By Gia Jones
Unity in the Community 2.0 Committee Member
Judy Gold has never been shy about who she is—or where she comes from. A proud Jewish comedian with a razor-sharp wit, she has spent decades turning family and faith into her brand of fearless comedy.
Gold has a long list of credits that include stand-up specials on HBO and Comedy Central, writing and starring in “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother” and another off-Broadway hit, and two Emmy awards for her writing and producing for “The Rosie O’Donnell Show.”
On Thursday evening, May 28, Gold will kick off the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley’s Unity in the Community 2.0: A Broadway Celebration of Hope, Resilience, and Togetherness at the Muhlenberg College Empie Theatre. She’s also instrumental in how this event came to be. She talked with Hakol about all that not long before this issue went to press.
After the June 2025 attack in Boulder, Colorado, targeting a peaceful rally to raise awareness for hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, you spoke with your friend and agent Wayne Gmitter. That exchange ultimately led to Unity in the Community 2.0. Can you walk us through that conversation and tell us what you remember most about it?
I was stuck in Israel during the last Iran war and had to escape. The boulder attack had happened, and he called me and he said, “I don’t know what to do. I want to do something,” and he was very emotional. He was expressing this deep, deep sadness and despair for the Jewish community. A lot of us in the Jewish community who are dealing with this unbelievable uptick in antisemitism and ignorance don’t allow ourselves to have those feelings because we have to protect ourselves. And he was so raw and sort of expressing all his sorrow, and I was really moved by it.
I said, “Reach out to someone in your community who is a Jewish person. And at this time, there were still hostages, so people were meeting on Sundays (Run for Their Lives). I said, “Go to one of those meetups. Call a Jewish friend. See how they are doing.” And he did. And the other thing I said was, “You need to get your DNA done because there’s a Jew in there! But Wayne is an anomaly. To have someone emote these feelings and not even—he hasn’t lived as a Jew. He hasn’t experienced antisemitism. And for him to be able to express himself like that, it was overwhelming in a good way. I thought, people ask you “What can I do?” But he got off the phone and did it, and he went to one of the meetups, and he took action.
The events of October 7, 2023, and the rise in antisemitic incidents since then have affected Jewish people around the world. What has it been like for you personally as a Jewish entertainer and public figure?
Oh, my gosh. Do you have five hours? It’s run the gamut. As an entertainer, I will tell you the first time I went on stage after October 7, I mentioned something Jewish, something benignly Jewish, like a Jewish joke that is neither here nor there when it comes to politics, and the audience didn’t respond the way they normally do. They were pushing back, and I haven’t experienced that since I came out of the closet in the 90s. But this was different because it was more severe and it made no sense to me. And I said, “We still can laugh.” It’s our coping mechanism as Jews and it’s also our weapon. But I was really shocked.
I also noticed Jewish comedians not doing their Jewish material and silencing themselves. I have been an outspoken, proud Jew for my entire career. I can go back 35-40 years: “You’re too Jewish,” of course said by Jews in the industry. But I’ve always been an out and proud Jew, and I am a Zionist, and I never shied away from anything, and I wasn’t going to shy away from that.
I would literally post a picture (on social media) of me eating a bagel and it’s “genocide Judy.” Anytime I would post anything Jewish, I would lose tons of followers, but it didn’t deter me. One of the saddest parts is that I was a regular on a lot of radio, podcast, and TV shows as a sort of funny talking head, and a lot of them have not only not had me back since October 7 but haven’t even contacted me, even when I was stuck in Israel. They never said, “I hope you get home safe.”
The people who have disappointed me the most are the LGBT community, and these very liberal friends of mine who are smart and critical thinkers. There is nuance to this situation, and you just decided you’re never going to contact me again or book me again? I feel like all these communities which Jews have marched for and stood up for—and even on the legal side, if you think of the NAACP, gay marriage, public education system—and yet you can’t stand against antisemitism?
You’re known for your honesty and boldness. Has that ever felt more challenging or more necessary than it does now?
Definitely more necessary than ever before. I don’t find it challenging. The only way I find it challenging is, how do you craft a joke or satire that will weaken propaganda? That’s why dictators hate comedians. But how do you craft a joke about being stuck in bomb shelters and escaping through Jordan to get home to your family in a war? But I did it. The only way I can cope, my entire life, is I find the funny. Even the people I was in the (bomb) shelter with in (Israel) in June said, “Thank goodness you were there to make us laugh.” In doing so, I am teaching people what it’s like to live through it (with laughter).
You traveled to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in 2025 as part of an Israeli Pride peacebuilding mission. What was that experience like for you?
It was my second time on an LGBT mission. This particular mission was through the Israeli consulate, the United States, and Canada. Five comedians were asked to go. We were thought leaders. I’m a thought leader! (Laughs.) The delegation was chosen and was being led by Sarah Milgrim, who was the girl who was murdered outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. It was her first delegation that she had chosen the people because she was the LGBTIQ liaison for Israeli consulate. After she was murdered, I was like, I have to go. I have to honor her memory and the fact that she picked me to go. She actually emailed me hours before her murder.
It was my second pride mission. It was really incredible. We met with Nova (Music Festival) survivors. We met with the gay Nova survivor whose husband-to-be was murdered. It gave me the perspective. It was my first time in Israel after October 7. I felt I needed to go because I felt like it was like visiting a sick friend. I needed to see it was OK. Even though we started getting bombed or attacked, it ended up being a difficult situation, but I felt the community more, and the resilience of the Israeli people, and also the fact that they just want peace and they want people to leave them alone. That’s it: they want peace. You know, (you saw) yellow chairs and yellow ribbons and “Bring Them Home,” and it wasn’t about I hate you. It was about live and let live.
There were people from all over. There were Muslims, Black, white, gay, straight. Everyone was there. The survivor I spoke to and I interviewed a little, she said she had lost her friend and everyone she was with on October 7. She had been beaten with a rifle, and she was lying on the ground, and she opened her eyes and saw a young boy, a young Palestinian boy with his eyes closed because he didn’t want to see what he was shooting. And she said, “I wish they would not teach them this.”
What are your hopes for Unity in the Community 2.0 on May 28? And is preparing for a show like this different from when you’re planning a typical tour?
I’ve done a lot of shows like this for this cause. It’s very meaningful to me, and I felt like I can really lean in, and that’s what I love. I have so many people who write to me or say something to me: “I was depressed and there you were being a loud, proud Jew,” “Thank you for wearing your star,” “Thank you for talking about Israel.” As much as I get the “You Zionist pig”—there’s been protests at shows—as much I get that, it’s the people who say, “Thank you for speaking up. You give me hope.”
You’ve built a career making others laugh, but who or what makes Judy Gold laugh the hardest?
My partner Elysa is definitely up there, and my kids. Elysa and I laugh so much and so hard, probably as much as we fight—she’s in the car with me right now. My son plays professional basketball in Israel. He lives there now. I really think a world without laughter is not living. But I laugh at dark humor, and really silly, juvenile humor. I love it when people take themselves so serious. It’s so funny. Dark humor, silly, smart, and Jewish!
Don’t miss the chance to see Judy Gold live alongside Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys) and Andrea McArdle (the original Annie) at Unity in the Community 2.0 on May 28 at Muhlenberg College Empie Theatre.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event begins at 7. General admission is $100, with special pricing of $50 for the NextGen Jewish Federation affinity group (ages 30-45).
Reserve your spot today at jewishlehighvalley.ticketspice.com/unity-in-the-community-20.