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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