Where can you find a CNN reporter interviewing a man in a bekeshe, shot glasses brimming with soup, and a girl holding a flaming marshmallow on a stick? Look no further than the Second Annual Jew in the City All Star Event.
Since 2007, Jew in the City has been working to demolish the negative stereotype of Orthodox Jews among non-Jews and non-Orthodox Jews and to provide a real look into the beauty of Orthodox Judaism. According to its mission statement, Jew in the City’s events, online videos, and other projects aim to broadcast “the message that Orthodox Jews can be funny, approachable, educated, pro-women and open-minded.”
At its annual All Star Event, which took place on Sunday evening, November 24 and was timed to coincide with the rare overlap of Chanukah and Thanksgiving, Jew in the City honored ten successful Orthodox Jewish professionals from a diverse array of backgrounds and disciplines. This year’s honorees included Nobel Laureate Dr. Robert Aumann, Fill the Void director Rama Burshtein, Issamar Ginsburg, a marketing guru listed as one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 10 Entrepreneurs and the descendant of prominent Hassidic Rabbis, Dr. Laurel Steinherz, Director of Pediatric Cardiology at Memorial Sloan Kettering and co-founder of Camp Simcha, and the first Orthodox women’s basketball player, Naama Shafir, among others.
At 6:30 PM, the doors to Manhattan’s newly renovated Lincoln Square Synagogue were opened for the party, which was complete with news reporters and a red carpet. The main lights were dimmed and colorful spotlights swept back and forth, illuminating the crowd of over 150 people, while a DJ blasted popular contemporary Jewish tunes, including the Maccabeats’ smash hit Candlelight. Guests were treated to a delicious spread, which, in honor of the upcoming holidays, included a latke bar with utensils bearing the message “Happy Thanksgivukah.” Several of the All-Stars were present and roamed about the room, answering questions.
“Religiosity does not mean sacrifice,” noted Issamar Ginzberg, the only All Star who arrived in a bekeshe and black hat and later donned a streimel. “It hasn’t hurt me. If anything, it has helped. All the men who come in wearing suits look the same after a while, but people remember me.”
According to Dr. Laurel Steinherz, the hardest challenge of being an Orthodox Jew in the professional world is “the time constraints of Shabbat and Yom Tov.” She explained that though she always tried to make it home for Shabbat for the benefit of her family, she always had a backup plan, in case she couldn’t make it back in time, which thankfully was not that often.
Guests of the event included many other successful Orthodox professionals, including the two members of Bulletproof Stockings, an all-female, American Hasidic rock band. In a comment which seemed to encapsulate the credo of Jew in the City, Dalia Shusterman, half of the musical pair, offered the following message to Orthodox Jews striving for professional success: “There is always a kosher way to do what you want to do.”