Oy to the world!

If you haven’t attended the annual Brothers Lazaroff Hanukkah Hullabaloo, don’t miss your chance this year. If you have —  2018, after all, marks the eighth iteration of the event — then you know what great fun it is, and you’ve probably gotten your tickets already. 

This year’s Hullabaloo promises to be the biggest, and likely the best one ever. For starters, it has moved to larger digs at the Grandel Theatre at the Kranzberg Arts Center to accommodate more people. In addition, St. Louis jazz and soul singer Anita Jackson will be doing an Aretha Franklin tribute and sitting in with the band. Other tributes include ones to Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. And as always, the Wives Lazaroff (and friends) will be frying up latkes on stage, served with your choice of sour cream or applesauce.

However, what makes this year’s Hullabaloo truly unique is that all of the evening’s proceeds go to benefit Metro Theater Company, which creates professional theater and nurtures learning through the arts for young people. Currently, Metro is performing “Wonderland: Alice’s Rock & Roll Adventure,” which is playing at the Grandel Theatre from Dec. 2-30. 

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The fun gets underway at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 at the Grandel, 3610 Grandel Square, in Grand Center. Joining the Lazaroff Brothers as always are Rabbi James Stone Goodman and the Eight Nights Orchestra, along with DJ Boogieman. Food will be available for purchase from The Dark Room and Taco Buddha, and STL Style House (a.k.a. the Brothers Vines) will be on-site selling its St. Louis-inspired apparel. 

Tickets, at $25 and $50, are available at metrotix.com. This is an all-ages, family event, so pack up the van and come on down. 

Women of note  

Speaking of musical entertainment, CHARIS, the St. Louis Women’s Chorus, will be performing “Meet Me at the Muny,” commemorating 100 years of musical theater, at 8 p.m. both Friday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 1, at the Missouri History Museum. In addition to featuring many Broadway shows that made their way to the Muny stage over the last century, including “42^nd Street,” “Les Miserables,” “Aida” and “Spamalot,” the concert will celebrate musical theater’s history as a place of safety and affirmation for members of the LBGTQ community. 

CHARIS member Wendy Bell notes that the chorus boasts many Jewish members, including Zoey Fleisher, daughter of Central Reform Congregation Rabbi Randy Fleisher. 

Tickets range from $13-$20 and can be gotten at www.charischorus.org or by calling 314-664-9340.

Having dinner, talking death

Let’s change the subject and talk about death. Over dinner. Or more precisely, let’s have dinner and talk about death.

I first heard about this movement some years ago when I was working on a freelance story about the Conversation Project, an organization started by the Pulitzer Prize winning-journalist Ellen Goodman. A 2013 national survey conducted by the Conversation Project found that 90 percent of Americans said it was important to talk about their own and their loved ones’ end-of-life wishes, but only 27 percent actually had. So Goodman’s organization created a free “starter kit” to help facilitate the conversation with a family member, friend or other loved one about your — or their — wishes regarding end-of-life care.

Michael Hebb took this idea and shaped it even further. He and his partner, Angel Grant, are encouraging people to have “the death talk” over dinner rather than in the intensive care unit, when it may be too late. According to its website, www.deathoverdinner.org, more than 100,000 of these dinners have taken place around the globe since this movement began in 2013.

Frankly, my immediate family is in need of one of these dinners. Every time I bring up the subject with my husband, he asks if we can talk about it some other time. And that’s the point — why isn’t now that other time? How long can we keep putting the conversation off?

“By transforming the planning process into an opportunity, a joyful and significant activity that allows us to honor ourselves and our loved ones, we can change the way we die—and the way we live,” writes Hebb in his 2018 book, “Let’s Talk About Death (Over Dinner): An Invitation and Guide to Life’s Most Important Conversation.” 

Recently, a nonprofit that reimagines Jewish life for the 21^st century, called Reboot, partnered with Hebb and company to launch the Death Over Dinner—Jewish Edition Project. Like its precursor, it’s built on the assumption that candid conversations about death affirm life and infuse it with meaning.

The Jewish Edition draws from ancient and contemporary texts, teachings, poetry and lessons to frame the conversation through a Jewish lens. The intent is to put these important questions in the center of a dinner conversation and asks participants to discuss what their intentions are for living and dying.

At the website, www.deathoverdinner-jewishedition.org, dinner hosts can access a series of questions, including who’s coming to dinner and what the intentions are in having this important discussion.  Based on those answers, the site will email hosts an invitation to send to guests, along with a short piece attendees can watch, listen to and read before coming together. Also included are conversational prompts and a quick overview on hosting and moderating. There is no charge for any of this information.

As Hebb points out, “Death of a close family member or preparing for your own inevitable end can be one of the more daunting experiences we face. But by talking to one another, we can make the preparation and planning easier, even beautiful, whether it is an unexpected death or a slow waltz to the finish line.”