OyChicago articles

Aaron Karo first came into my life my sophomore year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when my friend Jamie forwarded me an email that was so funny I almost peed my pants! From then on, every month, my friends and I got an email from Karo titled Ruminations, where he wrote about what was on his mind: college life, dating, drinking and just everyday stuff. His writing was real, relatable and most definitely, hilarious—plus, he was a nice Jewish boy from New York!

Ruminations began in 1997, when as a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, Karo sent a funny email to just 20 of his friends—through forwards and word-of-mouth, the “email column” spread like wildfire to hundreds of thousands of college kids throughout the country. Twelve years later, Karo still emails out his Ruminations every other Monday and he also created a website, Ruminations.com, in August of 2008 for fans to share their own ruminations, observations and anecdotes.

Inspired by his column, Karo authored two books, Ruminations on College Life (this one got me through a bad case of the flu my sophomore year) and Ruminations on Twentysomething Life, both published by Simon and Schuster.

According to his website, after a brief detour on Wall Street, Karo moved from New York City to Los Angeles in 2005 to write sitcoms and perform stand-up. In August of 2008, he performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on CBS, and in December 2008, Comedy Central Records released his stand-up album, Just Go Talk to Her. Karo plans to release a new album early next year.

Karo’s third book, I’m Having More Fun Than You , was published Sept. 15 by HarperCollins, and Karo is currently on a 15-city stand-up tour to promote the book. You can catch him at the House of Blues in Chicago this Saturday, Nov. 14—I saw him perform there last year, and trust me, it’s a pee-in-your-pants good time.

Just before he set out on his tour, I had the chance to talk with Karo about his new book, bachelorhood and his Jewish mother’s thoughts about his love of the single life:

Oy!Chicago: Tell me about your new book, I’m having more fun than you.
Aaron Karo: I turned 30 earlier this year and I started to notice that as all the women around me wanted to get married more, I actually wanted to get married less. For me, turning 30 meant I had a little money, I was more confident, I knew what I was doing. The book is a tribute to bachelorhood and it’s a series of anecdotes and observations about single life in your 20s and 30s. It’s kind of a defense of bachelorhood because for guys and for girls I feel like a lot of people make you feel bad about being single—you feel ostracized, they stick you at a table at a wedding—and this is kind of saying that “Hey, at least we make the world go ‘round.”

What is your Jewish background? How does being Jewish influence what you do?
I was raised Conservative, but I’m actually completely secular now. But I really think that Judaism to me is more of a cultural thing, especially in comedy. Having a comic background and being able to spot another Jew across the room are the more salient characteristics of Judaism for me.

What does your Jewish mother think of all this “single is more fun” business? Doesn’t she want grandkids?
My parents are not that bad on the spectrum of Jewish parents. Recently, my dad told me that my mom said that she’d be okay with it if I had a kid out of wedlock, just so she could have grandchildren. I think she was kind of half serious. But besides that they haven’t been too bad. Plus, I have a younger sister, so I try to shift some of the burden to her.

Is this love for the single life just your shtick or is it really who you are? Would you change if the right girl came along?
There’s no shtick! I write what I know. I am single and have been for a little while now, although I have had girlfriends that I do mention in the book. I live what I write and vice versa. I write in the introduction that the book is not supposed to be anti-marriage—in fact I do want to get married, just not right now or on anyone’s timetable.

Who is your inspiration? Do you have a favorite Jewish comedian?
I don’t really know if there’s an answer to that question. I started writing in college just for fun, for free. I just put my own experiences on paper, nothing really inspired me to do so, more because I couldn’t sleep as a freshman. My favorites are Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld, which is kind of like saying your favorite team is the Yankees, but my favorite team is the Yankees, so I feel like I’m allowed.

Your whole career was basically born from grassroots social networking even before the Facebook and Twitter stuff. What do you think of social media and viral marketing? Do you use Facebook and Twitter?
Well, it’s kind of a blessing and a curse. I mean, on one hand it was nice when I had a giant email list and no one could touch me and now it’s like someone does some tweets and next thing you know you have 10,000 followers. But I also think that it’s not as deep necessarily; I’ve used social media to complement my existing relationships, the email and the website, and I post stuff on Facebook and Twitter. I read all my emails personally so I’ve always been pretty into interacting with fans.

What advice do you have for Jewish 20 and 30somethings?
The thesis of the book is that one of the benefits of being single in your 20s is that you’re more prepared for marriage, which is kind of a counterintuitive statement that I make. I feel like the longer you’re single the more you know what you really want and what makes you happy.

What can we expect from your upcoming show at the House of Blues?
So very excited, new show. It’s an all-new show, different from what I did last year in Chicago, inspired by the book. Lots of discussion of relationships, marriage, dating of course drinking—the House of Blues always has the craziest fans! I’m actually talking about kids a little bit this time around because a bunch of my friends started having kids, so that’s a new part of my act. I think it’s really good—I think it’s the best show I’ve ever done.

Whenever my husband wears a kippah – an admittedly rare occasion – he dons a colorful crocheted circle swirling in blues, yellows and browns.

Kippot like his are the work of a handful of Mayan women in Guatemala, who have partnered with MayaWorks, a Chicago-based organization to produce beautiful fair-trade ritual objects, purses and clothing. The colors on my husband’s kippah were chosen by the women of San Marcos la Laguna, a small village on the shores of Lake Atitlan.

The women began crocheting kippot about 10 years ago, after a Jewish tourist traveling with MayaWorks saw them making hacky sacks. “If they can make hacky sacks, they can make kippot,” the tourist remarked, says MayaWorks executive director Jeannie Balanda. That off-hand remark started an effort that now constitutes the artisans’ best-selling product. Besides hacky sacks and kippot, the 40 San Marcos artisans crochet baby hats and shoes and pouches.

