December 15, 2025 • 16 mins
Joining us to celebrate Hanukkah is writer and former New Yorker, Jean Meltzer - also known as - “The Queen of Jewish Romance.”, for her new book THE EIGHT HEARTBREAKS OF HANUKKAH. Jean is also announcing a groundbreaking first-ever 3-day event called Jewish Joy Con, celebrating the best in Jewish pop-culture, storytelling, and creativity, scheduled for next March in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Prior to becoming an author, JEAN MELTZER studied dramatic writing at NYU Tisch and built a successful career in television, earning multiple accolades including a National Daytime Emmy Award. She is the recipient of several writing honors, a Booklist Top Ten Romances for 2023, a starred review in Kirkus, a starred review in Booklist, and LibraryReads.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Get Connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly
conversation about fitness, health, and happenings in our community on
one six point seven Light FM.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to New York's Christmas station, Happy Holidays and Happy Honkkah.
Hanukkah starts today, so I'm very pleased to be joined
by writer and former New Yorker Gene Meltzer, also known
as the Queen of Jewish Romance, whose books include Kissing Kosher, Magic,
wal Meet Cute, and her newest The Eight Heartbreaks of Honukkah.
(00:34):
Gene Meltzer is also announcing a groundbreaking, first ever three
day event called Jewish Joy Con, celebrating the best in
Jewish pop culture, storytelling, and creativity. That is this coming
March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Gene Meltzer, Happy Hanukkah, and
thank you for being on Get Connected, Nita.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you so much for having me here today. Happy,
happy Honkkah, and happy Holidays to all your listeners.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You can find out more at Genemeltzer dot com and
the Jewish Joycon dot com. Let's start with Honkkah, since
today is the first day, I think we're so lucky
to have you here. It is December fourteenth to twenty
second this year. For you, what is Honkah about?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Hanikah is about celebrating with your friends and family, getting
together to eat delicious fried foods, and most importantly, Honkkah
as we light the manora, is about spreading light, making
an otherwise dark world just a little.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Bit brighter, which we can all use this year. And again,
because you're here on Honkkah, I thought we might also
ask you a little bit of Honkah. One oh one.
So you lived in the city, and you know, we
have these beautiful manora all over the city. Of course,
people have them in their homes and their workplaces. There
are nine candles on the manora, eight nights of Honkkah.
(01:54):
What is the significance of lighting each candle as Honkah continues?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
So the story goes that there was a rededication of
the temple. There was only enough oil for one night,
and it lasted for eight nights instead, And so today
Jews all around the world we commemorate this by lighting
a candle for each nights of Ponka.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
One of the things I'm already enjoying about speaking with
Eugene is you have this amazing, big smile. While we're talking.
You look fantastic. We're on zoom, no one can see,
but Jene looks beautiful and you have this event coming up,
and I can see the joy in your face. So
let's talk about Jewish JOYCN, the first ever conference for
everything Jewish. Where did this idea come from?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So it was really simple. Basically, I wanted to take
the idea of a comic con and smush it together
with the best of Jewish summer camp or summer camp
in general. That was like how it started. But basically,
you know, Jewish creativity has touched every area of our
society in wonderful, beautiful ways, whether that's humor, whether that's
(03:01):
film and television, books. In fact, here we are celebrating
the holidays, and many people might know or not know
that our Christmas, some of our favorite Christmas songs, some
of my favorite Christmas songs were actually written by Jews,
such as Irving Berlin, right, And I just wanted to
have this event where we would get together and we
(03:22):
would celebrate all the best that there is to being
Jewish and Jewish creativity. So no barriers, no divisions, just
a beautiful get together celebrating art and culture and this
small little tribe of people who have done so much
to better the world.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
It seems like there's going to be a lot of
people there, though. Can you talk a little bit about
the guests and the events.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Sure, we are doing a slow rollout of guests, but
we have everything from celebrities like Mark Furstein, to comedians,
to Jewish ninja warriors, to Jewish psychic mediums, Jewish author
best sellers, New York Times bestsellers, and all of and
it's going to be three floors overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
(04:08):
March thirteenth through fifteenth in Fort Lauderdale. And we're expecting
a marketplace agents Jewish Joy Idle so that even the
people who are not celebrities can get involved in front
of a panel of judges to show their talents. And
we're just gonna have a lot of fun. We're gonna
showcase art, We're gonna have comedians and musicians at dinner,
(04:32):
experience a mats the ball party, just so much joy,
and really it's for everybody. It's for everyone to enjoy
this experience of Jewish life.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
You can find out more at the Jewish Joycon dot
com that is Gene Meltzer's event, as you mentioned, coming
up in Fort Lauderdale this coming March thirteenth through fifteenth.
