{"id":47433,"date":"2025-08-29T01:59:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T08:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=47433"},"modified":"2025-08-27T13:26:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T20:26:51","slug":"campaign-launch-nears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/08\/29\/campaign-launch-nears\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaign launch nears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comedian Elon Gold will perform a full show of comedy at the launch of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign on Sept. 11. (photo by Limor Garfinkle)<\/i><\/p>\n

Comedian Elon Gold helps the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver launch its annual fundraising campaign on Sept. 11.<\/p>\n

The last time the Jewish Independent<\/i> spoke with Gold<\/a>, in 2019, he was driving from his home in Los Angeles to Las Vegas, with his family, for a Jewish National Fund event. This time, he had returned home from New York, where he performed gigs all over the East Coast, from DC to Jersey to the Catskills.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tradition for Gold and his family \u2013 wife Sasha and their four children \u2013 to spend summers in New York, though, this year, his oldest son, 24, has a job, so had to stay in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all have really fun summers together because both of our families are from New York,\u201d said Gold. All their oldest friends are also in New York, he added. \u201cSo, it\u2019s like a summer of recharging, with our roots and our family and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid performing at various venues, working on a film, writing a TV series and creating a new comedy special, among other things, Gold gets great joy from doing shows for Jewish organizations. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy motto is, \u2018everything matters and nothing matters.\u2019 That\u2019s how you should look at life, and that\u2019s how you should look at gigs,\u201d he told the Independent<\/i>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The nothing matters isn\u2019t about being \u201clackadaisical and lazy and dismissive,\u201d he said, but more about reducing the stress level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter, it\u2019s just a gig. If it doesn\u2019t go well, I\u2019ll have another one tomorrow, whatever, it\u2019s fine. It takes the pressure off,\u201d said Gold. \u201cBut everything matters is also a big part of it, because everything does matter, and every gig, to me, is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for myriad reasons. The whole community is getting together and to let them down would be very upsetting, not just to them, but to me,\u201d he said. \u201cI always call these nights of community, unity and comedy. So, it does matter that you not just do well, but I try to hit it out of the park every time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Elon Gold performs in Vancouver Sept. 11. (photo by Limor Garfinkle)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks on Israel, community gatherings like the Federation\u2019s campaign launch, are especially important, said Gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need these nights more than ever before,\u201d he said. \u201cWe need these nights to forget that the world hates us, which also is perception, not reality\u2026. The world doesn\u2019t really hate us \u2013 there\u2019s far too many people who do hate us, but the world as a whole?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was talking to my friend in Israel \u2013 I\u2019m writing a TV series in Israel that we\u2019re going to film there, hopefully in the spring \u2013 and he was saying he just went to Greece. All you see on social media is they hate the Israelis, [but] everyone we met said, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re Israeli? Wow, welcome,\u2019 and gave us hugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

That being said, Gold acknowledged we\u2019re living in a frightening time and antisemitism is prevalent.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not omnipresent, it\u2019s not everywhere,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s groups of people. There have always been groups of people who hate us, and I always say to Jews, don\u2019t take it so personally. Usually, those groups hate other groups. It\u2019s not just us that people hate. Racism doesn\u2019t start and end with us, but, for some reason, we seem to be the favourite scapegoat of humanity and a lot of it is on us. And, again, I\u2019m not dismissing antisemitism \u2013 it is so real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referencing the Jewish man in Montreal who was beaten in front of his children, calling it \u201cdisgusting,\u201d Gold said, \u201cIt\u2019s really a constant, whether it\u2019s Colorado or DC or wherever you look, there\u2019s another attack, so that\u2019s why we have to be strong and vigilant and stay safe, but also we can\u2019t live our life through the prism of everybody hates us and everything\u2019s terrible. The truth is, a lot of people have always hated us, and whether it\u2019s, \u2018they are drinking the blood of Christian children\u2019 to \u2018they\u2019re starving Palestinian children,\u2019 they\u2019re blood libels. This is the latest iteration of a blood libel that gives the haters an excuse to hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gold pointed to inaccurate reporting by the media, including the New York Times<\/i>\u2019s use on its cover of a photo of a sick, emaciated child in Gaza, wrongly claiming the child was starving.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt turns out it\u2019s a genetic disease that he has,\u201d said Gold, \u201cand so many of the pictures have been falsified and misrepresented as starvation, when they are children with diseases, which is tragic in its own right, but to blame Israel \u2026 and to put that on the cover of the New York Times, that incites and emboldens the haters to hate us and attack us even more. So, it\u2019s all based on lies. The only truth is that there is a war that Israel didn\u2019t start or want and must fight to the end or there\u2019ll be Oct. 7 every day until the last Jew standing. So, we shouldn\u2019t apologize for defending ourselves ever again \u2013 but we do have to clarify all the mistruths out there that are representing the Jewish state, and thereby the Jewish people, in the worst light.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Oct. 7, Gold needed to step back from work. \u201cFor the first few weeks, I found no humour, I was in a state of shock and traumatized, like everybody,\u201d he said. \u201cI actually canceled gigs, I couldn\u2019t do them.\u201d<\/p>\n

