Mandana Dayani: ON BEING JEWISH NOW: Two Years After 10/7

[1:40]Zibby Owens: This is Zibby Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest best selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't have to. Stay in the know, get insider insights, and connect with guests like I do every single day. For more information, go to zibbymedia.com, and follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens. Today's episode is part two of a special series from the On Being Jewish Now event that I hosted but was too sick to attend. Alex Strauss and Stacy Eagle heard my call for help and took over hosting. Stacy ended up interviewing Mandana Dayani about her life and career and everything else, which I should have done but couldn't, so I am deeply grateful to Stacy for doing this. Here's a little bio about Mondonna, and Stacy has been on this podcast before. She's the author of Finding the Calm and the Chaos. Mondonna Dayani is a business leader, human rights activist, and the cofounder of I Am A Voter, a national nonpartisan civic engagement organization. Most recently, she was president of Archwell, the production, audio, and philanthropic company founded by Prince Harry and Meghan, the duke and duchess of Sussex. Prior to Archwell, she spent fifteen years building and scaling brands across politics, entertainment, tech, fashion, and digital media. Madonna is a globally celebrated brand and marketing expert and regularly appears on Morning Joe on MSNBC. She is an active angel investor and adviser to global consumer brands, nonprofits, and political leaders. Madonna is an immigrant from Iran who credits her experience immigrating to The United States as a religious refugee as one of the most formative inspirations behind her activism. Madonna is an outspoken advocate against antisemitism, recently speaking at the United Nations Special Session on sexual violence on October 7, and her video condemning Hamas was viewed over 50,000,000 times. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their two daughters in a giant goldendoodle. Can we all clap for this amazing amazing woman? Before I get started in in these questions that we prepared, we just talked outside about your nonprofit wing,

[4:11]Mandana Dayani: which is named can you describe the name of the foundation and what it meant and why you brought this to Oh, the anti Semitism one. Yes. So after October 7, I think, like everyone in this room, I just didn't know what to do with my life anymore. Three weeks after the attack, I went to Israel, and I had done a lot of work in the misinformation space, particularly at Art12, looking at bad actors, how misinformation gets created and spread. And I really wanted to understand what was happening with all the bot farms. It was so clear that we were experiencing digital warfare as well. We raised a big round. We did a lot of work in the digital misinformation space for a while. And then I think it sort of after a while, I started understanding I think what I'm good at is building brands, understanding how to talk to consumers, how to make something emotional and timely and to break through the noise. And so we pivoted and created the Kalanet Foundation. So it's named after Kalanet in Hebrew, which means anemone. Doing a lot of this brand work after October 7, I realized how much I look at Israel as this beautiful thing that blossomed in this sea of autocracies. And I think so much. I am such a visual person, and I felt like, as I would analyze a lot of the visuals around the Jewish space, there was this over indexing on black squares and candles and this, you know, thinking about all the harm that happened. And I kept thinking about Israel as this beautiful thing that blossomed. You know, there's a quote that says, you know, They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds. And I always look at Jewish people like that, and that quote has meant so much to me. And so the idea that the flower of Israel is this red anemone, and after October 7, all the fields where the Jews were massacred, these beautiful red anemones blossomed, and I just kept thinking, like, that is who we are as a people, that is who we are as a nation, and so Kalnet was really born out of this desire to sort of give honor to the virtues and the values of who we are as Jewish people. And so the concept initially was to find problems that we could pinpoint and build solutions for them, incubate them, and then once we had proven success, hand those off over to one of the legacy organizations that could really carry it further. And so I looked at us really more as an incubator. And so we created Our Campus United and Stand With Us with 20 amazing student founders that were all the leaders that testified before Congress, and that is now lives with Stand With Us. And One Mitzvah Day, which also created Global Mitzvah Maker Day out of it, has been amazing. It's amazing. Yeah. You actually

[6:51]Zibby Owens: with the our On Being Jewish Now, you had all the authors share a mitzvah day, which was beautiful. So we got a stream of emails from you, and all gave our own mitzvah

[7:00]Mandana Dayani: that you honored On Being Jewish Now, the book. Yeah. I was so in thank you. I was in DC, and one of my friends who's a congressman said to me, you know, Madonna, it's I can be as pro Israel as you want me to be and stand up against anti Semitism, but every time I do, my team fields a thousand phone calls of people calling them, you know, one horrible thing after another, and you really rarely say thank you. And you rarely show up to, you know, in T shirts with my name on them supporting me. And I realized in that moment, we've done so much to sort of take down bad actors, but we weren't doing enough to reward good actors. Yes. And as someone who's built grass movements, how beautiful would it be to build a movement centered on gratitude? And so One Mitzvah Day really started as, you know, taking building an infrastructure digital. So you get a text every morning, and you click on it, and it prepopulates a thank you to anyone who stands with the Jewish community or Israel. So you'll thank everyone from Trader Joe's for continuing to sell Israeli products even though they're trying to be boycotted to Paramount Films for releasing October 8, or any bipartisan member of Congress. And we have we started end of January. We've now sent over 5,000,000 messages. Wow. Congratulations. Yeah.