Her new book is The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah. You're
listening to get connected on one O six point seven
Light FM. I'm na del Rio and prior to becoming
(05:03):
an author, Gene Meltzer studied dramatic writing at NYU Tish.
She built a successful career in television, earning multiple accolades,
including a National Daytime Emmy Award. She is the recipient
of several writing honors. A book List Top Ten Romances
for twenty twenty three, A starter of you in kirkis
a starter of you in book List and library reads.
(05:24):
So please tell us about becoming a Jewish romance writer.
I assume there weren't too many people doing that.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah, no, it definitely. You know, there's always been sort
of Jewish romance authors, but I think, thankfully in around
twenty twenty there was a push for more diversity within romance.
My background is kind of unique in that I was
a television producer. I was trained at and why U
Tish to be a screenwriter, and after a few years
(05:55):
in entertainment, I actually did quit my job to go
to rabbinical school. I've been five years in rabbinical school
before my chronic illness forced me to withdraw. But what
you see in these books is basically my two loves
coming together, which are writing and Jewish joy. So how
(06:15):
did I become a Jewish romance author? I was writing
stories from my heart, stories of my world. And it
was twenty twenty and timing met I guess the talent
which had gotten to the proper level to be writing
books like these, and I was offered a book deal
and I've never stopped from there. I just keep doing
(06:36):
what I love, which is writing these joyful Jewish stories
about Jewish life and especially about Honikah.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, a little bit about the crossover here too. So
you are a Jewish person who has a love for Christmas,
a secret love for Christmas.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yeah, not secret anymore? Sorry?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Can I talk a little bit about that and how
that sort of lends into your writing and how you
kind of balance them in the stories.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Sure? I mean the eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah, for instance,
is a Honkah retelling of a Christmas carol, which is
a story my mom actually used her entire life. She's
a therapist with her clients. So for me, I grew
up with a Christmas Carol as a sort of message
of learning to see your own experiences through someone else's lens,
(07:30):
and that's really what inspired me to write The Eight
Heartbreaks of Hanukkah. But I am a nice Jewish girl,
like so many other nice Jewish girls who have a
secret love of Christmas. There's no hiding it anymore, except
I kind of grew up in a home where we
weren't allowed to sort of celebrate Christmas in any way,
and so we weren't allowed to have music or tinsel
(07:51):
or anything like that. But I always loved it because
I think because I didn't celebrate it, I just always
assumed it was like Hallmark movies, like Chunky Sweat and
people walking around, you know, drinking hot chocolate and falling
in love. And so for me, it was almost this idealized,
beautiful expression of good in the world. And that's all
(08:14):
I do now with my Jewish romances. I take that
same sort of vibe, that same sort of feeling, and
I just sort of tell it as a Jewish story
from a Jewish worldview. But it's exactly the same. It's
silver tinsel instead of green.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
You also have a knack or an interest in telling
Jewish stories that, as you would say, don't feature trauma
at the forefront of them. Right. So many stories and
we talk about religion and ethnic groups, They talk about
all the stuff that's deep and unhappy, which is really important.
But you're really focused on humor in your books.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Absolutely. You know, growing up, I only kind of had
one type of story, and that was a Holocaust story.
There's nothing wrong with Holocaust stories. They need to be told.
But people and groups are so much more than their trauma.
There's so much more than their worst experiences. The Jewish
people are living and thriving, creating beautiful art. And for me,
(09:17):
I like not that my books don't deal with deep issues.
All my books actually do deal with deep issues, but
the action plot, the overarching plot, is a joyful story.
And why I started writing romance and why I love
romance is the promise of a happy ending, because every
single person out there deserves a happy ending.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
You've also been I have to say, it looks like
very prolific. You've published five books in the last four years,
so it seems like there is a huge audience. People
are looking for these stories.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
People absolutely are. And I always get asked, is it
just Jews reading your book? No, absolutely not. It's not
just Jews who are reading my book. Everybody is welcome
to experience a little taste of Jewish culture through these stories.
