A Wom an
n 1972, Molly
Sidi moved from
Israel to the Big
Apple. A year
later, she was
hanging out
with the stars.
Actor Sean
Connery, Presi-
dent Jimmy
Carter, Sophia
Loren, boxer
Muhammad Ali.
As an NBC television produc-
er, Ms. Sidi was in charge of a
news segment called "Five Min-
utes With..."
"Kings, prime ministers, ac-
tors, prima ballerinas. You
name it, I interviewed it. Any-
body who was plugging any-
thing would try to get on my
show," she said.
Addressing an audience of
professional Jewish women last
month, the former television
producer, who moved to West
Bloomfield in 1992, spoke on
"Can Jewish women of the
1990s have it all?" Her answer:
"Yes, you can do it all, as long
as the 'all' is qualified by Jew-
ish priorities."
It took Ms. Sidi some time to
define those priorities. At NBC,
she reveled in fame and pres-
tige. Power lunches. Wine and
caviar with the world's big-
shots.
"I was meeting the rich and
famous and I was mesmerized.
But after a while, it hit me that
if you're rich and famous, it
doesn't mean that you have the
secret to happiness or to com-
mon sense and wisdom."
The realization, in part, mo-
tivated her journey from secu-
larism to Orthodoxy. She
started the conversion unwit-
tingly — during a trip to South
Molly Resnick: Redefining priorities.
LU
Molly Resnick speaks
to Federation's B & P
section of Women's
Division.
98
America.
On hiatus from NBC, Ms.
Sidi traveled to Mexico, Pana-
ma, Peru. She ended up in
Brazil, where she met a rabbi
who invited her for Shabbat
dinner.
"I arrived Friday evening. I
knocked on the door, which was
opened by this woman with a
thing over her head and a man
with a beard. And I said, 'Oy
gevalt! What am I doing here?'"
Though raised a Jew in Is-
rael, Ms. Sidi grew up in a sec-
ular family For her, lighting
candles was "at best, Fiddler
On The Roof. At worst, it was
voodoo."
Halfway through Shabbat
I have been
impressed by the
American
Constitution,
but my Torah?
How much time
have I given that?
dinner, Ms. Sidi met the rabbi's
daughter, a beautiful, fashion-
able girl preparing for her Or-
thodox wedding. Ms. Sidi felt
compelled to save her.
"You're going to be pregnant
for the rest of your life! You're
going to be cooking chicken
soup until it comes out of your
ears. They're going to make you
a second-class citizen. This is
not for you," she said.
The girl just smiled. Ms. Sidi,
appalled, was, nevertheless, en-
tranced. She latched onto the
rabbi's daughter and tried to
understand the benefits of lead-
ing a religious life. One day,
the two young women took
a day trip to the botanical
gardens in Rio. Ms. Sidi's
metamorphosis occurred
there.
"It dawned on me then:
I have been impressed by
the American Constitu-
tion, but my Torah? How
much time have I given
that? I have given time to
every 'ism' in the world.
As a reporter, I dabbled
in Hinduism, Buddhism,
you-name-it-ism...I didn't
have to join. As a re-
porter, I could just taste,"
Photos by Glenn Triest