A Stephen Krupin Interview with Connie Krupin

Hey, Mom.

Hi.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Well, first let me just say that your whole family is so proud of you, and I'm really honored to get to talk to you. This is an award that very rightly honors your commitment to our community, the, the way that you use your art to express your Judaism and to help other people do the same, your contributions to the Moment community, which I know means so much to you. But what does this honor mean to you?

Well, first of all, I'm so grateful to receive the Community Leadership Award from Moment Magazine. I thank you. And being in the company of tonight's honorees is Quite into quite humbling. Congratulations to you all. Well deserved. I'm not a world-renowned journalist. I'm not a famous artist. I'm not a rock star, and I doubt seriously that I'll ever earn an ambassadorship. But what I am is a devoted. Moment reader, and I am that because Moment addresses the issues of concern to the Jewish community. And to Moment, readers matter. So I am here tonight to represent Moment's readers, and I'm very proud to do so. And I appreciate that, that Moment magazine covers the full spectrum of Jewish experience, from world affairs to literature to culture and arts to food. And so I want to thank you for this award, and I want to thank you for all the hard work you do to put this incredible publication together.

I remember when I was growing up watching you design and build an Aron Kodesh, actually 7 or 8 or 9 of them. I remember you drawing the logo for a synagogue that you and Dad founded. Of course, you wrote this beautiful baby book for Jewish families. How has your artistic talent helped you explore and express your Judaism?

Well, let me say that Judaism informs my life, and my art springs from that. It provides me, it provides me with gratitude and purpose, and that fuels my expression. You know, Jewish tradition holds that each of us comes into the world with a purpose, and it's our task to use what we are given be those talents or gifts or instincts to better the world. And it is this teaching that I appreciate so much, uh, to— that gives me validation and gives me permission to follow my passion to do just that. In painting, I can express my appreciation for the natural world And in creating Jewish spaces, synagogue spaces, ritual objects, it adds a deeper dimension because not only does it fuse those 2 topics that are close to my heart, but I know that congregants become community. And for children, The space, the Jewish spaces, synagogues and ritual objects become lifelong associations with Judaism, and they form enduring memories. That's very, very rewarding.

Who have been the most important influences in your life, both as a member of the Jewish community and as an artist and writer?

Okay. Well, I think a lot about my parents these days, and I would have to say my parents, hands down. Their lives were a lesson— lessons in dignity and determination. First-generation Americans, they were unselfconscious, proud, and very vocal Jews. My dad used to tell me about his grandmother. You know, my grandparents were— came to the United States in the 1920s, which was the decade that my parents were born. And my grandmother used to take my dad every day through— for walks through the Harlem streets to the library, where at an impossibly young age, he had read all the books in the children's section in a language that was foreign to my grandmother. And he was admitted to the adult section, which was really, really something. He never lost his voracious appetite for learning in all his 95 years. And he accomplished great success in science. And he, and he used to say that he lived at the best time to be a Jew. And that was important to him. He cared deeply about that, and he was a Moment subscriber and reader too, and he set for our family an example of humility and purpose and kindness.

I love that story about Zayda and the library, and your mom, my grandmother Gran, was also a writer and editor and translator, and she loved the literary world and the written word. And as you've learned from her both about Judaism and about literature, how did that influence your appreciation of Jewish journalism?

Well, Mom was a teacher of both English and Yiddish. She wrote 4 books in retirement. She had her unfinished 5th on her computer when she passed away at 89. And They were all Jewish themes and all meant to teach. And for someone, someone who loved language, Yiddish was her soul. Yiddish, she felt, was the best way to keep our Jewish culture alive and to connect with our shared past. There was probably nothing more important to my mother than me, than us being proud Jews, to feel pride in our past and responsibility to our future. And I am so grateful to her for that. I do want to mention the person that tops my list in terms of influencing my adult life, and that is my husband of 45 years, Jay. And I say that because his enthusiasm for life has been infectious. And he really gave me optimism and gratitude. And his support and love have given me space to fulfill my potential. What a gift.

You, a few years ago, wrote this Jewish baby book, wrote and illustrated it, a book that we're so grateful to have on our bookshelf in our baby's nursery. And I know a lot of other people are too. What was the experience of writing that book like and what did it reveal to you?

Well, writing and illustrating A Jewish Baby Journal began as a selfish endeavor. I was a new mom and I couldn't find a book that reflected our lifestyle. It was a book that I knew would be with my child for life. And I, like so many Jews before me who haven't had what they needed, I created my own. And in researching for the book, I had wonderful, meaningful, funny, often conversations with young parents and actually Jews of all ages from the, the grand spectrum of Jewish observance and Jewish knowledge. And, uh, we, we shared and compared. We— I learned and laughed. And, uh, then I realized through this that while there is a great desire on many people's, many Jews' part to raise Jewish children who can also be proud and take joy in our traditions, there wasn't always the knowledge to do so. And when I realized that, then the book took a new turn and a new focus. And And it went from, for me, to the Jewish world and the future. And people, people told me that they really appreciated that. And I'm very grateful to have put that out there. And it's happy that it's in the world.

How did you come to be a part of the Moment community?

You know, the very first face-to-face interaction I had with Moment was when they reviewed my book, and they did a great job, and I really appreciate it. And then a few years later, my precious, wise friend Gwen Suarez said, I want you to meet Nadine. And I met the inexhaustible Nadine Epstein. And She is so devoted to bringing issues of concern to the Jewish community, and she does it with sensitivity and dignity. And it's Nadine's intelligence and integrity and determination that keeps me wanting to be a part of it and really makes this publication What does Moment mean to the Jewish community and more broadly to our understanding of the world around us? Well, the world is a complex and confusing place and sometimes frightening. I think Moment provides a reliable source and a safe space to learn about the issues of concern. I say reliable because varied views are examined. And I say safe because I trust that the presenters of those issues do so in the context of Jewish history and the knowledge of the Jewish experience. In these days of shifting tides, It's fundamental, I think, to— it's always important to know our history, but it's fundamental to our survival to understand how the outside world views us and how we then can engage with the outside world to best counter the forces of hate.

Have any of the stories or interviews that you've read in Moment changed the way That you think about things?

Well, I'm sure they have, and I know they have at least altered my thinking. First of all, I learn. My understanding deepens. My perspective broadens. I think that's the point of reading, and that's why I read, and that's why I read Moment.

Great. Congratulations, Mom. We're so proud of you.

Thank you so much. I'm proud of you too.