I've always been a big believer in creating access points.
I write for Jews the same way I write for
(10:10):
non Jews because Jews and non Jews often look very alike.
And yeah, there is a huge market and hunger for
people to learn about other cultures. Why do we read, right?
We read to experience a little taste of someone else's life.
So I invite everyone who wants to learn more about
like Jewish culture and Jewish people and Jewish families and
(10:34):
Jewish art, to pick up one of my books or
any Jewish romance out there and immerse yourself in a
new type of story. And I hope you love it
just as much as I loved writing it.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Because you also live with the chronic illness, you also
weave that into your books.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Sure, so, I've been chronically disabled since about eighteen nineteen
years old. You would never know it by looking at me,
but I've been home bound for most of my life,
and before I was an author, I actually was my
husband's disabled wife. I spent about ten years not working,
two years really really sick, pretty much bedbound. And so
(11:14):
for me, especially having been diagnosed in the late nineties,
it's really important to model representation. I didn't have those
models growing up, and so I didn't know that you
could be chronically ill and chronically disabled and still fall
in love. I didn't know you could be chronically ill
and chronically disabled and have a career. I didn't know
(11:37):
you could be chronically ill and chronically disabled and actually
help a lot of other people and have meaning in
this world even on your worst days. And so for me,
it's really important to write stories where there are women
like me, men like me, because what I learned in
sort of coming out of the chronic illness closet was
(11:58):
that countless people would lead and saying me too, and
no one should have to feel quiet about the things
they're experiencing, for good or bad. And so there's power
in standing up and saying I'm sick and it's going
to be okay. And that's why I write these books.
So that's not just Jews, but chronically ill and disabled
people know that they're deserving a good, safe and healthy
(12:21):
love to.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Those are responses from readers who feel like they've found
companionship and being seen in your books. You know that's
important to them. What does that mean to you everything.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I had a realization recently, this is very deep, that
the reason I truly write is because I want to
be seen. Right, But when a reader connects to your story,
they're also being seen, and it's so it's like a
book is two people reaching out across the void and
(12:53):
seeing each other. And so that's what it means to
me when people write me and say I had the
courage to use a wheelchair. This was the first time
I saw someone sick falling in love. It made me
re envision my future. It feels like reaching out and
taking each other's hand. And so there's no greater honor.
(13:14):
I always say, there's no greater honor and no greater privilege,
and I take it very seriously to be a voice
for the voiceless.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Gene Melcher's most recent book is The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah.
She's also planning the first ever three day event called
Jewish JOYCN in Fort Lauderdale. Let's go back and talk
about that again. So putting this event together, what kind
of response have you received from all these small businesses
and artists. And there's going to be the history of
Jewish Comics. It's quite an event coming up.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It has actually been amazing. I thought it sounds crazy
to say, and I don't want to jinx anything, but
I really felt like the Jewish world responded to this
so positively, had so much love and support. We've had
so many amazing artists coming in. People who haven't been
(14:07):
able to come in have been like, let me open
my rolodex for you. And I think it's because the
mission is so beautiful and people relate to it. You know,
we are creating spaces to celebrate being Jewish. We are
creating spaces where people can find Jewish artists and creatives
to support, and we are creating spaces where Jews and
(14:32):
allies can get together and just have a big, wonderful party.
And that's a great, wonderful thing to celebrate. And the
whole world, Jews and non Jews, have been just lovely
about it. We're really excited.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I think it's a really easy message, right just and
everybody needs a little joy right now, and everybody and
anyone is welcome at this event, the Jewish Joycon dot
Com March in Fort Lauderdale. You can find out more
about it on the website. And again, it is is
also the first day of Hanukkah, so happy Hanukkah to you.
And what are you looking forward to most this year
this Hankah?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I am looking forward to eating some delicious lackas with
my hobby. And also it's my baby husky one year old.
It's her first Hanukkah with us, so she's going to
be getting very spoiled this year. So family friends, it
made me a little bit of rest too.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
That sounds fantastic. Gene Meltzer is an author. Again she's
planning the Jewish Joycon this March in Fort Lauderdale. You
can find out more about geneat Geneltzer dot com. The
event is the Jewish Joycon dot com and her new
book is The Eight Heartbreaks of Honkkah. You've been very busy.
