Press
2009
LA Jewish Journal, Jewlicious Festival 5.0 Celebrates Diverse Talent, Unity
When the first Jewlicious festival, Jewlicious @ The Beach, launched in April 2005, co-founder Rabbi Yonah Bookstein and his team rented out a few rooms at the Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach to host about 100 participants. Four years later, they are booking the entire facility to hold Jewlicious Festival 5.0, which is expected to attract 800 Jewish students and young professionals.
“We’ve put to bed the myth that young Jews don’t want to be involved,” Bookstein said. “Young Jews do want to be involved. Young Jews are thirsty for involvement and for being connected.”
2008
LA Weekly, Hoopla Section, What to do in LA, From Secularists to Frummies, from I’m Conservatives to Bu-Jews, from Feministas to Republicans, from Agnostics to Anarchists, from I Dunno’s to I’ll Tell You’s” is the crowd that Jewlicious is after. It’s an ambitious, three-day gathering of the tribe celebrating all things Jewish and aimed at young people, though all are welcome. Hot and cold running artists, musicians, speakers, comics, filmmakers and more will spiel, including Orthodox reggae artist Matisyahu and Heeb Magazine publisher Josh Neuman.
Orange County Jewish Life, Building Jewnity, Feruary 2008: The coolest place to be a Jew – Jewlicious Festival! Starting with an inspiring Shabbat service on Friday evening, February 29 through March 2, over 500 young Jews, mostly college students and young professionals, from over 50 campuses, will converge on the Alpert JCC in Long Beach to get a positive Jewish experience….
2007
Jewish Journal LA, Celebrating Jewnity the Jewlicious Way, March 23, 2007 “It’s become cool to be Jewish,” says comedian Eric Schwartz, a.k.a. Smooth E., before he quotes one of his own songs, “Jewish is trendy, Jewish is fun, it took 2,000 years, but it finally caught on!”
Schwartz is on stage dressed in a flat cap, brown tweed jacket, jeans and a big bow tie during Jewlicious 3.0 at the Beach, a three-day exploration and celebration of all things Jewish that drew approximately 400 people to Long Beach’s Barbara and Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center from March 9-11….
JTA Blog, Jewlicious festival draws student enthusiasm and communal questions, March 21, 2007, Last weekend, a group of 500 undergraduates, graduate students, presenters and performers descended on the Alpert JCC in Long Beach, CA, for Jewlicious Festival 3.0, a conference and “celebration of Jewnity” previously known as “Jewlicious @ the Beach….The event had a great impact on students. One student from Cal State Fullerton wrote on the Facebook wall after the event [sentence structure maintained for authenticity's sake], “I haven’t stopped talking about it since I left. 364 more days till Jewlicious 4.0 baby!!”….
SF Chronicle, MUSIC SPIRIT IDENTITY: Young Jews from Fort Bragg to Uganda Gather, March 18, 2007, Sunday Edition
When J.J. Keki began leading classic Hebrew songs at a traditional Jewish Sabbath meal in Long Beach last weekend, his 400 lunch companions were transfixed. An African Jew and Grammy-nominated musician, Keki attended Jewlicious 3.0 @ the Beach, self-described as the largest Jewish youth festival. And whether he was singing or discussing his work directing the fair trade Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative for Jewish, Christian and Muslim coffee farmers in his homeland, Uganda, Keki had found his audience…
Jweekly, Third Time Around, Jewlicious Still Drawing Crowds, March 16, 2007 When Cecile Merrin, 18, made the 460-mile trek from Sonoma to Long Beach for her first Jewlicious festival last weekend, she was thrilled to make new friends. “I like the diversity because we don’t have any students who are Orthodox at Sonoma State. And I really like all the people I met,” she said. Merrin, a junior majoring in business accounting and financial economics, was among 26 Northern Californian residents attending Jewlicious @ the Beach 3.0 at the Alpert Jewish Community Center in Long Beach….
LB Press Telegram, Jewish Leaders Seek New Ways to Reach Youth, March 10th, 2007 LONG BEACH – On Friday, Jewlicious 3.0 at the Beach kicked off at Alpert Jewish Community Center, with a record crowd of 400 to 500 young adults expected to attend…
LB Press Telegram, Jewlicious Festival Celebrates Third Year, March 9th, 2007, Preview Story LONG BEACH – It isn’t exactly a reunion of the 12 tribes, but about 400 college students and young adults are expected to converge on Long Beach beginning today to attend the Jewlicious Festival 3.0. Billed as the largest youth festival of contemporary Jewish culture….
LB Gazette, Jewish Youth Connect at Weekend Party, March 8th, 2007 With 60 straight hours of nonstop entertainment, music, food and spiritual connections, it’ll be a “Jewlicious” weekend in the city this Friday through Sunday….
LB Jewish News, Jewlicious Festival 3.0: Ready to Rock and Roll, March (March 9, 2007) – At noon Friday, March 9, last minute preparations were underway for the Jewlicious Festival 3.0. The event is welcoming enthusiastic, enlightened, energetic and very e-computer savvy Jewish youth from across the nation and around the world to LB’s Alpert JCC…
LB Jewish News, Jewlicious Festival 3.0: Saturday Night, March 10, 2007,
After a refreshing Shabbat, the Jewlicious Festival 3.0 rolled into Saturday night (Mar. 10) with an estimated 350+ students enjoying food and each other’s company at LB’s AJCC.
KLBC-Man on a Mission Show, Interview with Rabbi Yonah, [Waiting for recording!]
KCSB Interview with Jewlicious Festival Director, Musician and Rabbi, Yonah Bookstein The annual gathering, celebrating its third year, brings together Jews from every denomination and across the political spectrum. There will be live concerts, presenters, speakers and educators tackling major themes and topics in regards to Israel and spirituality; Darfur, Social Action, Third World Service, Jewish Media with a focus on the roles Jews play in Hollywood’s “industry” and on the emergence of young Jewish publications. Along with festival information, I asked the Rabbi to discuss a brief history of Judaism, the Kabala, and the prophesied coming of the “Ancient of Days” before devolving into discussion on modern anti-Semitic scapegoating. (With exclusive cantankerous listener’s “question” for the Rabbi.) From the show Pythagorean Flux.
Jewish Life TV, Will air in April
KBEACH Radio, Interview with Esther Kustanowitz, March 9th, 2007
The Union, The Beach Laps up Jewlicious, March 5th, 2007, By Alan Passman In 2005, the first ever Beach Hillel-sponsored Jewlicious weekend drew over a hundred people. Jewlicious 2.0 doubled in size, with 350 people and over 40 campuses represented, as well as Grammy Nominee Matisyahu dropping by.
OC Jewish Life, March Article
Things to do this weekend
Orange County Register, CA - Mar 8, 2007
Jewlicious Festival 3.0 at the Beach: It’s a weekend celebration of contemporary Jewish culture with live music, education, food, a fashion show and other …
~ READINGS, ETC. ~
LA City Beat, CA - Mar 7, 2007
Jewlicious Festival 3.0. Youth festival of contemporary Jewish culture and identity features speakers, educators, and music.Alpert Jewish Community Center, …
ONLINE & PRINT Calendar Listings
LA Times Calendar Listing- online & paper
OC Squeeze Calendar Listing online
OC Register Calendar Listing online
LB TV CH 65 On calendar on TV TV
OC Weekly Calendar Listing online and in paper
Upcoming.org Calendar Listing
LA city beat Calendar Listing online and in paper
LA Weekly Calendar Listing online and in paper
