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December 2020 • Southern Jewish Life
community Jewish Women’s Theatre adds a taste of the South to “Matzo Ball Diaries” Last year, the Los Angeles-based Jewish Women’s Theatre did its first-ever Southern tour, coordinated through the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, and had such a great time that at the beginning of this year, plans were being made for a second tour this fall. Naturally, Covid-19 threw a big wrench into the plan, but on Oct. 22 the group did an online performance of “The Matzo Ball Diaries” for several communities in the region — but this time, with more Southern flavor added. Ronda Spinak, artistic director for the group, said she was considering Oct. 22 and an additional Oct. 29 performance to be their second Southern tour. “Matzo Ball Diaries” is “more an intersection between storytelling and theatre,” with four actors relating “contemporary Jewish stories that illuminate different aspects” of Jewish life. Many of them also debunk stereotypes and myths. There are about 20 short stories in the “Matzo Ball Diaries” repertoire, with some of them permanently in the show while others rotate. One story that Spinak said will never be pulled is about the founder of IHOP — how he started the franchise, how his wife came up with the name, and it ends at the 50th anniversary IHOP convention where “he looked around the room and saw people of all colors and backgrounds.” One of them had moved to the United States from Mexico 17 years earlier in search of a better life, and had worked his way to being a manager. “The guy who founded IHOP realized that there were unexpected consequences to your actions,” in this case helping people live the American dream, Spinak said. The original tour last year “ did not have a piece by a Southern writer, but we had one by a Persian writer and someone from South Africa,” she said. This time, there were two Southern stories. Shelley Hebert contributed a piece about her mother, Mollye Smolkin, whose freezer in New Orleans was always stuffed with homemade Jewish baked goods. After Hurricane Katrina, when the levees broke “my parents’ home was completely flooded,” along with her brother’s home in a different neighborhood,” Hebert said. The story she contributed was how her mother managed to get an insurance settlement on all those ruined baked goods. The Oct. 29 performance was on her parents’ anniversary, so it was “a lovely way for me to remember them.” The other Southern story came from last year’s tour. While it is a Jewish theatre group, there usually is at least one non-Jewish cast member. As part of hosting a performance, communities are asked to provide a meal before the show, and in the South, that meant “full-on meals,” with brisket, chicken… one congregation took the stories from the show and did a meal that was “an artful interpretation of the show.” At one venue, they served matzah ball soup — which, despite the show’s name, the non-Jewish actor had never experienced. “Of course, everybody was super-excited,” Spinak said. With phones recording the moment, he had his first taste… and he said it was like chicken soup. That story was added to the show, because he was an outsider to the Jewish community, but after that experience “came this feeling that he was one of the tribe,” Spinak said. “Food can share culture and communicate love to people who aren’t Jewish.” That’s why Jews invite non-Jewish friends to Seder or Shabbat dinner. “We want them to feel the love we have four our culture and feel a connection to us.” She hopes that her group will feel the connection to the South again. “When things open up again, we will come back.”