[8:17]Zibby Owens: I want to bring it back to your childhood. You shared that your family fled Iran when you were a child. How has that experience of rebuilding from nothing shaped how you lead and use your voice today?

[8:31]Mandana Dayani: So much, I think. I mean, as a child, I we every morning, I started preschool with chanting, Death to America, Death to Israel. And so many of my earliest memories were of the morality police and people and just fear in everyone's eyes. And as a child, that just seemed so scary, and I didn't really understand what was happening. And then we fled in that uncertainty of leaving everything and everyone you know behind with no security, no safety. And when we arrived to The U. S. Through an amazing Jewish organization called HIAS that helps Jews resettle, and I remember coming to New York, which, to me, was the scariest place I'd ever been. Even though you were fleeing from a country The that was lights, the language, it's so different than anything I'd ever seen. And I didn't none of us spoke any English, and we had no money. We it just you know, you have no idea what's next. And I remember holding my mom's hand and and knowing that I would be okay because I had my mom. And I had my family, and that was really all I needed. And I think my whole life, I understood how lucky I was to be one of the girls that got to leave, that didn't have to wear hijab every morning, that had safety, that had democracy. And that sort of gratitude to this country, that patriotism, I think, you know, is what led to me starting I Am a Voter. And, you know, when I saw the child separation policy, it took me back to that exact moment when I held my mom's hand. And I couldn't understand how the country that saved my life could rip apart families and the most vulnerable populations in that way. And so I dove deep into starting I'm a Voter. And so, yeah, I think the virtues and the values of that experience shaped

[10:13]Zibby Owens: everything for me. You mentioned I was telling you about my vintage, my mom's Donna King, and you said your mom left all of her clothes in Iran. So, I mean, you just had to start from scratch. I mean, this is how did I'm going to dive away from this for a second just to hear more about that experience. Were you able to

[10:38]Mandana Dayani: were clothes given to you when you got here? It's an amazing story. -My dad started working as a shoe salesman. I think he made $4.1 an hour. We all lived on one we slept on one bed in Queens in some studio that HIAS helped us get. And a yeshiva let my brother and I go there for free. So we would go there every morning, and then the teacher would take time away every day to teach my brother and I English. And my mom could never go back to work or anything, obviously, so she spent all of her time trying to help us navigate the city and country and learn English. And, I mean, you realize your entire life, there's just heroes that show up every day and people that helped us. You know, my dad came to LA because someone called him and told him they have the best public schools and we couldn't afford schools. And so he came here and walked around with, like, a wad of cash and just tried to find the perimeter like, walk the perimeter of Beverly Hills and couldn't we had no credit. He didn't have a credit card, know, anything. And he found this, like, amazing Chinese immigrant who looked at my dad and said, I I've been where you are. Please don't screw me over. And so we moved to LA, we got to go to amazing public schools. But there's so many people that are such a big part of our journey and us succeeding in our family. I mean, honestly, traditions like Shabbat, we've never missed a Shabbat dinner together as a family. And I think that just kept us so grounded and so close. It's beautiful.

[12:02]Zibby Owens: Yeah. So you've moved across law, fashion, media, and activism, as we heard in your bio. What's the through line that connects all those chapters? And when did you realize your work had shifted from building success to creating impact?

