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Laura Beatrix Newmark
Comedy? You Bet!
LAURA BEATRIX NEWMARK is the Director of LABA at the 14th Street Y. Her work at the intersection of the arts, media, activism, community building and Jewish programming spans two decades.
At the 14th street Y’s LABA program, where artists study Jewish texts together and nurture their own work, we were supposed to do five nights of performances this spring—and we couldn’t. But we did put together a show—“Jewnight Show Pandemic Passover.” It was terrifying to do all this virtually.
It turns out we were ahead of the curve, as everything went virtual. Yet human beings need to be around people. It’s a nice interlude to provide theater virtually, but it’s hard not to connect in person.
In the meantime, to cope, I’ve been consuming comedy. We need it. From the beginning, the funny videos people post, the angst, the parodies are the only thing giving me comfort. The viral video of an Israeli mom complaining about having to homeschool (“Now, our children will find out how dumb we are. It’s not right!”) is a perfect example: comedy that gives us a release.
I had actually picked humor as the theme for LABA this year—we had a long discussion about how in Jewish humor there’s this balance between observant and profane, between intimacy and shared trauma; it’s all rooted in struggle. I think we are going to see interesting humor emerge. And just making people laugh is important.
Now. Next.
The articles in this special section:
The Ethos of Rural Life Is Everyone’s Ethos Now
Rabbi Rachel Isaacs
In the years to come, more of us will be growing our own potatoes. Link Food Supplies to Public Health
Marion Nestle
How do we get political will? Advocate! Vote! Start now! I Want Us to View Art Through a New Lens
Jillian Steinhauer
To be clear, I miss art. I miss being moved and confronted and stretched by artists and their work. But I don’t really miss the apparatus that surrounds it. White Allies Need to Step Up. Now.
Yavilah McCoy
As the CEO of a majority Jewish women of color led organization, I continue to learn how essential our work to expand racial equity in the world around us is to our very survival. We’re Going to Witness a Surge in the Current Health Inequality
Marion Danis
Life lessons from the mythological Lilith. Betty Friedan on her feminine mystique & being Jewish. Those thorny Jewish women's organizations.
Abortion for Anyone Who Needs It
Steph Black
Telemedicine options for many kinds of healthcare have spiked. Yet this has not been true for abortion. Global Tzedakah: Save for a Rainy Day? This Is a Downpour!
Ruth Messinger
The Jewish community must take a lead in looking at all the systemic inequities that are being laid bare by the pandemic
Reproductive Justice Instead of “Jewish Continuity.”
Michal Raucher
What would it mean to think about a Jewish future that does not revolve around Jewish women having Jewish babies?
Camp, Even When It’s Not Summer
Elana Rebitzer
The non-summer months could be filled with much more camp content in years to come.
Comedy? You Bet!
Laura Beatrix Newmark
Life lessons from the mythological Lilith. Betty Friedan on her feminine mystique & being Jewish. Those thorny Jewish women's organizations.
Labor Activism Has New Momentum
Amelia Dornbush
Life lessons from the mythological Lilith. Betty Friedan on her feminine mystique & being Jewish. Those thorny Jewish women's organizations.
Relative Privilege in a World of Suffering
Yael Schonbrun
Life lessons from the mythological Lilith. Betty Friedan on her feminine mystique & being Jewish. Those thorny Jewish women's organizations.
A Mirage of Hope for Israelis and Palestinians
Naomi Zeveloff
Life lessons from the mythological Lilith. Betty Friedan on her feminine mystique & being Jewish. Those thorny Jewish women's organizations.