Thank you for making time and thank you for being
on get connected.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Thank you so much for having me here, and I
really hope to see you all at Jewish JOYCN March
thirteenth to fifteenth in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
This has been get connected with Nina del Rio on
one O six point seven Light. The views and opinions
of our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of
the station. If you missed any part of our show
or want to share it, visit our website for downloads
and podcasts at one O six seven lightfm dot com.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Get Connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly
conversation about fitness, health, and happenings in our community on
one six point seven Light FM.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to New York's Christmas station, Happy Holidays and Happy Honkkah.
Hanukkah starts today, so I'm very pleased to be joined
by writer and former New Yorker Gene Meltzer, also known
as the Queen of Jewish Romance, whose books include Kissing Kosher, Magic,
wal Meet Cute, and her newest The Eight Heartbreaks of Honukkah.
(00:34):
Gene Meltzer is also announcing a groundbreaking, first ever three
day event called Jewish Joy Con, celebrating the best in
Jewish pop culture, storytelling, and creativity. That is this coming
March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Gene Meltzer, Happy Hanukkah, and
thank you for being on Get Connected, Nita.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thank you so much for having me here today. Happy,
happy Honkkah, and happy Holidays to all your listeners.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You can find out more at Genemeltzer dot com and
the Jewish Joycon dot com. Let's start with Honkkah, since
today is the first day, I think we're so lucky
to have you here. It is December fourteenth to twenty
second this year. For you, what is Honkah about?
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Hanikah is about celebrating with your friends and family, getting
together to eat delicious fried foods, and most importantly, Honkkah
as we light the manora, is about spreading light, making
an otherwise dark world just a little.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Bit brighter, which we can all use this year. And again,
because you're here on Honkkah, I thought we might also
ask you a little bit of Honkah. One oh one.
So you lived in the city, and you know, we
have these beautiful manora all over the city. Of course,
people have them in their homes and their workplaces. There
are nine candles on the manora, eight nights of Honkkah.
(01:54):
What is the significance of lighting each candle as Honkah continues?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
So the story goes that there was a rededication of
the temple. There was only enough oil for one night,
and it lasted for eight nights instead, And so today
Jews all around the world we commemorate this by lighting
a candle for each nights of Ponka.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
One of the things I'm already enjoying about speaking with
Eugene is you have this amazing, big smile. While we're talking.
You look fantastic. We're on zoom, no one can see,
but Jene looks beautiful and you have this event coming up,
and I can see the joy in your face. So
let's talk about Jewish JOYCN, the first ever conference for
everything Jewish. Where did this idea come from?
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So it was really simple. Basically, I wanted to take
the idea of a comic con and smush it together
with the best of Jewish summer camp or summer camp
in general. That was like how it started. But basically,
you know, Jewish creativity has touched every area of our
society in wonderful, beautiful ways, whether that's humor, whether that's
(03:01):
film and television, books. In fact, here we are celebrating
the holidays, and many people might know or not know
that our Christmas, some of our favorite Christmas songs, some
of my favorite Christmas songs were actually written by Jews,
such as Irving Berlin, right, And I just wanted to
have this event where we would get together and we
(03:22):
would celebrate all the best that there is to being
Jewish and Jewish creativity. So no barriers, no divisions, just
a beautiful get together celebrating art and culture and this
small little tribe of people who have done so much
to better the world.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
It seems like there's going to be a lot of
people there, though. Can you talk a little bit about
the guests and the events.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Sure, we are doing a slow rollout of guests, but
we have everything from celebrities like Mark Furstein, to comedians,
to Jewish ninja warriors, to Jewish psychic mediums, Jewish author
best sellers, New York Times bestsellers, and all of and
it's going to be three floors overlooking the Atlantic Ocean
(04:08):
March thirteenth through fifteenth in Fort Lauderdale. And we're expecting
a marketplace agents Jewish Joy Idle so that even the
people who are not celebrities can get involved in front
of a panel of judges to show their talents. And
we're just gonna have a lot of fun. We're gonna
showcase art, We're gonna have comedians and musicians at dinner,
(04:32):
experience a mats the ball party, just so much joy,
and really it's for everybody. It's for everyone to enjoy
this experience of Jewish life.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
You can find out more at the Jewish Joycon dot
com that is Gene Meltzer's event, as you mentioned, coming
up in Fort Lauderdale this coming March thirteenth through fifteenth.