[12:18]Mandana Dayani: I think I I love to build, so I think the incubation is probably just very exciting for me. And I love and I think I generally understand consumers and how to connect to them. And so to me, that was sort of the through line. And a lot of what I did mirrored what I was really excited and passionate about at the time. So I loved fashion. That was the most exciting thing for me to figure out how to do, even though I knew enough literally nothing about it when I started. You look fabulous today. Thank you. A lot of fake it till you make it. You're right. To to get here today. I I mean, even in entertainment, I remember standing on a red carpet and googling, like, what is a step and repeat? Because my boss was like, go go meet the I never knew what I was doing. So the the pivot to impact, I mean, I had been doing that. I started my first charity in fourth grade. I had, you know, I'd done community service, and that was such a big part of me my entire life. I worked on as a volunteer on presidential campaigns in high school and college. But it was I I mean, I remember I think Did you think you were prevents us from doing things so many times, especially as women, is that we overthink things. And we always think that we shouldn't do something until we know everything about it and we're super prepared. And I think I just dive in really deep even though I don't know anything, and I'm very committed to just learning along the way. And I remember sitting across from a senator, and I I really thought after, like, after the child separation thing, was like, I'm just gonna help. So I'm gonna meet with members of Senate and Congress. I'm gonna ask them what to do and how to help them on their campaigns, and I can help them on messaging and audience segmentation. And they kept saying, you know, if you really want long term change, we need higher voter turnout. And I really had that legally blonde, like, what? Like, it's hard moment? Because Mhmm. You just think, like, we've how many people have we gotten to buy a mascara or watch a Marvel movie? Like, it can't be that hard to get people to go do something that my family risk their lives for. And, you know what I mean? It's actually a cool thing. Yeah. So Did you think you were successful at that point, or did you think I'm actually gonna make impact? Like, was there a moment that that impact, all the work you were doing when you started this organization, like, you saw the impact, like, how many people came out to vote? Yeah. So I feel like I always have really good ideas, and I know how to execute, but I always know that my friends are way smarter than me. So I actually called 25 amazing women and asked them to help me start I'm a Voter. And so they became our founding team, truly the most talented amazing women, and none of it would have happened without them. And in CAA, the talent agency joined as our co founders, and I think together we were just able to do so much. And I always looked at it as sort of this community service project. Like, we went out to everyone that we knew and said, you know, what can you throw in the pot? Like, do you have windows at your store? Can we use them? Do you have unused ads? Can we use them? You know, what are what is happening in your life and what company do you have and what can you give us? And everyone just started throwing things in the pot. And in aggregate, I mean, we had hundreds of millions of dollars of donated media and it was incredible.

[15:22]Zibby Owens: And I I think it's because it wasn't mine. It was sort of everyone's project. And you brought, I think was it Steve Jobs who said, Always surround yourself with smarter people? So that's sort of what you brought Oh, God, have no idea. My life is a series of phone of friends. Is it right? Oh my goodness. Important. I think I learned that ten years into my business. You recently helped launch Our Campus United, which you mentioned, and the OCU Chronicle to give Jewish students a voice. What have you learned from listening to students on today's campuses about real advocacy

[15:56]Mandana Dayani: and what it looks like? You know, the the courage that I have seen in these students is unlike anything I could have ever expected. I mean, they are so brave and so courageous. The way that they have shown up and testified before Congress and traveled, the vulnerability it takes to share their experiences and stand up to their friends and these weird terrorist loving lunatics on campus. I mean, it's wild what they have taken on and with such strength. It's yeah. I I don't even have enough words. I when I started seeing what was happening on college campuses, I think, again, as someone who's Iranian, you you remember the images of of that in Iran and how that was such an early indicator of something really terrible happening in our country. And so I was so disturbed by it, obviously. I was touring the schools, speaking on some of the campuses. And, you know, again, I had always been this progressive advocate. Right? I had worked on every major social issue, and it was so hard to see people sort of violate all the social norms we had created together. Right? Like, why are you creating an unsafe space for someone? Why are you targeting them? Why are you making, how do you not know throwing rocks at a kid trying to go to class is a bad thing? Right? Like, these are not complicated, you know, boundaries. And so I, the hypocrisy of it was so painful to watch. And as I met these students, I was just blown away by their stories. And I flew out, I want to say 10 or 12 of them to L. A. We convened a two day summit. And I just looked at them and said, What do you need? Right? Because you guys there's so many of these organizations, and I but sometimes the access is hard, and you don't things don't move as quickly as you want. And so we sat there and we whiteboarded for days the solutions that they felt like were really missing for them and gave them a real seat at the table and made them co founders. And we started we spent six months doing peer to peer interviews. They were publishing their own booklets that were just, you know, how to guides for them and how to navigate everything, templated emails. I mean, it was amazing what they built. And then a few months later, a few of the students kept saying that they were being pushed off of their student newspapers or they weren't allowed to write anything about Israel or anti Semitism, and that really pissed me off. And so I was like, okay. Cool. We'll just launch a newspaper. Like, you know, I don't you don't need to beg your lame newspaper that no one reads. You know what I mean? For permission. Like, this is so dumb. We're gonna go on Substack. We hired amazing editors who came together. We brought amazing creative directors. And we created the OCU Chronicle, and all these kids got to publish whatever they wanted to publish and interview anyone they got to wanted to interview. And, like yeah. I I I think I'm, like, over the, like, begging. Like, we're just gonna make the things that they're gonna try to take away from us. Do

