Community Magazine March 2016

ADAR I - ADAR II 5776 MARCH 2016 51 faith in Hashem and money came to me,” she says. Specifically, parnasah came to Judi in the form of public speaking engagements. She spoke in synagogues about her life on the radio and her decision to make a change. She also got hired, over and over again, as a public speaking coach. “Most people are afraid to speak in front of groups,” she says. “I am too, but I’ve fought it for so many years. Since I speak for a living, I’ve had to learn the tricks – I work on my diction, my vocabulary, and my articulation.” Additionally, while on hiatus, Judi wrote a children’s book, which was later turned into a musical and performed at the JCC in Deal, NJ. Entitled “Judi and the Jolly Beans,” it is now being adapted for an all-women audience. Though Judi had thankfully found new ways of making money, she still wasn’t entirely happy. “I gave up my career for my religion,” she says. “For two years, that’s what I did. But I knew something was missing. I’d be in the checkout line at the supermarket and I’d begin telling the cashier who I thought would win the presidential election. I’d go on and on about my opinions to my family - until my husband finally said, ‘Will you please just go back on the air already?!’ I realized that’s what I wanted to do more than anything, but I didn’t see how that was possible, given the new life I was living.” Judi visited rabbis frequently, asking for a beracha for her parnasah. One of the rabbis, a prominent gadol, asked her directly why she had left her job. When she told him her story, he said simply, “Go back to the radio. You can do it in a kosher way. There’s something you can change.” Judi was left to mull over his words, unable to fathom what he could possibly mean. How could she conduct the show in a modest fashion when so much of the content revolved around pop culture? And even if she were to blindly trust the rabbi and go back to her position, there was the minor issue of her position already having been filled – by the person she’d recommended! She couldn’t just walk into the studio and get her old job back. Judi began by doing a couple of fill-ins on WABC, a political news station. There she felt her values would not need to be compromised. Alas, the fill-ins never led to a full time position and Judi’s predicament remained the same. Until the day she received a phone call from her old boss, telling her that a nighttime position had opened up. Judi pictured it: She’d be alone in the studio after everyone else had gone home, completely eliminating her worries about modesty in the presence of so many men. Could this be what the rabbi meant when he advised making a change? Yes, that must have been it, she rationalized. Judi was about to call her boss back to accept his offer, but he called her first. “You’ll never believe this!” he said effusively. “Michelle, your replacement, has decided to leave. You can have your show back again!” Just as Judi was wrestling with her conflicted feelings – euphoria about being offered the opportunity and regret at having to turn it down because of the circumstances – her boss continued: “There’s just one thing. We can’t afford to pay you as much as we used to. Would you be willing to take a 25% salary cut if we built you a studio in your house?” In that moment, the rabbi’s face flashed through Judi’s mind and she thought, Yes! This is what he meant! Judi’s boss made good on his promise, and installed drywall, soundproofing, and carpet in her home basement which now serves as her personal studio. Judi and Dennis conduct the show on FaceTime as they stare at each other through the screens of their iPads and stay absolutely still so that nobody knows the difference. On Fridays, Judi makes her challah during commercial breaks; she has the whole process perfectly timed! “I didn’t realize until I left the building how it was messing with my spirituality,” Judi says. “The best compromise was to do it like this, away from the workplace, away from the yeser hara, which I know was there. Now, I’m in the sanctity of my own home, which I know is a holy place. I feel like I finally found the right balance – with my career, with my kids, and with my spirituality. I gave up a little money for a lot more spiritual fulfillment – and I really feel like Hashem is smiling.” "I feel like I finally found the right balance – with my career, with my kids and with my spirituality. I gave up a little money for a lot more spiritual fulfillment – and I really feel like Hashem is smiling.”