Jewish Geography: The Celebrity Edition By Judie Jacobson One evening a lifetime ago, while living on Manhattan's Upper West Side, I sat at a table in the now-defunct Shmulke Bernstein's on Essex Street - New York's once legendary kosher Chinese restaurant cum deli - having dinner with a new acquaintance. Okay, I was on a date. Somewhere between the chopped liver and Kung Pao chicken I made an effort to wow the young man sitting across from me with my sterling rabbinic pedigree. My paternal grandparents, I told him, were descendents of centuries-old rabbinic dynasties, that included such venerable Torah sages as the Chasam Sofer, and the Ramah, the first leader of Ashkenazic Jewry whose work is included in the Shulchan Aruch - the Code of Jewish Law. No reaction. The moo goo gai pan with a side of potato salad arrived. Furthermore, I continued, my grandfather, who wrote a series of books on Jewish thought under the pen name Zvi Chemed, had studied at the famed yeshivah in Sighet and had held the coveted position of chief student of the revered Munkatcher Rebbe. He was once the rebbe of the town of Hartzig in Hungary, and my great great grandfather, Yisroel Ephraim Fishel Sofer, who wrote under the pen name Afsay Aretz, was the rebbe of the town of Nanash in Hungary. Still nothing. I went on. As a descendant of the great Rabbi Meir Katzenelnbogen of Padua, my very own name is included in "The Unbroken Chain," a book that many consider to be a compilation of the elite of Ashkenazic Jewry that includes the genealogies of a remarkably high proportion of leading hassidic dynasties. Hello in there? A waiter carrying dessert was deftly tiptoeing between the tightly packed tables and heading our way. Time was running out. My family are direct descendents of King David, I blurted out desperately, not entirely sure that this was true. "Green tea?" he asked, pouring himself a cup and offering me the same. Time for the show-stopper. My cousin's cousin, I told him, is Ari Meyers...the girl who played Susan Saint James' teenage daughter Emma on the then-hit TV show "Kate and Allie." He dropped his babka. His eyes widened. "Reeeeaaaally?" He gasped. "It tapes at the Ed Sullivan Theater," he gushed, showering bits of babka on neighboring diners. "Can you get tickets?" King David? Not such a big deal. Ari Meyers from "Kate and Allie"? Now that's 'yichus.' Six degrees of just about anyone Of course, tongue out of cheek, 'yichus' - the Hebrew word commonly used in religious circles to refer to one's line of distinguished family and forbears - still most often connotes a thoroughbred line of esteemed Jewish scholars. That said, there's no doubt that having a celebrity relative hanging on one's family tree - however distant the branch - makes for great conversation and hours of Jewish geographical fun. That fact prompted us to search for local Jewish families with famous Jewish relatives. To our surprise, we didn't have to dig deep. We found, for example, that Leonard Blum in Southport is a first cousin of television's Judge Judy...his wife Bonni's sister is married to Curb Your Enthusiasm's angst-ridden Larry David. Rabbi Steve Chatinover of West Hartford, a teacher at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford, is the son of Marvin Chatinover, a ubiquitous character actor who had a recurring role as Stuckyville's doc Jerome on the now-defunct TV show "Ed." Chatinover's wife Leah is the daughter of the late children's book author Barbara Cohen, among whose many books is "A Carp in the Bathtub" and the Thanksgiving classic, "Molly's Pilgrim," which inspired the 1986 Academy Award-winning short film. Also hanging on Leah's family tree are her cousin, the singular song stylist and piano player Vonda Shepard who was a regular on the show "Ally McBeal," and NPR's popular talk show host, Faith Middleton. Maxine Goldberg of Farmington is a cousin of the late artist Louise Nevelson. Norman Lear - creator of the television classics "All in the Family" and "Maude," is a Hartford area native whose sister Claire Lear Brown still lives in Newington. Simsbury native Jennifer Weiner, whose third book "In Her Shoes" was recently made into a movie starring Cameron Diaz and Shirley MacLaine, still visits her hometown to see her mother. And actor David Alan Basche, who starred on the 2001 TV. show "Three Sisters," grew up in West Hartford, where his mom Joyce still lives. In short, many of Connecticut's Jewish families have famous connections. Several of them were happy to share anecdotes and impressions with Ledger readers. Ricky Ullman To his grandfather, Rabbi Joseph Ehrenkranz of Fairfield, Ricky Ullman is more than just a celebrity. He's a "mensch." "This is a young man who has retained his identity," says Ehrenkranz, of his 21-year old grandson, whose long list of credits include starring roles in the Disney Channel's television series "Phil of the Future," the Disney Company's made-for-TV movie "Pixel Perfect" and NBC's "Growing up Brady," as well as guest appearances on "Law & Order" and "That's So Raven." Ullman - who was born in Israel and moved to Fairfield with his parents Laura Ehrenkranz and Brian Ullman shortly after his first birthday - is known as "Raviv" to family, which also includes his mother's first cousin Pam Ehrenkranz, executive director of UJA/Federation of Greenwich. "He's thoughtful about family...and he looks forward to emphasizing his education and a future that may not have do with acting," says his proud grandfather. Best of all, kvells Ehrenkranz, "I spent three days with him on the set and I saw how Disney takes care of him - they make sure he always has kosher food." Linda Lavin One evening some 30 years ago, Audrey Feingold was watching the sitcom "Barney Miller" in her West Hartford family room when a scene with the show's character Detective Janice Wentworth came on. "That's your cousin," Feingold off-handedly told her daughter Robin who was sitting beside her. Robin, who still lives in West Hartford and is herself the mother of three young daughters, immediately set pen to paper and wrote a note to the famous cousin she had never met. She still has the letter from Lavin that she received in response, telling her how happy the actress was to find out that she had a third cousin named Robin living in Connecticut. "Linda wanted to be an actress from the day she was born," says Feingold, whose grandfather was brother to Lavin's mother. Born in Portland, Maine, Lavin carried her dream to Broadway, where she won a Tony for her role