The Kosher Bookworm: The annual Jewish calendar caper meets its match

The unique story of Chari Pere

By Alan Jay Gerber

Issue of Sept. 19, 2008

This week’s Kosher Bookworm will take on a lighter tone before we progress to the serious aspects of this sacred holiday season.

Recently, I had a very engaging meeting with a young up-and-coming cartoon artist and comic talent who is an observant Jew, and a proud one at that. With our mail clogged each day with calendars of all shapes and sizes dated to the new year, someone has come up with the one calendar that will never be thrown out after it expires one year from now. The creative artist who developed it is the subject of this week’s review.

Chari Pere, a resident of Staten Island and a valedictorian graduate of the School of Visual Arts, has an unusual degree for a nice Jewish girl: a Bachelor of Fine Arts specializing in cartooning. Her work has been published in MAD Magazine as well as in The Jerusalem Post. Now that’s a combination for an alumna of the Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn.

Given her extensive Jewish education, as well as her training in the arts, it was only natural for Pere to merge her passions for both into a very unique enterprise. The Hey Yiddle Diddle Productions was formed to bridge the gap between the older and younger generations of American Jews by providing both with a clear, clean sense of humor through the medium of art and cartoons.

It didn’t take long for Pere to publish her first project, a zany yet creative calendar for the year 5769 entitled “A Yearly Shpritz of Jewish Bits,” billing itself as the ultimate illustrated calendar of Jewish humor, old and new. I can truthfully say that I have never seen anything like this. It is different and funny, and unique for a calendar since it is dated; the jokes and humor used are indeed dated to an era long past and forgotten, yet deliberately revived to entertain a new generation of young Jews.

In addition to the usual holiday dates and candle lighting times, this calendar also contains cartoon strips, old jokes, new jokes and sight gags in cartoon strip style.

However one may relate to this newest form of Judaica Americana, it is the personality of its creator and her deep devotion to her religious faith that prompted me to write this review.

Unfortunately, it is very rare to find young American Jews such as Pere who are interested in Judaism. I am not only talking about observance; I am talking about the passion and burning desire to help in the continuation of our faith in a manner that would attract and keep the most talented of our youth as active participants.

When I asked Pere to define what she sees as her life’s mission, her answers were forthcoming in the context of her art college experiences and what can only be described as the most unusual type of kiruv I have ever encountered.

In using art and humor for kiruv, Pere noted that “a powerful image can speak more words than an entire book.”

“In a world that is becoming rapidly more visual, a strong example of leadership and a positive passion about one’s religion combined with hard work and dedication can create the greatest impact,” she observed.

“The support and encouragement that I received in an environment that promotes individualism and uniqueness, one that was open to learn from me as well, was so much more beneficial than any ol’ liberal arts education.

“It was that drive coupled with the fact that I refused to compromise on any of my Jewish traditions that caused several amazing occurrences to take place,” Pere recounted.”

She went on to detail some of these events, which I hope you will find as interesting, as I did. She was always proud to share with others that she was a yeshiva graduate and that she was the recipient of numerous Jewish art awards. She was also proud that in her valedictory address she made sure to incorporate a sense of Yiddishkeit and a sense of fighting for what you believe in, as well as to inspire other to do so as well. But, these weren’t just words. They represented real deeds.

Pere gave the following as an example of what she meant.

“The annual Cartooning/Illustration Portfolio Review is an event in which editors from all the top comic/book publishing companies come to our college to recruit students for jobs,” she explained. “The first two years that I was eligible to attend, I was simply unable, one being the first day of Pesach and the second, a Shabbos. In my senior year, however, because of my commitment to my department as well as due to the fact that I was scheduled to be that year’s main student speaker at graduation at Radio City Music Hall, the portfolio review day was moved to a Sunday. It was at this event that I was to meet my agent for the first time and also to establish ties to several important publishing companies, which hopefully will lead one day to meaningful job opportunities. Also, one factor that gave me personal satisfaction was that other Shomer Shabbos students were enabled to participate in the event, who otherwise would have been shut out as I was in previous years.”

I bring this to your attention at this time of year to demonstrate that to be an observant and a proud Jew may not be an easy task, but can be an easy commitment. All it takes is a good dose of pride in one’s belief in the validity of their religious convictions. All else will follow.

Chari Pere is indeed a great role model for all the youth of our community to learn from and to emulate. She chose the hard way within a profession that had few observant Jews to blaze the way for her. She had to be the pioneer for others. Who knows how many others are and will in the future be impacted by her grit and perseverance. There certainly will be many whose faith will be reinforced by her example, both Jews and non-Jews.

I hope that you will take out the time to explore Pere’s work on her website, www.heyyiddlediddle.com. She can be reached via e-mail at chari@heyyiddlediddle. com.

Go and enjoy a unique talent and give her the chizuk that she has earned. Until next time, have a gut Shabbos from the Kosher Bookworm.