34 | JANUARY 7 • 2021 

ROOTS & THE REST OF 
THE “CHA-NOOK-AH” 
STORY
Finding Your Roots, the PBS 
celebrity ancestry series, is 
on a “COVID schedule.” It 
paused its sixth season in 
November. A new episode 
premiered on Jan. 5 and 
the last season episode pre-
mieres Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 8 
p.m. Six more new episodes 
(Season 7) will premiere 
every following Tuesday 
through Feb. 23. 
The Jan. 12 episode, titled 
Coming to America, is a 
“Three I” episode. “Three 
I” was a term once used in 
New York politics to describe 
the perfect, “balanced” 
Democratic ticket for most 
elections: One Italian, One 

Irish person and one “Israel” 
(i.e., Jewish). This episode’s 
celebs are Speaker of the 
House Nancy Pelosi, CBS 
anchor Norah O’Donnell and 
fashion designer Zac Posen, 
40. Posen rose to fame in 
the 2000s as the darling 
of department stores and 
Vogue magazine. His career 
has declined, but he is still 
a “big name.” The Jan. 26 
episode, Against All Odds, 
explores the ancestry of 
producer and talk show host 
Andy Cohen, 52, and NPR 
legal correspondent Nina 
Totenberg, 76. Nina’s father, 
Roman Totenberg, was a 
famous Polish-born violinist. 
 On Dec. 13, the news 
went mega-viral that Smokey 
Robinson, 80, a Detroit native 
and soul music legend, mis-
pronounced “Chanukah” as 
“Cha-Nook-Ah.” But there’s a 
lot more not widely reported. 
The chronology: Jeff 

Jacobson’s mother grew 
up on the same Detroit 
street as Robinson. Jeff, a 
Canadian talent agent, hired 
Robinson to give his mother 
a Chanukah greeting on 
Cameo, a video service. 
Robinson, like many celebs, 
will record a paid greeting 
video (he charges $350). 
Robinson did the video and 
called Chanukah “Cha-Nook-
Ah.”

On Dec. 14, Jacobson 
tweeted that Robinson can 
pronounce it [Chanukah] 
any way he damn pleases. 
He is a true legend … He 
has already made [this] 
Chanukah one of my family’s 
most memorable. Also, my 
mom says hi. 
The same day, Robinson 
asked for Jacobson’s mom’s 
phone number so he could 
call her (a “do-over” he said). 
Robinson called Jacobson’s 
mother on Dec. 15. He 
reached her while she was 
teaching a Vancouver kin-
dergarten class. A brief video 
snippet of the Detroit natives’ 
call was recorded and is 
posted on Jacobson’s Twitter 
page. Jeff’s mother looks 
very happy and she’s heard 
telling Smokey that she loves 
him dearly. See Jacobson’s 
tweets and the call video at 
https://tinyurl.com/y9mluf5z. 

ARTS&LIFE
CELEBRITY JEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

TWITTER

MUSICAL EVENT
5:30 PM, JAN. 7
Kerrytown Concert house 
in Ann Arbor will feature 
acclaimed pianist Louis 
Nagel in this free event. Visit 
kerrytownconcerthouse.com.

FAMILY ROOM SERIES
8 PM, JAN. 9
The Ark in Ann Arbor will 
present Jill Jack: a free show 
featuring folk and rock tradi-
tions. Donations to the virtual 

tip jar will support The Ark 
and participating artists.

WINTER WELLNESS
10 AM, JAN. 10
Join Rebecca Starr, rebbetzin 
and Midwest manager of the 
Shalom Hartman Institute, 
as she goes on a deep 
dive of Shmirat HaGuf, the 
Jewish value of physical 
well-being. Check cszinfo@
shaareyzedek.org. Winter 
wellness program. 

PLAY DISCUSSION
2 PM, JAN. 10
The Holocaust Memorial 
Center is sponsoring this vir-
tual discussion with author of 
The Soap Myth, Jeff Cohen, 
and Detroit News film critic 
Adam Graham. View the film 
on demand at pbs.org/video/
the-soap-mythg-xpfvfu.

STEINWAY SESSIONS
4:15 PM, JAN. 10
The Kerrytown Concert 
House in Ann arbor will 
present Christopher Harding, 
pianist. Visit kerrytowncon-
ceerthouse.com.

ADULT HEBREW CLASS
11:30-NOON, JAN. 11
Beginner students can learn 
the Aleph Bet with Temple 
Israel in this free event. Visit: 
temple-israel.org/event/
hebrew.

JEWISH MILITARY HISTORY 
2 PM, JAN. 12
The Jewish Historical Society 
will present this virtual 

gathering on Zoom. In the 
summer of 2015, Louis Miller 
was a graduate student 
working at the University 
of Michigan’s William L. 
Clements Library. He discov-
ered an 1805 letter written 
by a lieutenant with the 
surname Levy, did some dig-
ging and found out that the 
letter writer was the second 
graduate of the U.S. Military 
Academy at West Point. 
Miller will also talk about 
his experiences process-
ing materials pertinent to 
Jewish history from both an 
archival perspective and his 
own personal background 
as an American Jew. Cost: 
$10 for members and $18 for 
non-members. Register by 9 
pm on Jan. 11.

Compiled by Sy Manello/Editorial 

Assistant. Send items at least 14 days in 

advance to calendar@thejewishnews.

com.

Jill Jack

Louis 
Nagel

ON THE GO
PEOPLE | PLACES | EVENTS