44 July 25 • 2019
jn

celebrity jews
arts&life

RED SEA DIVING PROJECT
The Red Sea Diving Project, an orig-
inal Netflix film, begins streaming on 
July 31. This dramatic film recounts 
the true efforts of the 
Israeli secret service, the 
Mossad, to rescue thou-
sands of Ethiopian Jews 
in 1981. Many of them 
were hidden in a Sudan 
resort (near the Red Sea) 
before being transported to 
Israel. The film was direct-
ed and written by Israeli 
Gideon Raff, 46, who 
shared an Emmy for best 
writing, dramatic TV show 
(Homeland).
Most of the film’
s char-
acters are Jewish, but only 
two major cast members 
are really Jewish (Israeli 
actress Alona Tal, 35, and 
Israeli actor Mark Avnir, 
52, who was born in the 
Ukraine and came to Israel 
when he was 4 years old. 
Avnir plays the head of the 
Mossad). Chris Evans, Ben 
Kingsley and Alessandro 
Nivola have co-starring 
roles. Nivola’
s paternal 
grandmother was Jewish. 

SEINFELDIA
The new (12-episode) sea-
son of Comedians in Cars 
Getting Coffee, a talk show 
hosted by Jerry Seinfeld, 
65, began on July 19 on 
Netflix. Guests this season 
include Seth Rogen, 37, 
and Matthew Broderick, 
57. Also appearing is 
comedian Martin Short, 
who has frequently said: 
“Everybody thinks I’
m 
Jewish, but I’
m not.” (His 
ancestry is mostly Irish 
Catholic). Jewish or not, 
Short is a terrific talk show 
guest. 
 Here’
s some Jerry fun 
facts you may not know: 
(1) He grew up in Massapequa, a 
middle-class suburb on Long Island 

that had so many Jews and Italians 
that many locals have referred to it as 
“Matzah-Pizza.” (2) Jerry’
s father, the 
late Kalman Seinfeld, was — ready 
— the owner of a sign company. I 
grew up near Massapequa and I used 
to notice a weird thing during election 
season. All over the county there were 
political billboards and 
in the corner of almost 
all these billboards 
there was a plaque with 
these words: Sign by Kal 
Seinfeld. It was so weird I 
wondered if it was some 
sort of joke. It wasn’
t a 
joke. However, Jerry has 
said his father was a very 
funny guy. (3) Kal Seinfeld 
was of Hungarian Jewish 
ancestry, and Jerry’
s late 
mother, Betty, was of 
Syrian Jewish ancestry; 
and (4) Jerry worked on 
an Israeli kibbutz when 
he was 16.

SUPER DR. MIKE
Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, 
29, who is better known 
as Dr. Mike, is a celeb-
rity thanks to “new 
media.” Quick bio: born 
in Russia, came to the 
U.S. when he was 6; his 
father is a doctor who 
had to re-earn his degree 
in the States; the future 
Dr. Mike became known 
when he Instagrammed 
his medical school stud-
ies and People magazine 
noticed — they named 
him the “sexiest phy-
sician alive” in 2015. 
YouTube fame followed 
(he gives medical tips). 
Well, Dr. Mike became 
super-doctor Mike when 
he saved a fellow pas-
senger on a recent flight 
to Israel. Matt Faraco, 
26, who was traveling on 
a Birthright trip, went into 
allergic shock. Dr. Mike 
located epinephrine in 
the plane’
s emergency kit 
and injected Faraco, who 
quickly recovered. ■

NATE BLOOM

COLUMNIST

Gideon Raff

Alona Tal

Jerry Seinfeld

Mikhail Varshavski

VIA RAFF FACEBOOK 
VIA TAL FACEBOOK
VIA TIMEOUT.COM
VIA DR. MIKE FACEBOOK

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