The Braid Showcases Stories of Asian American Jews for Double-Heritage Month

For Asian American Jews, May is double-heritage month: It’s Asian Pacific American and Jewish American Heritage Month. What better time for The Braid to present its first ever theatre show written and produced by Asian American Jews? 

“What Do I Do with All This Heritage?” premiering May 15, brings to life more than a dozen true stories and one “rollicking” song. The stories offer a witty, insightful and sometimes heartbreaking exploration of what it’s like to balance two age-old traditions in your heart. 

The show represents a partnership between The Braid, which for 16 years has prided itself on showcasing stories from every corner of the Jewish experience, and The LUNAR Collective, founded in 2020 to become the only national organization by and for Asian American Jews. 

“Ever since I wrote a story for “True Colors,” The Braid’s landmark smash hit of true stories from Jews of Color, I’ve dreamed of creating a theatre show about the lives of Asian Jews,” David Chiu, producer of “What Do I Do with All This Heritage?,” told the Journal. 

Chiu, who is Chinese and Jewish, is The Braid’s marketing and communications director, as well as an L.A. community leader for LUNAR. 

“Having so much heritage enriches me in all sorts of wonderful ways that my heart wants to share it with the world,” he said. “This show is an incredible opportunity to do that; it’s literally a dream come true.”

“What Do I Do with All This Heritage?” explores the experiences that occur at the crossroads of cultures. The writers range in age from 12 to their 70s. In addition to Chiu, the show’s creative team includes LUNAR’s co-executive directors Jenni Rudolph and Maryam Chishti, Vanessa Bloom (also an L.A. Community Leader of LUNAR), producer Ronda Spinak (The Braid’s co-founder and artistic director) and director Susan Morgenstern. 

There are stories of mixed-race and mixed-religion Jews, patrilineal Jews and growing up in a Jewish community in India that’s existed for countless generations. “This has been a wonderful merging of my love for our community and my love for theater,” Chishti told the Journal. “Hearing the myriad of stories from our community has been informative, heartbreaking and exciting, and it solidifies and reiterates the need for [LUNAR’s] existence.”

Chishti’s story is about being both Muslim and Jewish. “At this painful time of Muslim/Jewish division … I hope that people can be reminded of the foundational similarities between these two faiths and hope for a brighter future for both communities,” she said. “I hope that the show will allow our audience to better understand our community — our pain, our joy, our similarities, and our differences.”

Chishti believes the show provides a wonderful window into what makes Asian Jews, Asian Jews. “You won’t be the same after hearing it,” she said.

In her true story, Leila Chomski writes about being a Vietnamese American teenager struggling to reconcile her Orthodox Jewish tradition with her secret love of dancing to K-Pop.

In her true story, Leila Chomski writes about being a Vietnamese American teenager struggling to reconcile her Orthodox Jewish tradition with her secret love of dancing to K-Pop. “I wanted to be picked for this show really badly; I recited the entire book of Psalms and visited a rabbi’s grave in the hopes of bettering my chances,” Chomski told the Journal. “I like to be not only religious but also spiritual and I believe that if you want something, you should turn to G-d and really show him you want it.”  She added, “Realistically, I could have been picked without all this hype, but it wouldn’t have felt as special.”

Chomski said it would be amazing if the show could be regarded as a relevant celebration of Jewish Asian life. “Regarding my particular story, it would be nice to bring attention to the logistical difficulties Orthodox Asian Jews face in balancing religious observance and interest in Asian culture,” she said. For instance, many traditional Asian foods like pork, shrimp or crab, will always be off-limits. “This can leave an Orthodox Jewish Asian person feeling that everything in their life is filtered, a replacement of the real, original culture,” she said. “Telling this story also shows that someone in this position can overcome this feeling and have a happy ending.”

The cast — Kimberly Green, Kenzo Lee, Lillian McKenzie, Victoria Rani and Kaitlyn Tanimoto — is entirely Asian American, and Green and McKenzie are Jewish, as well. 

“I love working with the Braid, they always curate beautiful meaningful stories; the writing is provoking and is filled with a strong positive message,” Green told the Journal. “This show in particular feels special as I have never worked on a show when my Asian culture is center stage.”

Green, who is a Korean Puerto Rican Jew, hopes the audience will “fall in love with each of us through the stories we tell, and leave the show wanting to include Asians in their circle of friends, and embrace them as equals.” Chiu, who believes the show has brought the emergent Asian Jewish community further together, said “What Do I Do with All This Heritage?” has a lot of laughs, sweet moments and fun musical moments. “Even in the stories that will give you a good cry, there’s still joy and hope,” he said. “LUNAR has ‘Embracing Joy’ as one of its core values, and we always knew we wanted to make a joyful show.

“I hope that in these tumultuous times, that joy will be a gift to everyone.” 

“What Do I Do with All This Heritage?” runs from May 15 through June 9 in person in Los Angeles. They will also have two shows live-on-Zoom, as well as performances in the Bay Area on May 18 and 19. Learn more at the-braid.org/heritage.