Freelance writer, yogi, author of Cool Jew – Lisa Klug does not stop, except at Jewlicious Festival. We got in touch with the fiesty heebster who says, “Seriously, Jewlicious embodies the message of my book, Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide for Every Member of the Tribe, which celebrates Jewish identity, culture and kitsch.”
We got in touch with Lisa about her new book. (And here is Lisa now looking adorable as she signs copies for fans.)
Where did the idea come from to create a book called “Cool Jew” in the format you created it in?
I wrote a feature article for the San Francisco Chronicle in December 2005 about how cool it is to be a Jew in San Francisco. Around that same time, I wrote another piece for Chanukah called “Gift the Gift of Kitsch” for the Forward. The two pieces shared a love of Jewish culture, pride in being Jewish, lots of schmaltz and what you could call a reverent irreverence based on a love of Jewish life. That’s when I came up with the idea of a Heebster Handbook, my book’s Hebrew name.
And what do you hope readers will get out of it? What is its purpose?
Cool Jew is edu-tainment. It bring readers a lot of laughs. It also offers a sense of pride and enjoyment in being Jewish and helps promote Jewish literacy… If Cool Jew leads readers to go out and explore their Jewish involvement in new ways, then this book will be a great success.
But anyway, about the festival…You get to taste Jewish culture, creativity, community, challah and more. And you come away with the validation that it is SO awesome to be Jew. (And it is, so nu, why haven’t you bought a ticket yet?!)
“Rest up because you’re not going to waste any time sleeping!”
Check out more on Lisa at www.CoolJewBook.com.
