By Rosalyn Kahn

What Do I Do with All This Heritage? What do Jews and Asians share in common? It might be the challenge of bigotry or the love of culture, but they are united together in a program about Asian Jews performed at the Academy of Motion Pictures.

It was produced, adapted, and curated by David Chiu and Ronda Spinak and directed by Susan Morgenstern. Ronda Spinak is noted for her creation of Salon theatre. It lies at the intersection of storytelling and theatre, minus sets, props, or costumes. Spinak and Chiu are both part of The Braid, which Spinak founded, and which has produced over 80 Salon theatre shows. David mentioned in his opening remarks how earlier in his life he had an experience where he faced racism for his Asian identity, and he vowed to himself to create art that depicts Asians as full-fledged, complex human beings. The production What Do I Do with All This Heritage? is a fulfillment of that vow, as it brings to life true stories of Asian Jews like himself.

The event was opened by Councilwoman Katy Yaroslowsky who said attending events like this that bring the city together is one of her favorite parts of the job. Next Rabbi Noah Farkas, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, spoke about the importance of sharing the diversity of the Jewish world. Then Steve Kang, of the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, shared with the audience the story of a powerful mural that brought the Korean and Jewish communities together against hate in a moving symbol of unity and inclusion.

Organization, Jewish Federation Los Angeles personal mission is our Jewish stories and making sure the public knows that they matter more now than ever. If they don’t matter now, then when? They bring 16 years of authentic stories, changing minds and unifying a broken world with laughter and tears. Their themes often unite against hate and anti-semitism, debunking dangerous stereotypes and growing real empathy, building Jewish pride and being in community.

The show itself was produced in a partnership with The Braid and the LUNAR Collective, the first and only organization by and for Asian American Jews promoting visibility and belonging. It opened with a song performed by Asian Jewish singer/actress/dancer Lillian Mimi McKenzie written by LUNAR’s co-founder and co-Executive Director, Jenni Rudolph, before jumping into a story by writer Kathy Kobayashi about how Judaism seems to be all about bread even though, as a Japanese American, all her meals are centered around rice. It was performed by actress and comedian Kaitlyn Tanimoto and the ensemble.

Then came a story written by Marshall Bennett and performed by Kenzo Lee. It describes Bennett, who was adopted by an American family, as he returns to the small farming town in South Korea where he was born. Next there was a story written by Leila Chomski, who is Vietnamese American, and performed by McKenzie. Chomski writes of being torn between her strict Orthodox lifestyle and her secret love of K-Pop, or Korean Pop Music. At the end, she finds a way to embrace both, and McKenzie performed a K-Pop dance that had the crowd clapping.

After that, Kaitlyn Tanimoto brought to life Maizy Stern’s story. Stern’s father is an Askhenazi Jew and her mother is a Chinese Vietnamese Buddhist from Saigon. Stern wrote about growing up with people telling her she’s not really Jewish because her mother isn’t Jewish, and the pain of feeling excluded.

Then actress Kimberly Green performed a story by writer Chelsea Eng. Of Chinese Danish and Polish ancestry, Eng converted to Judaism in 2022. She is also a very accomplished tango dancer bringing over 25 years of professional experience. Her story reveals a personal and painful struggle between a life of dance and her dreams of raising a Jewish child.

Writer Lulu Fairman wrote about being born in Kolkata, India, with an Orthodox Jewish upbringing. Performed by Victoria Rani, this story captures Fairman’s lifelong Jewish to finding an Indian Jewish identity and values that are authentic to her, and ends with a traditional Indian Jewish song that Rani performs. Amazingly, in the course of rehearsal Rani discovered that her own Indian family grew up on the same street as Fairman, just blocks away!

Rounding out the show was a hilarious monologue written by Matheus Ting and performed by Kenzo Lee. Ting, a Chinese American converting to Judaism, writes about the many comical complications he faced in scheduling his own adult circumcision.

Finally, the show ended with a reprise of the opening song, this version with more triumphant lyrics and featuring a three-part harmony with McKenzie, Lee, and Rani. Afterwards Rachel Bachar, an Asian Jew and the wife of the Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Southwest, spoke powerfully about the impact the show had on her and the importance of building connections with one another.

The stories was a good mix of comedy, music, dance and drama that captivated the audience. All in all, a great show. Congratulations to all who made this production possible.