Susie Essman, the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” star who has gained fame for her foul-mouthed tirades, had a message for the more than 30,000 people who tuned into a Zoom event for Jewish women Thursday night: Embrace Kamala Harris’ laughter.
“Yes, Kamala laughs,” Essman said. Then, using a Yiddish term that translates, roughly, to “sourpuss,” Essman added, “She is not a farbissina punim. This is a woman filled with a life force and humanity.”
Essman was part of a star-studded roster on “Jewish Women for Kamala,” the latest in the Democratic presidential candidate’s series of virtual rallies for specific demographics. It follows “Jewish Americans for Kamala Harris,” which was held with some of the same speakers earlier this month. Both were organized by the Jewish Democratic Council of America.
The call happened on the same night that Harris’ opponent, former President Donald Trump, gave a landmark speech on antisemitism in which he accused Harris of insufficiently supporting Israel. Speakers on the pro-Harris call, by contrast, raved about the vice president’s track record on Jewish issues, and touted her support for reproductive rights, Israel and fighting antisemitism. The Zoom room filled up after the event began, and organizers said 32,000 people attended.
The biggest name on the call was Barbra Streisand, who urged participants to be “rebellious,” citing Jewish tradition.
“At our Passover seder every year, we like to expand on the traditional stories of Jewish men to include and celebrate Jewish women, rebellious women like Esther and Miriam,” the EGOT-winning singer and actress said. “Too often the word ‘rebellious’ is used to disrupt women who challenge authority. But without that challenge, change rarely happens. So let’s all find our own rebellious spirit to fight hard for our country.”
Other attendees included human rights activist Mandana Dayani, actor and equal pay activist Emmy Rossum, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Sen. Jacky Rosen. It included recorded messages from standup Judy Gold and “Suffs” creator Shaina Taub, who sang “Keep Marching” from the musical.
Presenters also addressed the Biden-Harris administration’s work on hostage negotiations in Gaza, with remarks from activist Alana Zeitchik, who had six relatives taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Sheila Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women who was speaking in a personal capacity as a woman’s rights activist and faith leader, focused her remarks on reproductive rights, including access to birth control, abortion, and in-vitro fertilization following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling removing federal abortion protections. Jewish activists have been at the forefront of efforts to forestall or reverse abortion restrictions in several states.
“If there’s one thing I’m certain about, after advocating with the Jewish community for close to two decades,” Katz said, “it’s that Jewish women get shit done.”
Katz referenced this week’s Torah portion, one of two that includes the Ten Commandments, saying that they’re a reminder of “the just world we are called to build.” She told participants Harris would “champion our collective vision for a world where our rights are nonnegotiable, our dignity is upheld, and our voices and bodies are fully valued.”
Multiple women present on the call, including Dayani and Rossum, who Zoomed in from the same screen, shared that they had their children with the assistance of IVF, which some states’ abortion restrictions have put at risk.
The final speaker was a Conservative rabbi, Julie Schonfeld, the first woman to serve as the head of a denomination’s rabbinical association. Like Essman, she spoke about the sense of joy she feels from the Harris-Walz campaign.
“The U.S. declaration of Independence speaks in the language of rights and among others it affirms our right to pursue our own happiness,” Schonfeld said. “The Hebrew Bible speaks in the language of obligations. And it says, ‘ivdu et Hashem b’simcha’ — we have an obligation to serve with gladness.”
