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Speaker 1: Since twenty sixteen, we've had this great opportunity to share

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conversations with those that have been featured on NBC's The Voice.

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But where can we get them all in one place?

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Very easy? Erro dot net A r r oe dot net.

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It's under that voice. Enjoy the exploration. Hi, am, how

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were you doing today?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing great, So nice to be here and really

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nice medium.

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Speaker 1: It's going to be very fun to share in a

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conversation with you because you love to go into what

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I call people watching skills in the way that you

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truly do embrace who we are out here. So therefore,

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when we come to your pages, it's almost like you're

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you're that person that lives either in our home or

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next door.

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Speaker 2: And then I love that and I love that I

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can be here to celebrate all things of Jewish joy

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with you.

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Speaker 1: You know what, Let's talk about that Jewish joy. Because

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the more and more that I dug in to try,

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you know, in reading and researching your name and books,

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it's you've turned this into something that I called the

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fourth dimension. It's not just the storytelling. You're activated in

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the community in so many ways.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you know, I am someone who believes

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very much in miracles, and if you know my story

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with chromic illness, you know the fact that I'm even

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here able to write books and advocate in my community

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is a miracle. And so I believe when you've been

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given the miracle in your life, you have a responsibility

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to do something with it.

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Speaker 1: So then how did you know that it was time

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for you to make such a move like that, because

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I mean that is a personal decision and choice and

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then all of a sudden you get to see the

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fruit that comes to life around you.

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Speaker 2: Well, it's partly the community that sort of makes me

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so vested in this work. I've seen the power of

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Jewish joy to change lives and there's so much fun

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to be able to celebrate Jewish pop culture, storytelling, creativity

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and movement that we really need right now.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean you're getting ready for con connection as well,

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and that in itself. I mean that's where the masses

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come to serve as one that exactly.

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Speaker 2: And you know, it's not just for Jews. We like

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to say Jewish joys for everybody. So for some people

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it's they're connected to the Jewish world because they love

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our our our femro our comedy, our television shows. Sometimes

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it's people who are married with Jews are best friends

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with you. Some people I've even met people at my

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book events who are in Jewish but because of their

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family are raising their children. We just really want to

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celebrate the diversity of the Jewish comumity, the allies, the creativity,

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and really everyone is welcome to participate, and it's a

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wonderful celebration of Jewish creativity, of Jewish joy.

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Speaker 1: Cop Yeah, because I mean you've invited musicians, comedians, storytellers,

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celebrities and so many others. In fact, I love the

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fact that you include the comedians because I'm blessed with

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the opportunity to talk to a lot of very funny

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Jewish men as well as women, and they will sit

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there and tell me in those conversations, people go, you what,

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but but you're Jewish. I can still be funny. I

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can still be funny.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. In fact, you know, Jesus puts every area of

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the society and world in terms of our creativity. They

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obviously comedy, you think of fine cells, but even you

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can think of things like music. I'm a Honika rom

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Pom writer. But if you think about our Christmas songs

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that we know and love, so many of them are

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actually written by you.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 2: So Jewish creativity, there are so many ways to celebrate it.

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But you are totally like comedians, musicians, influencers, authors, celebrities, actors,

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film directors, all of that is coming together, joy comp

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to celebrate this huge three day ground baking of them

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with thousands and thousands of people who love Jewish creativity

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and culture.

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Speaker 1: Now do you do you put yourself in a position

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of being the Jewish author? Then when you when you

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go to this because I mean, I mean, there's so

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much that you're incorporated in and bringing people together, and

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because I mean, what a great place to put the

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eight heartbreaks of Hanukkah. I mean, what a great display.

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But at the same time, your heart, though, is so

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wide open to say, but you can do it too.

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Let's get you activated.

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Speaker 2: Oh for sure, I am. You know it's funny. I

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haven't put one pannel or thought into profollowing my own

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book or myself. I'm doing joy thought. I haven't just

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completely focused on uplifting the community and the arts community. Actually,

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I'm so passionate about the idea of sort of not

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lifting up the ladder behind you that we are actually

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making it a point to bring in people to be

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pitch Leeson so agents through agents for musicians and literary

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people as well as a venture capitalists and helped young

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entrepreneurs se see. So I haven't even thought of myself

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at all. It's really just been about celebrating the large

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scale community.

