arts&life
p ro f i l e
Rising
Star
Milana Vayntrub
A WOMAN OF VALOR
Up-and-coming
actress, comedian
and activist
Milana Vayntrub
headlines this year’s
Woman’s World.
SUZANNE CHESSLER
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
C
atch a rising star at this year’s
Lois Linden Nelson Woman’s
World, presented May 2 by
the Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Sisterhood.
The rising stars include career-
building actress Milana Vayntrub,
emerging synagogue leader Jeri
Fishman (see sidebar) and special-
ized merchandise introduced by
new pop-up shops joining with
favorite boutiques for the daylong
sale.
Vayntrub, who was born in
Uzbekistan and moved to the
United States with her family, will
be the after-lunch featured speaker
talking about Judaism, efforts to
help refugees as well as professional
initiatives. Before, during and after
“There are principles in Judaism
that are about taking care of each
other, and there are elements of
Judaism that have been staples in my
humanitarian work.” — MILANA VAYNTRUB
the program, guests will be offered
a variety of goods, such as Judaica,
art and pillows from the Farber Soul
Center, leather products by Key to
Style and upcycled fashions from
Rebel Soul Apparel — all new this
year.
“Judaism has played a huge
part in my activism,” Vayntrub, 31,
explains. “There are principles in
Judaism that are about taking care
62
April 19 • 2018
jn
of each other, and there are ele-
ments of Judaism that have been
staples in my humanitarian work.
I’m going to draw correlations
between those.”
Vayntrub, who came to the
United States at the age of 2½,
started doing commercials
when she was 5 and living in Los
Angeles. Her interest in performing
waned until college classes at the
University of California San Diego,
where she was a communications
major. She connected with Judaism
through the school’s Hillel program
and became bat mitzvah at age 21.
“After college, I came back to Los
Angeles and started doing improv
comedy, which was probably the
biggest stimulus I had in terms of
training,” she says. “I made my own
web series on YouTube, found rep-
resentatives and started audition-
ing.”
Vayntrub, familiar to many view-
ers as Lily the salesperson in AT&T
commercials, appeared in the
recurring role of playwright Sloane
Sandburg in the massive NBC hit
series This Is Us; in one episode,
she told the story of Chanukah.
Her newest role is Squirrel Girl in
Marvel’s New Warriors, Marvel’s first
live-action scripted comedy — it
will be shown on Freeform, Disney’s
young adult cable and satellite
streaming network.
Volunteering is an important
focus in her life, and it often takes
a specific direction. “I am a refugee
who had so much help coming to
this country,” she says. “I know I
would not be where I am today if
Jeri Fishman will be presented with the Woman of Valor
award at the Lois Linden Nelson Woman’s World event
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek on May 2. She is being
honored as a Rising Star for the outstanding work she
has accomplished at Congregation Shaarey Zedek and
in the community at large. The award will be presented
at the event luncheon, which will also feature rising
TV and media star Milana
Vayntrub.
After marrying Steve
Fishman (a third-generation
Shaarey Zedek member)
Fishman became a shul
member and was thrust
into the world of synagogue
volunteerism. She began as
a Sisterhood board member,
and soon became Sisterhood
president. Shortly thereaf-
ter, she was elected to the
Jeri Fishman Synagogue Board of Trustees
and her responsibilities
grew as a member of the executive board. Currently,
she serves as vice president of the shul, where she is
working on an inclusion program that will be open to
the entire community this spring.
Fishman comes by her leadership skills naturally.
During her career at the Michigan Department of
Corrections, she was a field agent, a case worker, a
parole agent and a probation officer — it was dur-
ing this time that she honed her skills as a leader and
manager. She has also served on the board of the
ACLU, as a community volunteer with Capuchin East
Jefferson Alcoholism Treatment Center and was an
active member of the Michigan Corrections Association.
As a full-time wife and mother, Fishman was active
in her children’s school-parent associations and attend-
ed their sporting events, eventually becoming a team
photographer at Cranbrook and Kingswood schools as
well as Kalamazoo College. She is also the resident
photographer at Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
Around the synagogue, she’s often compared to the
Energizer Bunny. •