Lifetime Welcomes Jew-ish Romantic Comedy ‘Mistletoe & Menorahs’

Two things set apart “Mistletoe & Menorahs” from the other holiday romantic comedies airing on Lifetime this month. As the title suggests, it celebrates both Hanukkah and Christmas. But the story about an interfaith relationship also reflects the real-life love stories of its writer, Guy Yosub, and its lead actor, Jake Epstein. Both are Jewish and in interfaith marriages.
“It’s the story of two people who find each other and love the differences about each other. In today’s world I think that’s a beautiful message,” Epstein said. “And at this time of year when we’re inundated with Christmas programming, it’s a nice reminder that there are other cultures that celebrate in different ways.”
In the film, the couple falls in love as they learn about each other’s holiday traditions. Israeli-born Yosub recalled that his wife, Julianna Hays, an executive producer on the project, didn’t know much about Hanukkah when they met. “I had to do a lot of explaining. She had no idea what sufganiyot were,” he said.
Yosub endeavored to put as many Hanukkah touchstones as possible into the movie, including dreidels, jelly doughnuts, lighting the candles and making latkes. In a caroling scene, Broadway veteran Epstein sings “Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah.”
Epstein met his wife, actress Vanessa Smythe, in high school. “We were friends, then sweethearts, then broke up. We kept in touch through the years, got back together and got married a year ago,” he said. He has fond memories of Hanukkah parties with his extended family in Toronto, where he once again resides after seven years in New York. “If you want to eat, you have to get up and tell a bad joke. It’s become a fun and competitive event.”
He had a “somewhat observant upbringing” that included Hebrew school, a bar mitzvah and celebrating holidays with family. “I would consider myself spiritually Jewish rather than religiously Jewish,” he said. “It was certainly a big part of my upbringing and certainly a big part of my identity.”
“At this time of year when we’re inundated with Christmas programming, it’s a nice reminder that there are other cultures that celebrate in different ways.”
— Jake Epstein
Exposed to theater early by arts aficionado parents, Epstein and his sister became actors at an early age. “It’s not always the easiest job to be an actor. You’re constantly looking for the next job,” he said. “I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to get to do this and that I’ve been able to have a pretty good career so far.” His credits include “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” “Designated Survivor,” “Suits,” and the musicals “Spring Awakening,” “Billy Elliot” and “Beautiful.”
Also in Lifetime’s “A Storybook Christmas,” premiering Dec. 7, Epstein currently is starring in “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and will appear in “Indecent” in Toronto in May. “Boy From the Sky,” his autobiographical one-act play that premiered earlier this year in Toronto, will be restaged there in 2020.
“I’m interested in writing and being part of great stories,” he said. “I love doing these Lifetime movies because they’re comedies. They’re really joyful and funny and fun to be part of. They’re really sweet and perfectly predictable. I think these movies are really comforting and I know a lot of people look forward to them every year.”
Yosub, whose parents are from Romania and whose father is a Holocaust survivor, was born in Ramat Chen outside Tel Aviv but grew up in Queens, N.Y., in a Reform Jewish home. He went to a Jewish day school, had a bar mitzvah and regularly attended synagogue. “The traditions, the lifestyle, are very important to me. I feel very connected,” he said, noting that Hays, whom he met at a poker game in 2008 and married this September, has been an eager student of the traditions. “We celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, Easter and Passover now. If we’re lucky enough to have children, we’ll focus on the traditions of the holidays and the importance of family.”
Armed with a master’s in writing from Queens College, Yosub moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to pursue screenwriting, but after the economic crash and the writers’ strike in 2008, he took a job casting extras for film and TV. But with Hays’ encouragement, he eventually returned to writing scripts, several of which have sold. They include “Sign for Revenge,” a woman-in-jeopardy movie, and “Love at Daisy Hill,” set in Hays’ home state of Kentucky. While writing “Mistletoe & Menorahs,” he binged on rom-coms including “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle” for inspiration.
“These movies are becoming part of the lexicon of the season,” he said. “The whole family can gather round to watch. There’s a familiarity to it. All the joy of the holidays and the feeling of family and tradition shine through; the similarities between people and the family and tradition aspects of the holidays that are universal and we all share.”
He added, “I could not be more excited, happier and proud about it. I hope this becomes a tradition and we see a Hanukkah movie every year.”