Her new book is The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah. You're
listening to get connected on one O six point seven
Light FM. I'm na del Rio and prior to becoming
(05:03):
an author, Gene Meltzer studied dramatic writing at NYU Tish.
She built a successful career in television, earning multiple accolades,
including a National Daytime Emmy Award. She is the recipient
of several writing honors. A book List Top Ten Romances
for twenty twenty three, A starter of you in kirkis
a starter of you in book List and library reads.
(05:24):
So please tell us about becoming a Jewish romance writer.
I assume there weren't too many people doing that.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Yeah, no, it definitely. You know, there's always been sort
of Jewish romance authors, but I think, thankfully in around
twenty twenty there was a push for more diversity within romance.
My background is kind of unique in that I was
a television producer. I was trained at and why U
Tish to be a screenwriter, and after a few years
(05:55):
in entertainment, I actually did quit my job to go
to rabbinical school. I've been five years in rabbinical school
before my chronic illness forced me to withdraw. But what
you see in these books is basically my two loves
coming together, which are writing and Jewish joy. So how
(06:15):
did I become a Jewish romance author? I was writing
stories from my heart, stories of my world. And it
was twenty twenty and timing met I guess the talent
which had gotten to the proper level to be writing
books like these, and I was offered a book deal
and I've never stopped from there. I just keep doing
(06:36):
what I love, which is writing these joyful Jewish stories
about Jewish life and especially about Honikah.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, a little bit about the crossover here too. So
you are a Jewish person who has a love for Christmas,
a secret love for Christmas.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Yeah, not secret anymore? Sorry?
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Can I talk a little bit about that and how
that sort of lends into your writing and how you
kind of balance them in the stories.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Sure? I mean the eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah, for instance,
is a Honkah retelling of a Christmas carol, which is
a story my mom actually used her entire life. She's
a therapist with her clients. So for me, I grew
up with a Christmas Carol as a sort of message
of learning to see your own experiences through someone else's lens,
(07:30):
and that's really what inspired me to write The Eight
Heartbreaks of Hanukkah. But I am a nice Jewish girl,
like so many other nice Jewish girls who have a
secret love of Christmas. There's no hiding it anymore, except
I kind of grew up in a home where we
weren't allowed to sort of celebrate Christmas in any way,
and so we weren't allowed to have music or tinsel
(07:51):
or anything like that. But I always loved it because
I think because I didn't celebrate it, I just always
assumed it was like Hallmark movies, like Chunky Sweat and
people walking around, you know, drinking hot chocolate and falling
in love. And so for me, it was almost this idealized,
beautiful expression of good in the world. And that's all
(08:14):
I do now with my Jewish romances. I take that
same sort of vibe, that same sort of feeling, and
I just sort of tell it as a Jewish story
from a Jewish worldview. But it's exactly the same. It's
silver tinsel instead of green.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
You also have a knack or an interest in telling
Jewish stories that, as you would say, don't feature trauma
at the forefront of them. Right. So many stories and
we talk about religion and ethnic groups, They talk about
all the stuff that's deep and unhappy, which is really important.
But you're really focused on humor in your books.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Absolutely. You know, growing up, I only kind of had
one type of story, and that was a Holocaust story.
There's nothing wrong with Holocaust stories. They need to be told.
But people and groups are so much more than their trauma.
There's so much more than their worst experiences. The Jewish
people are living and thriving, creating beautiful art. And for me,
(09:17):
I like not that my books don't deal with deep issues.
All my books actually do deal with deep issues, but
the action plot, the overarching plot, is a joyful story.
And why I started writing romance and why I love
romance is the promise of a happy ending, because every
single person out there deserves a happy ending.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
You've also been I have to say, it looks like
very prolific. You've published five books in the last four years,
so it seems like there is a huge audience. People
are looking for these stories.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
People absolutely are. And I always get asked, is it
just Jews reading your book? No, absolutely not. It's not
just Jews who are reading my book. Everybody is welcome
to experience a little taste of Jewish culture through these stories.
I've always been a big believer in creating access points.
I write for Jews the same way I write for
(10:10):
non Jews because Jews and non Jews often look very alike.
And yeah, there is a huge market and hunger for
people to learn about other cultures. Why do we read, right?
We read to experience a little taste of someone else's life.
