A Special “Shmoozing With Avi” Featuring Previously Aired Segments From Past Interviews With Powerful Jewish Women.
LEA KALISCH is a Swiss-born NYC-brewed polyglot actress, singer, and dancer, aka the “shtreimel girl.” She starred in multiple Yiddish productions (God of Vengeance, Awake and Sing!), and as Daphna in Bad Jews. Her most recent appearances were in the movie The Vigil and the Zoom-performance of Der Foygl fun Geto. Lea has performed her one-woman show In Love With A Dream! and various Yiddish solo concerts in NYC and Europe. She blends Yiddishkayt with Latino flavor and New York swag. Over the past year, Lea has entertained audiences with various musical programs on Zoom alongside Rabbi T. Following up her successful debut music video Eshet Chayil of Hip Hop, she will release her next music video this June, so stay tuned! leakalisch.com, IG: @leakalisch
ELEANOR REISSA is Brooklyn born and bred; a victim/beneficiary of the public school system from K through college (cum laude). In spite of that (or because of it) she has had a life beyond her own imagination. She became a Tony nominated director, a Broadway actress, a prize-winning playwright, an artistic director of the world’s oldest Yiddish theater company, a soon-to-be published author, a singer in every major venue around the world and in New York, including Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, and smaller venues like Joe’s Pub and Michael Feinstein’s 54 Below. Simply, she became a story-teller in English and Yiddish and is the daughter of her parents who lived through the Holocaust.
STACEY SAIONTZ is a lawyer whose grandparents survived the Holocaust. Their stories of survival have profoundly influenced her outlook and inspired her commitment to sharing all stories and lessons of the Holocaust with future generations.
She has served as a founding member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s (USHMM) New York Next Generation Board and sits on the USHMM Museum’s Education Committee. She has been heavily involved with the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust and serves as a Trustee. She also serves on the board of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation. In 2014, the Auschwitz Jewish Center honored Stacey and her husband, Marc, at their annual gala. Stacey is also the Co-Chair of the Town of New Castle Holocaust & Human Rights Committee.
Stacey shares her passion for educating the next generation with her children, who were featured in the HBO Documentary The Number on Great Grandpa’s Arm. The HBO documentary details her grandfather’s story of survival through a conversation with her son Elliott and his great grandfather. The Museum of Jewish Heritage- A Living Memorial to the Holocaust produced an exhibition in partnership with HBO based on The Number o