Chicago
is full of talented and interesting Jewish young adults doing cool things. We
ask eight questions of a number of Jews you absolutely should know.
About 10 years ago, Laurie Akers traded the Broadway stage for the bimah and never looked back.
Melanie Kahn’s venture started with a citrus craving while pregnant.
Abbie Matz created a short film, “Cultural Inheritance: Stories of Grandchildren of Soviet Jewish Immigrants.”
Finkel and his partner, Ryan Meczyk, met through a mutual acquaintance from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and shared a vision for an innovative snack company, Ancient inGRAINed.
If you're on the prowl for the perfect present to celebrate a newborn simcha, Ashley and Scott have you covered.
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Justin and Robin Brown and Chad and Karen Kreindler are bringing innovative computer programming education to the North Shore.
When his dreams of playing professional baseball fell through, Ethan Blumenthal turned to comedy.
Scott Hollander might
seem like a pretty savvy, traditional Chicagoan, but he’s actually something of
a mold-breaker. In fact, he broke that mold with an axe.
After talking to Dubin, it’s obvious that magic is at the core of his soul. He talks about it like, well, like magic is real.
This fall, Hannah Brown is going to get married over and over again -- in front of an audience.
If you have visited the food stalls at the French Market downtown in the past month, there is one line in particular that exceeds all others. The line is so long, in fact, they had to create additional space in the market just for the line.
Wedding season is upon us, and if you happen to have a lot of Chicago simchas, keep an eye out for the Gold Coast All Stars and their talented percussionist chilling in the back with the groovy long hair and mustache. That’s Noah Plotkin – a rhythmic master and Jew you should know.
Toward the end of last year, Ashley O'Brien put her love of Hebrew, rap lyrics, puns and graphic design to good use by starting
Hebrewish Designs, an Etsy shop that quickly went viral on Twitter, Instagram and beyond.
Jeremy Klaben is working to make Chicago brighter. His new restaurant, Brightwok Kitchen, located at 21 E. Adams St., is one of the more unique fast-casual bright spots in the Loop. 
The lunch salad is a staple of so many people’s work weeks, and now, downtown Chicago commuters have a lunch salad they truly “Be Leaf” in.
God recently spoke to Rabbi Charlie Schwartz. Which is weird, because he doesn't believe in a God that has a voice.
You may not know Simon Feil’s name, but you’ve likely seen his face. Perhaps he was cooking in the movie Julie & Julia, or being startled by the ‘80s in a Delta flight safety video, or giving a young Bruce Wayne a good talking to on Gotham. Look out for him next time you turn on Netflix.
I met David Schwartzbaum at JCC Apachi Day Camp, and have worked with him there in a number of capacities over the last five years, but our connection also extends beyond entertaining Jewish children and into the realm of performance theater. David started performing theater and comedy in Miami before moving to Philadelphia and becoming the founder and co-artistic director of The Off-Color Theatre Company.
In 2008, Sonat Birnecker Hart, an esteemed teacher, lecturer and writer on Jewish Studies and German Jewish Cultural History, gave up her tenure and started making whiskey. While traveling and teaching in Europe and the U.S. was, for Hart, a “joyful way to keep the world of my grandparents and great grandparents alive,” when it came time to start her own family, she decided she wanted a lifestyle where she could work with her children close at hand. So, she and her husband, Robert Birnecker, moved back to Hart’s hometown of Chicago and opened KOVAL, Chicago’s first distillery since the 1800s.
Take your vitamins, Oy!sters, because this time, it’s personal. Drs. Romy Block and Arielle Levitan are two doctors (and friends) practicing on the North Shore and changing the way consumers think about vitamins and supplements. That’s right, the days of Flinstones chewable vitamins are long gone. Time to wise up.
Sara Grossman is taking a stand – against sitting. On nasty toilet seats that is. Earlier this year, the Lincoln Park native launched a new product that looks to literally change the way women pee. Called the Stand Up, this “biodegradable, disposable peeing accessory” allows for a guilt-free, hygienic bathroom experience for women tired of holding it in, squatting or resorting to any other gross or undignified way of going number one.
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For Meg Grunewald, comedy has many faces. And wigs. And voices. The Chicago-raised comedian and veteran of Chicago’s improv and sketch comedy scene says she has always loved impressions and creating characters, a
specialty she has chosen to highlight for the entire month of August in a “character a day” project.
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