Oy!Chicago : About Oy!

About Oy!

Oy!Chicago -- a special project of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago -- is a living journal of personal stories, a catalog of Jewish (and Jew-ish) perspectives on a variety of interests and a showcase of up-and-coming local Jewish young adults and ideas.

Oy! is fueled by a diverse team of volunteer contributors (read about them below) from all walks of Jewish life who live in Chicago or who still hold Chicago in their hearts. Interested in contributing? Want to submit a guest piece? Contact us here.

Oy! Team

Stefanie Pervos Bregman

Stefanie is the co-founding editor of Oy! and the assistant vice president of marketing communications at the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago. She is the editor of Living Jewishly: A Snapshot of a Generation, a collection of personal essays and memoirs from Jewish 20- and 30-somethings from across the country. Most importantly, Stefanie is a new mommy. Read More

Blair Chavis

It is only fitting that Blair Chavis is an Oy! contributor, as "oy" is one of the most frequently uttered words in her vocabulary, according to her co-workers, friends and family. Blair is an Editor at Prime Publishing LLC, an online publishing company. She edits and managing several lifestyle Web sites. She also does freelance reporting on the side. Read More

Jenna Cohen

Jenna Cohen graduated from Knox College with a Bachelor’s in English Literature and minors in Spanish and Creative Writing. After graduating, Jenna began her own marketing business and worked as a marketing consultant for several Chicagoland start-ups. Read More

Jeremy Fine

Jeremy Fine is currently the Associate Rabbi at Temple of Aaron in St. Paul Minnesota. He was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary. Even though Jeremy lives in Minnesota, he considers himself a Chicago guy. He loves deep dish pizza and The Chicago White Sox. Read More

Mila Furman

Mila Furman is a chef, blogger, writer, recipe developer, food coach, new mom, wife and all around busy bee. Born in the former USSR, she grew up in Chicago and quickly developed an affinity for the culinary arts. Her Ashkenazi roots frequently influence her kitchen creations. Read More

Lia Goldfarb

There are some things in Lia’s life that she finds so irritating that they’re actually funny – like “honor roll” bumper stickers, doctor’s office waiting rooms, and the font “Curlz MT.” And then there are other things that make her really happy – like frozen meals from her mom, unique kitchen gadgets, and a website that keeps track of which TV episodes she’s watched. Read More

Barrett Goldflies

Barrett is a native Chicagoan and graduate of the University of Chicago (UIC). While attending, he pursued is natural love of history and anthropology, as well as discovered his passion for Jewish culture and the Jewish faith. Read More

Liz Kaydanovsky

Liz Kaydanovsky is a Chicago native and proud B-school grad from the University of Illinois in Champaign. Although her background is in accounting and finance, writing is her true passion. She is a regular contributor for The Huffington Post, Elite Daily, and Thought Catalog. She is also the creator and writer of ElizabethLeah.com, a personal blog. Read More

Andy Kirschner

Originally from Detroit, Andy Kirschner first moved to Chicago after college. He has had several job titles throughout his career, including knife-seller, recruiting manager, bagel-maker, life coach, tour guide, career counselor, Weight Watchers facilitator, alumni director, and interfaith leader. Read More

Ashley Kolpak

Born and raised in Buffalo Grove, Ashley’s been a little here, there and everywhere, but is a Chicago girl at heart. She currently works as a writer and editor for fitness, music, cultural blogs and more. She’s a proud Illini (graduated with Bachelor’s in Media Studies in 2009), a dedicated Francophile, a music-lover and a writer always. Read More

Ron Krit

Ron Krit has been giving seminars, training clients, and writing about fitness for over 15 years! His philosophy centers on making fitness fun so that you look forward to working out and getting healthy. Read More

Joshua Marder

Voted #1 Skydiving Rabbi of 1997, Josh joined the Peace Corp in 1998 working with Indonesian youth in Russia for three years. After realizing there wasn't much hope (nor population to work with), he moved on to write English textbooks in Japan for native Dutch speakers. Read More

Adam Daniel Miller

Originally from Chicago and well, still living in Chicago, is Adam Daniel Miller -- a lover of writing, a voiceover enthusiast and an overall funny guy, according to his mother. Read More

Adam J. Miller

Adam is a Chicago native currently living in New York after the temptation of the Jewish scene in the Upper West Side became too much to resist. He graduated from UMass as a double-major in journalism and international sports marketing where he worked for 3.5 years at his college paper, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and held an internship at the Jerusalem Post. Read More

Jeremy Owens

Jeremy Owens is the creator, producer and host of the live-lit/storytelling show You're Being Ridiculous. He lives in Rogers Park with his adorable husband Andy and adorabler dog Sally Field. Read More

Lauren Schmidt

Lauren Schmidt is the marketing and communications manager at Shorashim, where she has the opportunity to combine her passions of writing, marketing, social media, traveling and, of course, Israel. Read More

Cindy Sher

Cindy Sher is the Executive Editor of JUF News. She is proud to have longevity with her career -- especially considering her Gen X status -- coming to work for the Jewish people and JUF just one month after her college graduation in 2000. Read More

Ari Moffic Silver

Born and raised six blocks from Wrigley Field, Ari Moffic Silver is a Jewish educator and bar/bat mitzvah tutor with his finger on the pulse of Chicago's Jewish education experience. Read More

Paul Wieder

Imagine a man with the charisma of Cary Grant, the audacity of Marlon Brando, and the brilliance of Laurence Olivier. That’s George Clooney. I’m more… Jason Alexander. Read More