Each kippah takes about three to four hours to complete. At first the shape was troubling – some kippot would be really round or really flat, says Naomi Czerwinskyj, MayaWorks product manager. Eventually, with the help of a head dummy, the artisans found the right shape: neither pancake nor Sephardi-style hat.

For the first couple years, the kippot makers didn’t actually know what they were making. But another traveler brought a story about the importance of a kippah in the Jewish tradition – the sign of reverence for God. That’s made the crochet specialists even more respectful of their own work, Balanda says.

The MayaWorks scenario is far from a sweatshop: the organization not only provides market-rate payment for the artisans’ work and supplies, but also scholarships for their children, micro-loans to improve living conditions, and additional training. The artisans create their own patterns, make decisions on whom to include in their craft group, and brainstorm ideas for new products.

“Not only has this been good work for the artisans as far as getting money for their families, but it has also been good for their growth as women and as contributing members of their communities,” Balanda says. “When they see the results of their work, the artisans’ self-esteem increases dramatically.”

That’s no small thing in traditionally macho Guatemala. Add in the long-existing prejudices against indigenous people, and the value of having a market for their products becomes clearer.

The kippot makers are among seven groups of women engaged with MayaWorks. Most are weavers, a traditional craft young girls learn from an early age. They start by making huipiles, blouses made out of hand-woven panels decorated with an array of birds, flowers and vines. The MayaWorks artisans have transferred some of these rich patterns onto the products they make – including other Judaica: the mezuzah covers, banners proclaiming shalom and, most recently, tallitot and tallit bags. Of course, Jewish ritual objects are not the only products. The MayaWorks warehouse in Chicago is a treasure trove of eye-glass cases, tablecloths, decorative wall panels, purses, Christmas tree ornaments and headgear.

The colors and patterns that first drew my husband to his kippah are a powerful symbol of what Maimonides taught 800 years ago: the best way to help someone is to give them the resources to help themselves.

Since discovering the kippot, we’ve given MayaWorks headgear as gifts to our extended family. They’re more than a mark of our Jewish heritage. They’re a symbol of hope.

This Wednesday night (Nov. 4) Chicagoans will have the rare opportunity to get a glimpse into Israeli culture—free of charge! Three former contestants of “ Kochav Nolad/ A Star is Born,” Israel's version of "American Idol," will perform “Israel: Sing it!!! A Concert Honoring Yitzhak Rabin's Legacy of Peace and Tolerance.”

The concert, presented by USD Hagshama and The Petach Tikva Committee of Chicago Sister Cities International Program, starts at 7 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington Street.

I got a chance to sit down with the show’s talented young Israeli artists yesterday as they arrived in Chicago—the last stop on their three week tour of the US—to learn a little bit about each of their lives and music careers,  and how being on one of Israel’s most popular television shows made them instantly famous!

Israela Asago

“My family came from a small village in Ethiopia. Before I was born, they escaped and decided to make aliyah to Israel,” says Israela Asago, a competitor on the fourth season of “Kochav Nolad.” The singer, who will soon be turning 28, says she has been singing since she was four or five years old. She is currently working on an album of pop songs and consistently touring with Israel’s top artists.

Moran Gamliel

Born in Israel, 29-year-old Moran Gamliel says he has been singing for as long as he can remember. He began his own band in high school and then served in the IDF’s Educational Music Corp. in what he calls a “military band.” After the army, Gamliel decided to try out for “Kochav Nolad” and made it to the semifinals. He released his first album shortly afterwards and currently has two songs in the Top 10 in Israel, one of which was number one. He describes his music as “soft rock and a bit of pop.” Check out one of his songs here.

Boris Soltanov

Born in the Former Soviet Union, Boris Soltanov came to Israel at the age of 12 when his family decided to make aliyah. A musician from a young age, Soltanov, now 26, joined a band in high school and his music career took off from there. Though a teenage immigrant, Soltanov mastered Hebrew, joined the IDF and managed to break into the Israeli music scene at a young age. “In the middle of my army service I saw this commercial about this show, it was the first season,” Soltanov says. He tried out, made it to the semifinals of the first season and became part what quickly became the most popular show on Israeli television. He describes his music as “pop, but also classic. My roots definitely still are there.”

For all three of these singers, being on Israel’s version of “Idol” has opened up many new doors, including the opportunity to tour the US, visiting many cities for the first time.

“We’re excited because it’s a beautiful opportunity for us to see different places in our tour,” Soltanov says. “We’re blessed, I will say, to perform to show ourselves and still see the world. One of my main reasons to come here was to use this opportunity to travel a little bit and to see the US.”

According to the singers, tomorrow night’s show will be a bit slower paced and more acoustic than the regular concert these artists perform around the world—which features more upbeat, high energy pop music—but the message is still the same.

“The whole idea is just to bring today’s Israeli music to show this Israeli culture which is not really known to most of the people around the world,” Soltanov says. “Even if we’re performing in front of Jewish students, still people all around the world are not really familiar with Israel. We’re trying to bring this little bit of an educational message (to people) that (Israel) is much more than desert or those crazy things that they’re hearing in the news.

The main message is to show a different Israel--you know what, to show the real Israel.”

During the show, the three artists also share their personal stories and answer questions from the audience following their performance.

“We still do what we love to do,” Asago says, “we sing!”

Cosponsors for Wednesday’s concert include: American Zionist Movement, Birthright Israel NEXT, Chicago Sister Cities International Program, Consulate General of Israel, Israel Aliyah Center, The Israel House, JCRC's Israel Initiative, Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and USD/Hagshama.

Questions? Contact Aimee Weiss at  aimeew@jafi.org or check out the event on  Facebook .