So I invite everyone who wants to learn more about
like Jewish culture and Jewish people and Jewish families and
(10:34):
Jewish art, to pick up one of my books or
any Jewish romance out there and immerse yourself in a
new type of story. And I hope you love it
just as much as I loved writing it.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Because you also live with the chronic illness, you also
weave that into your books.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
Sure, so, I've been chronically disabled since about eighteen nineteen
years old. You would never know it by looking at me,
but I've been home bound for most of my life,
and before I was an author, I actually was my
husband's disabled wife. I spent about ten years not working,
two years really really sick, pretty much bedbound. And so
(11:14):
for me, especially having been diagnosed in the late nineties,
it's really important to model representation. I didn't have those
models growing up, and so I didn't know that you
could be chronically ill and chronically disabled and still fall
in love. I didn't know you could be chronically ill
and chronically disabled and have a career. I didn't know
(11:37):
you could be chronically ill and chronically disabled and actually
help a lot of other people and have meaning in
this world even on your worst days. And so for me,
it's really important to write stories where there are women
like me, men like me, because what I learned in
sort of coming out of the chronic illness closet was
(11:58):
that countless people would lead and saying me too, and
no one should have to feel quiet about the things
they're experiencing, for good or bad. And so there's power
in standing up and saying I'm sick and it's going
to be okay. And that's why I write these books.
So that's not just Jews, but chronically ill and disabled
people know that they're deserving a good, safe and healthy
(12:21):
love to.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Those are responses from readers who feel like they've found
companionship and being seen in your books. You know that's
important to them. What does that mean to you everything.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I had a realization recently, this is very deep, that
the reason I truly write is because I want to
be seen. Right, But when a reader connects to your story,
they're also being seen, and it's so it's like a
book is two people reaching out across the void and
(12:53):
seeing each other. And so that's what it means to
me when people write me and say I had the
courage to use a wheelchair. This was the first time
I saw someone sick falling in love. It made me
re envision my future. It feels like reaching out and
taking each other's hand. And so there's no greater honor.
(13:14):
I always say, there's no greater honor and no greater privilege,
and I take it very seriously to be a voice
for the voiceless.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Gene Melcher's most recent book is The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah.
She's also planning the first ever three day event called
Jewish JOYCN in Fort Lauderdale. Let's go back and talk
about that again. So putting this event together, what kind
of response have you received from all these small businesses
and artists. And there's going to be the history of
Jewish Comics. It's quite an event coming up.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
It has actually been amazing. I thought it sounds crazy
to say, and I don't want to jinx anything, but
I really felt like the Jewish world responded to this
so positively, had so much love and support. We've had
so many amazing artists coming in. People who haven't been
(14:07):
able to come in have been like, let me open
my rolodex for you. And I think it's because the
mission is so beautiful and people relate to it. You know,
we are creating spaces to celebrate being Jewish. We are
creating spaces where people can find Jewish artists and creatives
to support, and we are creating spaces where Jews and
(14:32):
allies can get together and just have a big, wonderful party.
And that's a great, wonderful thing to celebrate. And the
whole world, Jews and non Jews, have been just lovely
about it. We're really excited.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
I think it's a really easy message, right just and
everybody needs a little joy right now, and everybody and
anyone is welcome at this event, the Jewish Joycon dot
Com March in Fort Lauderdale. You can find out more
about it on the website. And again, it is is
also the first day of Hanukkah, so happy Hanukkah to you.
And what are you looking forward to most this year
this Hankah?
Speaker 3 (15:06):
I am looking forward to eating some delicious lackas with
my hobby. And also it's my baby husky one year old.
It's her first Hanukkah with us, so she's going to
be getting very spoiled this year. So family friends, it
made me a little bit of rest too.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
That sounds fantastic. Gene Meltzer is an author. Again she's
planning the Jewish Joycon this March in Fort Lauderdale. You
can find out more about geneat Geneltzer dot com. The
event is the Jewish Joycon dot com and her new
book is The Eight Heartbreaks of Honkkah. You've been very busy.
Thank you for making time and thank you for being
on get connected.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Thank you so much for having me here, and I
really hope to see you all at Jewish JOYCN March
thirteenth to fifteenth in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
This has been get connected with Nina del Rio on
one O six point seven Light. The views and opinions
of our guests do not necessarily reflect the views of
the station. If you missed any part of our show
or want to share it, visit our website for downloads
and podcasts at one O six seven lightfm dot com.
Thanks for listening.
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