Meanwhile, he has an idea for a sequel: “A Very Easter-Passover Wedding.”
“Mistletoe & Menorahs” premieres Dec. 7 on Lifetime and OnDemand.
JJ Inside The Print
It’s crazy to think about it. With a predatory regime like Iran on its doorstep and more than 100,000 terror missiles pointed at its citizens,...
As an undergraduate at UC San Diego, I was active in our campus pro-Israel group. I loved every minute of it, even if it meant...
“Do you ever wonder just what God requires? You think He’s just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires?” — Bob Dylan “You call...
I’ve always had a low threshold for pain. Whenever I bump into a wall or get a little cut, I act as if I’ve been...
Fifteen years ago, the Journal published a story about cellphone use in synagogue. Some parents justified the practice, as they needed to call “Rosa” during...
Last week in New York, I was the lone son of a British Methodist amid 1,800 Jews and people of other faiths at the Anti-Defamation...
When Brooke Goldstein was in her third year at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, her graduation was almost...
When Republican impeachment lawyer Steven Castor and Republican representatives implied Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman might have dual loyalty to the Ukraine, many Jews cringed. After...
Israel is known as one of the world’s most vegetarian- and vegan-friendly countries. Perhaps it’s the abundance of fresh and delicious produce, Jewish dietary laws...
Writing a book about Israel can be frustrating for many reasons, the first of which is that it constantly needs to be updated. Reality changes...
On Sept. 18, one day after election day, the numbers came in — and they said nothing new. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud didn’t...
One verse, five voices. Edited by Salvador Litvak, Accidental Talmudist And he dreamed, and behold! a ladder set up on the ground and its top reached...
The word on the street is that polenta must be stirred constantly while it cooks, similar to risotto. There are even automatic polenta stirrers made...
A Jewish Sephardic vocalist backed by an Arab Moroccan string ensemble formed the backdrop to a unique event at the Beverly Hills Hotel when San...
Liz Vogel, the Los Angeles executive director of the nonprofit Facing History and Ourselves, recalls the moments in her young adulthood where she experienced anti-Semitism. And...
In her new book, “Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), Wendy Wood, a professor of...
Some may wonder why actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish titled her latest Netflix stand-up comedy special “Black Mitzvah” and opens with a rap to the...
Producer Elisabeth (Lizzie) Bentley, the spearheading force behind director Terrence Malick’s new biopic, “A Hidden Life,” first became aware of the film’s protagonist, Franz Jägerstätter,...
Two things set apart “Mistletoe & Menorahs” from the other holiday romantic comedies airing on Lifetime this month. As the title suggests, it celebrates both...
As Shirley Maisel, the loud and overbearing Jewish mother of Joel and former mother-in-law of the titular standup comedian in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Caroline...
With phrases such as “Move forward,” “Listen carefully,” “Make art from your heart” and “Woman, speak up,” Sara Erenthal invites observers of her art to...
Over his long and remarkable career, Theodore Bikel achieved the status of living treasure. He is perhaps best known for the roles he played on...
“Theodore Bikel’s The City of Light” is based on a short story by Theodore Bikel but the book’s author is his widow, Aimee Ginsburg Bikel. Born...
Drew Leach was completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Arizona during the Second Lebanon War in Israel in 2006. On her campus, she...
A unique women-owned business is helping charities while promoting Hanukkah this year. Amanda Foley was busy working as a casting director in Los Angeles, while...
Sylvia Bar died Oct. 26 at 92. Survived by daughter Jeanine; son Malchi; 1 grandchild. Hillside Tully Becker died Oct. 9 at 86. Survived by...
I love receiving gift cards, but I do feel a little guilty giving them because I’m afraid the recipient will presume I didn’t put any thought...
It is the central irony of American life that the national holiday about gratitude anchors the biggest shopping frenzy of the year. Here’s what I...
Milken Community Schools held its third annual community-wide challah bake, during which 500 people prepared challah for Shabbat. Attendees at the Nov. 14 event at...
FRI DEC 6 Zamru Friday Night Shomrei Torah Synagogue holds Zamru Friday Night, a unique, musically rich kabbalat Shabbat service and dinner. Cantor Jackie Rafii...
Responding to Rosner I believe that Israel will never experience peace, and global anti-Semitism will not be reduced, until there is a real home for...