How does a former Hollywood actress end up in Jerusalem’s Old City, with a lively frum family of eight kids, running hilarious and highly popular laughter games workshops?
Her foray there was on the whim of her sister Lisa. It made perfect sense at the time, given her family’s background in the performing arts and her high school education at the School of Performing Arts in Manhattan. Her parents, Shimon and Ilana Gewirtz, also known as the Balladeers, were famous performers and played Jewish folk music the world over.
Debbie, fresh out of college with a degree in radio and television broadcasting (“I originally thought I wanted to be a newscaster”), and with no particular direction in mind, was more than eager to do something fun.
“In our circles back then,” says Debbie, “you went to college to get an easy degree and have fun. It was like, what now? We didn’t have that sense of purpose or direction that frum girls have.
“ ‘Come join me out here in L.A.,’ my sister said to me. ‘Try out for auditions in Hollywood and see what you get.’ And I thought, Why not? “But all I had was the total of $12 in my pocket, which meant no money for a plane ticket. ‘Go get a job,’ said Lisa, ‘and come when you’re ready.’ And I said, ‘‘Okay.’ ”
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