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Speaker 1: Please do not move. There's more with Gene Meltzer coming

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up next the name of the book, the Eight Heartbreaks

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of Hanukkah. We are back with the Queen of Romance,

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the one and only Jean Meltzer. You've earned the title

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of the Queen of Jewish Romance. And right away I

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wanted to go in and try to figure out what

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would be a story that I would love for you

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to write, And this one fell into my lap. It

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was the universe that was speaking through me. In the

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year thirty thirty one. That will be the first time

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ever that the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars will cause the

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holiday not to take place in thirty thirty one, because

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it's going to take place the first week in thirty

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thirty two. And I thought to myself, Jean can write

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a love story about this. I mean, she Oh my god,

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she could really turn this into something.

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Speaker 2: I love that some futuristic size thoughts. Jeez, romance story,

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I love it so much fun. I mean that's that's

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the beauty too. I love a good love story and

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I love a good romantic fantasy. I like to say

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in Romance, I am here for the billionaire who does laundry.

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So maybe maybe in thirty thirty lawn thirty thirty few,

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it'll be my billionaire who does laundry Romance.

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Speaker 1: Are you think that maybe we should start booking you

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for some appearances at Barnes and Nobles around the country

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this early in the game.

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Speaker 2: I think I think that should happen exactly as long

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as you'll be there with me, since it was your idea.

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Speaker 1: How how is it that a storyline comes to you,

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because I mean that's one of the things I mentioned

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in the very beginning, that you were so in touch

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with who we are go hang out at a Starbucks

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or someplace just to watch people.

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Speaker 2: We I mean, I've always been sort of a I

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don't go to Starbucks to watch people. I think I

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just love and love and I look for stories that that,

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you know, kind of in your fantasy world. You know, like,

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what do you want? What do you want to happen?

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You know, what's your biggest dream? And there's no greater

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privilege than the right a love stories. Yeah, and love

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happens everywhere, and sometimes you know, it happens with celebrities

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or you know, we're in romance, or we're in like

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the fantasy world, or sometimes it happens with their childhood phones,

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or sometimes it happens, you know, with the rabbi at

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the shore. But there's all sorts of ways to talk

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about Jewish love.

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Speaker 1: That is so funny that you brought in that rabbi,

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because that's one of my favorite things to do, is

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to get into conversation with a rabbi and see how

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human they really are. I mean, when you can get

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to that rabbi to laugh with you, it's like, this

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is the place to be. This is a blessed.

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Speaker 2: Moment, samenamen. And it's funny. You probably know this having

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done your research. I spent five years in rabbinical ful wow,

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so I was actually studying to be a rabbi at

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one point. But now I have the the luxury of

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being the queen of Jewish romance. So not going to

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riviz but definitely spreading the good of Jewish stood.

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Speaker 1: So how is it that you were able to put

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comedy in there? Because I've been with more comedians they

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talk about that it takes years to craft out a joke,

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but yet when when you deliver it within your paragraphs,

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it's like that was so natural. How did she trust

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herself to make that sound so natural?

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Speaker 2: You know? I think like everything I've taken and learned

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from the great performance I grew up, you know, in

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the eighties and nineties, all those great som com films,

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and of course the work of like Adam Sandler. Yes,

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and I love, you know, the unexpected. I love the quirky,

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the weird. I always tell people that, like sixteen Third

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States is one of my one of my favorite sort

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of rom com films. And so I'm always just looking

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like life is so funny in general, but it's actually

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dating to be a really funny experience. Like all the

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posips and the crazy situations you find yourself, or when

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you're not plicking with someone, or when you are flicking

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with something and like something, the embarrassing happens, and those

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are just like the normal funny parts of life. So

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to write a wrong com where those normal, funny parts

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of life comes from. It's a way of connecting with

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the readers because everyone has experiences.

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Speaker 1: Wow, you've got to come back to this show anytime

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in the future. Gene. I love where your heart is

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and I love what you're doing with your writing. Like

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I said, you have taken it to the fourth dimension.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much. It was such an honored Amitia Ares,

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and I'm just so thrilled to be here and thank

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you a Dan and I hope to see everyone at

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You and Joy Con in Fort Lauderdale in March.

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Speaker 1: Will you'd be brilliant today?

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Speaker 2: Okay, you too, Thank you so much.