But one gig he wasn\u2019t allowed to cancel was emceeing a Jewish Federation of Los Angeles event that happened in the shadow of Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteven Singer from the Federation in LA said, \u2018No, no, we\u2019re insisting that you do it, and that you do open with 10 minutes of comedy in a respectful way. We really need this and … even though we\u2019re still mourning, we have to start healing…. It was the first time I went back on stage, almost a month in,\u201d said Gold.<\/p>\n

The terror attacks and the hostages are continually on his mind, he said, but he must pull himself back from those thoughts.<\/p>\n

Fortunate to have had an \u201caverage to normal childhood,\u201d with parents who \u201care amazing and brought us up in a loving, happy house \u2026 my comedy doesn\u2019t come from pain,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now, I\u2019m in more pain emotionally than I\u2019ve ever been with everything going on, but I push it away because, if I delve in too much for too long, I won\u2019t be able to come out of it, I won\u2019t be able to be the funny guy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it\u2019s not just my responsibility,\u201d he said. \u201cIn life, I\u2019m fulfilling my purpose by being light and fun and funny, and bringing that to other people, so I can\u2019t get too into it because my rage for what happened and what\u2019s happening and how the world is denying or excusing Oct. 7, the way the world\u2019s demanding the end to the existence of our ancestral homeland \u2013 it\u2019s so infuriating and so depressing. If I focus and harp on it too much, I won\u2019t be able to deliver the goods.\u201d<\/p>\n

And delivering the goods is something he is compelled to do, by his very nature. When COVID-19 hit and the forecast was that it would last only a few weeks, Gold said his first thought was that he\u2019d catch up on every TV streaming service, binge on shows he\u2019d never been able to watch with four kids and a job that is pretty much 24\/7. But, by Day 2 of the pandemic, he was doing a daily show on Instagram Live called My Funny Quarantine<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day at 6:13, which is the number of mitzvahs in the Torah, I would do an 18-minute show, which is also, again, significant, 18 is chai<\/i> [life],\u201d he said. Most of Gold\u2019s Instagram followers are Jewish, so the show had a lot of Jewish themes, though the guests were wide-ranging, including comedians from Jim Gaffigan to Bill Burr to Tiffany Haddish, Jay Leno and Michael Serra.<\/p>\n

Gold\u2019s friend, screenwriter and director Jeremy Garelick, loved My Funny Quarantine<\/i> and suggested Gold do a Jewish dating show every Saturday night.<\/p>\n

The Bachor<\/i> (bachor is Hebrew for young man, guy) ran for a couple of years. \u201cI made two shidduchim<\/i> [matches],\u201d said Gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a way for people to connect, and no one was doing anything, no one could go anywhere, and I had so many people watching live,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gold also did Zoom stand-up shows and outdoor performances during the pandemic. More recently, he worked on the film The Badchan<\/i>, spending a month in Israel for it. He\u2019s been to Israel four times in the last two years, he said, doing shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cBadchan is like a wedding jester,\u201d Gold explained. The film was written by Shuli Rand and Gidi Dar, who did the 2004 film Ushpizin (Guests) <\/i>together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, every decade has a seminal cultural Jewish film, like Yentl<\/i> or Fiddler<\/i> or The Chosen<\/i> or their Ushpizin<\/i>,\u201d said Gold. \u201cAnd I think this is going to be that film of this decade. It\u2019s going to come out in November, hopefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gold is currently developing a new hour-long comedy special, which will come out sometime near the end of next year perhaps.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really exciting,\u201d said Gold, \u201cbecause Chris Rock, one of my comedy mentors, he said every special should be like a thesis and I have the thesis for this one, and I already have been closing for 20 minutes with this thesis. And so, now I\u2019m just building it out, and I think it\u2019s going to be very fun and relatable, because I\u2019m getting more personal in my comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cThe more you reveal, the more they relate.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLittle arguments with the wife, little stories that happen, when you share them, I have not just men but women coming over to me going, oh my God, are you in my house? How do you know this happens? I\u2019m like, because it happens to me…. The comedian\u2019s job is to relate and connect, to have this shared experience where you\u2019re taking observations about human behaviour … and laughing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Gold\u2019s performance here on Sept. 11, it represents more than just a good many laughs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone should come out,\u201d he said. \u201cI think we all need nights like this event, and supporting your local community and your local Federation, that\u2019s one of the best ways to help us all get through these tough, insane times where the world feels upside down. I\u2019ll try to turn the world right side up for even just a little bit, even just for one night.\u201d<\/p>\n

For tickets ($36) to Gold\u2019s show on Sept. 11, go to jewishvancouver.com\/faco25<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comedian Elon Gold will perform a full show of comedy at the launch of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver\u2019s annual campaign on Sept. 11. (photo by Limor Garfinkle) Comedian Elon Gold helps the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver launch its annual fundraising campaign on Sept. 11. The last time the Jewish Independent spoke with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[24259,5278,20750,8805,3128,4352,22725,9812],"class_list":["post-47433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-campaign-launch","tag-comedy","tag-covid","tag-elon-gold","tag-fundraising","tag-jewish-federation-of-greater-vancouver","tag-oct-7","tag-pandemic"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}