milestones. Dan Levy
confessed that he was reluctant
to study for his bar mitzvah
as a boy but appreciated his
coming-of-age ceremony and
Jewish traditions in general
more as he got older. Sarah
Levy shared that she had never
had a bat mitzvah, but was
open to the idea.

“Let’s do it in Israel,
honey,” Eugene Levy said to
his daughter. “Next year in
Jerusalem.” l
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Actor Eugene Levy spoke about working with his children and Jewish
community for Jewish Federations of North America.

Photo by Eva Rinaldi Celebrity Photography licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Ultimately, being in a community that is
open, accepting and supportive without
question creates a safety net that allows people
to be unabashedly who they are.”
DAN LEVY
She said that Jewish
Federation distributed more
than 65,000 masks within the
community, including to every
resident of Federation Housing,
every client of the Jewish Relief
Agency and to teachers at 72
Jewish day schools. Funds also
went to rabbis to distribute
among congregants struggling
financially and to Jewish day
schools to help them reopen
safely. “This is our story, your
story,” Savett said. “We are
one people responsible for
one another. And together, we
are showing up, changing the
world and reimagining reality.”
Main Event co-chairs Jeffrey
Schwartz, Susan Schwartz, Lisa
Studner and Brett Studner spoke
about how Jewish Federation
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM helped them find community
as young adults and instilled a
desire to give back.

“Jeff and I find so much
meaning and connection within
this incredible Jewish commu-
nity and have enjoyed coming
together with you all today,
particularly during these diffi-
cult times when being a part of
a community has become more
important than ever,” Susan
Schwartz said.

When the Philadelphia
audience joined the national
audience, they also heard
from the first two Jewish
Changemakers cohorts. This
group of college students and
young professionals completed
a three-week online professional
development fellowship created
by the Jewish Federations of
JEWISH EXPONENT
SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
7