If your mother is like my mother, chances are she’s given you countless hours of unsolicited advice and opinions ranging from fashion to relationships to child rearing (“I remember hearing on ‘The Phil Donahue Show’ that pacifiers can cause buck teeth”). Of course the difference between Amy Borkowsky and us is that Amy, or Amila (AY-muh-luh) as her mother called her, started saving the taped messages her mother left on Borkowsky’s old dual-microcassette answering machine. As each tape filled up, she would toss it in a drawer, never thinking that someday the messages would lead to two “Amy’s Answering Machine” CDs, and her latest release, “The Mother of All Comedy CDs.”

The messages on this most recent one are classic. Among my favorites is the one where her mother instructs Amila not to wear her red terrycloth robe anymore when she takes out the garbage or runs outside to get the newspaper because she’s heard red is a gang color.

Then there was the time when Borkowsky happened to mention she was going out for Japanese food. Her mother called to tell her not to eat sushi because “that’s raw fish, you know. It would be the same thing as saying why bother broiling steak when I can nibble directly on the cow.”

Unfortunately, Borkowsky’s mother passed away a few years ago. But she will live on forever in this latest, good-natured and excruciatingly funny CD, and during Borkowsky’s shows as a stand-up comic. If you’re interested in hearing some snippets from the new CD, or in ordering one for yourself, go to www.mothercd.com.

Komen in Israel

Building on its mission to end breast cancer globally, Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, the world’s largest breast cancer organization, is partnering with the City of Jerusalem, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, health advocates and scientists for a week of events in Israel to examine major scientific issues in breast cancer while advancing the international breast cancer movement. The week of Oct. 25 through 28th launches the Israel Breast Cancer Collaborative, a partnership between Komen and non-governmental organizations in Israel to enhance advocacy, Israel to enhance advocacy, awareness, screening and treatment of breast cancer in that country. Meanwhile, the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure takes place in St. Louis on Saturday, June 12. May 29th is the last day for individuals to register by mail. For more information, go to www.komenstlouis.org.

Rey of life

Should you find yourself in New York City this summer, check out the Jewish Museum’s exhibit featuring the lives and works of Margret and H. A. Rey, creators of the “Curious George” books. As German Jews living in Paris during the rise of Hitler, the Reys increasingly became concerned about a Nazi invasion. So a couple of days before the Germans marched into Paris, they fled on bicycles carrying drawings for their picture books, including one about a mischievous monkey that was then called Fifi.

With nearly 80 original drawings for the more than 30 children’s books they published, and documentation related to their harrowing escape from Nazi-occupied Europe to New York, the exhibition looks at the parallels between the obstacles the couple faced in fleeing and the drawings that may have saved their lives. The story of their life in Paris and their narrow escape is also told through an interactive timeline.

The exhibit, which is up through Aug. 1, is appropriate for adults and children, and includes a reading room inspired by the beloved monkey’s escapades in “Curious George Flies a Kite.”
 For more information, go to www.thejewishmuseum.org