in Neil Simon's hit show "Broadway Bound," and to television where she followed up "Barney Miller" with a starring role in the long-running TV show "Alice" - a role that earned her two Golden Globe awards. During the years, Feingold, who now lives in North Carolina, has met up with her famous cousin from time to time, at family reunions and the like. A few years ago, Lavin was appearing in a Wendy Wasserstein play in New York, Feingold and some other family members, including her daughter Robin (whose name is now Sillman) went to see the show and then visited with Lavin backstage. "My aunt, who is Linda's cousin, admired a beautiful suit that she had hanging in her dressing room closet," recalls Feingold with a laugh. "Linda said to her 'If you were an actress you too could afford $2,000 Channel suits." Still, says Feingold, Lavin deserves her successes. "You have to give her her due. She worked hard to get where she is and she's very talented." David Handler aka Lemony Snicket It doesn't matter how long David Handler has been sitting and signing books, he still takes the time to speak individually with each young reader who steps up seeking an autograph from the creator of Lemony Snicket and author of the series of children's books collectively called "A Series of Unfortunate Events." "Daniel has a special way with children in that he seems to understand how they think and treats them with unique respect," says Barbara Brown of West Hartford, whose daughter Lisa Brown met the prolific and popular author in a Chaucer class at Wesleyan University in 1992. Married for almost eight years, the couple lives in Handler's native San Francisco, with their 2-year old son Otto. "Being a children's author has not influenced him as a dad, but rather the reverse," notes his mother-in-law. "His personality has influenced his writings. He is a wonderful father!" Handler, whose father escaped Nazi Germany as a child in 1938, is also influenced by his strong Jewish identity, which often "shows up in his conversation and writings. He will often utilize Jewish expressions or words and make mention of Jewish holidays or events in his books," says Brown, who is married to pediatrician Dr. David Brown. These days, Brown reports, Handler is completing his 13th volume in the Lemony Snicket series, and has a new novel for adults called "Adverbs" coming out in April. His successes aside, Handler may not be the only celebrity in the family for too much longer. McSweeney Press recently published several "tongue in cheek" picture board books by wife Lisa, as part of a series entitled "Baby Be of Use," which, of course, are dedicated to baby Otto, but aimed at parents. The books, says Brown, are getting lots of good press. Likewise, in June, Harper Collins will publish Lisa Brown's more mainstream picture book, entitled "How to Be." "Daniel may have some serious competition on the horizon," says Lisa's proud mother. Jonathan Silverman Jonathan Silverman wasin his junior year at Beverly Hills High School when he appeared as Puck in a school production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream." After the final curtain, recalls Silverman's father Rabbi Hillel Silverman, Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Sholom in Greenwich, "someone came up to him and said, 'You have a lot of talent. Do you want an agent?'" The next week, Silverman was at the Beverly Hills Hotel being interviewed by playwright Neil Simon. The week after, he was flown to New York to be interviewed by Broadway producer Emanuel Azenberg and director Gene Saks. Not long after that, Silverman opened on Broadway in "Brighton Beach Memoirs," in the starring role of Eugene Jerome. "I couldn't believe it was him," says Silverman the father of the first time he saw his son on stage. Of course, since then, the proud father, who today divides his time between homes in Greenwich and La Jolla, Calif., has seen his son not only on stage, but in countless movies - including "Weekend at Bernie's" (I and II) as well as the film version of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" - and on TV., in such hits shows as "The Single Guy" and "Gimme a Break." Today, reports dad, the 39-year old actor "has four movies in the can - one of which is expected to be distributed in May," and is planning to do more television. Above all, he remains a good son. "My son calls me every single day and we see each other very often," says dad. "Once Sammy Sousa's agent said to him, 'Do you ever talk to your dad?' and he said, 'every day,' and Sousa's agent said, 'wow, I haven't spoken to my father in years...I think I'll call your father sometime.' And he's been calling me regularly every since." The Three Stooges Karen Sallerson's mother, Beverly Dolinsky, still has a big poster of The Three Stooges hanging in her garage. Her point was to give Sallerson's father, the late Aron Dolinsky, a laugh every night when he came home from a hard day's work and parked his pick-up truck in front of the poster. Who better to provide a couple of yucks than one of America's premier comedy teams who kept everyone laughing from the first day they took to the stage in the heyday of vaudeville, straight through the 1950s. Even today, the trademark antics of Moe, Larry and Curly - and sometimes Shemp - are considered comedy classics. But the poster gave Alan Dolinsky a laugh not only because the Stooges were funny, but also because it amused him to know that they were also "mishpacha" - family. "My grandfather's sister was married to their uncle," says Sallerson, referring to Moe, Curly and Shemp, who were brothers. According to Sallerson, who now lives in Glastonbury and is Senior Major Gifts Officer at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Moe, Curly and Shemp were three of five sons born to Jennie and Solomon Horwitz around the turn of the 20th century. Raised in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, their real names were Moses (Moe), Jerome (Curly) and Samuel (Shemp). "My dad's first cousin Hy Horwitz, who is the Stooges' first cousin, knew them very well and would often talk about them." According to Sallerson, Horwitz once decided to drive from his home in St. Paul, Minn. to Duluth, where the Stooges were scheduled to appear. "He waited at their hotel all day and left, not having seen them at all, because they never showed up and he wanted to go home before dark." Somewhere along the line, reports Sallerson, Horwitz received a postcard from Moe that read, "I hope this finds you well."