Greta Beigel, ‘Mewsings: My Life as a Jewish Cat’

Mewsings by Greta Beigel

Deborah asks would you rather kiss your favorite celeb like Angelina Jolie or her husband Brad Pitt to welcome the New Year or your pets?  Plus New Years resolutions your dog might write; cats wouldn’t bother because they think they are perfect already!  Author and musician, writer and traveler, Greta Beigel joins us to talk about her book which shows us the Jewish holidays from a cat’s perspective.  The book is done in gentle rhyme making it ideal for children ages 8+ to read themselves or read aloud to kids younger.  Together Greta and Deborah discuss how Jewish pet owners pamper and spoil, overprotect and otherwise treat their pets like their own Jewish offspring.  Are mice kosher?  Do cats have cat mitzvahs?  Do Jewish cats see the doctor more than non-Jewish cats?

Greta reads from the Chanukah story and discusses her travels around the world as an invited cat sitter to friends in Iceland, Hawaii, New Zealand and now after sunny L.A. she finds herself, the ever wandering Jew, taking trips from her base in rainy Portland. These two Jewish pet moms chat and kibbitz (joke) about cats around the world and Jewish pet owners and pets in a world wide conversation that includes a Seder with the Governor of Hawaii. Toward the end of the show, Deborah mentions that as a child and later young woman at OSRUI camp, she was taught by singer/songwriter, teacher, mentor Debbie Friedman who passed away recently. Her love of children, animals, music and Jewish life rekindled first Reform and then all of Judaism with a new beat and new energy reviving ancient prayers and prophetic words. Greta too was touched by Debbie Friedman and together they share the hope that Debbie Friedman’s music will continue to be played and shared and sung and that new music will be made too, continually reviving traditions with new melodies in the spirit of Debbie Friedman who is already deeply missed.

Transcript will be available shortly.