[18:46]Zibby Owens: Through On Being Jewish Now, we donate to we're part of, actually, the Authors Against Antisemitism. Project Shema goes into colleges to teach about antisemitism. Anyone can come. Do you think through the work you're doing, they're speaking to just one group of people, or are they really able to share what they're feeling through the Chronicle, other people who can learn and make change, because we're in this constant talking to the same people? Do you feel that this is happening in those places you're going to, or they're able to get their voice out in a way that can change one person's mind just to be sympathetic to what's going on. Today's episode is sponsored by Quince. Summer always makes me rethink what I'm reaching for every day. Lighter fabrics, better materials, pieces that just feel good the moment you put them on and look effortless. That's why I keep coming back to quints. They focus on high quality essentials. Think breathable linen, soft organic cotton, washable silk, but without the luxury markup. It's that rare balance where everything feels elevated but still easy. Quince has beautiful everyday pieces like 100% European linen pants, dresses, and tops with styles starting at $32. Their denim is soft and easy to wear. I wear my jean jacket all the time. And their organic cotton sweaters are perfect for layering on cool summer nights. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. Quince works directly with ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality, not brand markup. And it's not just clothing. Quince has really become a destination for elevated essentials across home, bedding, and beyond, making it easy to bring a more premium feel into everyday life. In addition to my jean jacket, I recently got a white tank top dress with a beautiful cotton skirt that is absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait for it to be warm enough so I can wear it every day, but it has been a cool spring. Elevate your summer wardrobe. Go to quince.com/zippy for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's q u I n c e dot com slash zibby for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Quince.com/zibby.

[22:12]Mandana Dayani: On. Yeah. I think we have of everyone I know in in the Jewish advocacy space, we have a lot of conversations about echo chambers. And and I I think that it's obviously a real concern, but it's also a strength sometimes. So in some ways, look at the Jewish diaspora, and this is the most engaged and most informed it's ever been. This is the most the Jewish diaspora has ever donated to Jewish causes. And so in some ways, igniting, exciting, informing the Jewish diaspora is actually very important. So that is a priority that we have to continue to maintain. Being able to have conversations I mean, these students on campuses were hosting Shabbat tables and leaving seats open for anyone that would join them. They've walked up to people. You know, you've seen them on the you know, with the sort of mics on the street, I kind think they're doing everything that they can, and I know that we did a lot of bridge building exercises, and we had conversations behind closed doors with leaders in other communities. And I know that they're doing that on campuses. I think it's going to be a lot of work for a very, very long time. I think the hardest part right now is helping people understand how long change takes. Like, I I think in this Amazon Prime, people want change to arrive in twenty four hours at your door, and it's just not gonna happen that way anymore. Yes. And it never did. So I I think the patience to keep showing up, keep doing the work, keep explaining yourself, be vulnerable, share your story. I mean, I remember one time I I shared a video of something that happened to my daughter, and I had so many of my friends call me and say, oh my god. I didn't even think about the impact this could have on your kid. Know? And I think it's they're not honestly, the majority of the people are not thinking about us. Yes. Agreed.

[23:56]Zibby Owens: I heard something you were on I did a lot of research last night because I was told at 3PM yesterday. Was doing this interview. But there was a I listened to a podcast and you talked about silence, how some people show up in different ways. I believe you said we can't be upset with people who don't talk about it. They might be talking silently to other people. What do you feel about that?

[24:21]Mandana Dayani: Think that there's activism happens in so many ways. I think calling your uncle and telling him that the thing that he said at the table was racist is activism. Like, there's so many telling the parent in your class that the thing that they did is wrong, teaching your kids how to be good people is is a form I mean, there's so many ways that we show up, and ultimately, really is sort of in community, right? It's to protect the community, to teach everyone the same values, and to uphold the values of kindness to each other and understanding of each other, and I think that does happen. Listen, I think the expectation that everyone is going to post about every single issue is is And not it's not genuine either. Right? But I I mean, there are so many people I know that did pick up the phone and call people that wore, you know, the artist for a ceasefire pin and said, dude, what the hell are you doing? You know? Mhmm. And that call is important because they will listen. And if they had posted on Instagram, they wouldn't have listened, right? So I do think there's a lot of ways. And I think that sometimes we have to give people a little bit of grace. Like, I think everyone is so eager to just be mad because we're all so hurt. Like, we haven't had a chance to grieve. I mean, the worst thing since the Holocaust happened to our to our family, and we didn't have we didn't get to sit Shiva. We had hostages. Right? Like, we've been fighting for two years. We're tired. We're sad. We've been abandoned by our friends. This is a really, really hard time. And I think, yes, this week was amazing, and it was such a relief to see these hostages come home.

[25:49]Zibby Owens: The grieving we're not done with the grieving process. I had a text come from a friend this week who had not spoken up about anything, but I knew she was there and supportive, and she said a yellow heart and a blue heart text, and I'm feeling really grateful for you, as much as I feel I know what you're feeling, but had never said anything in the past two years. So in that sense, we can't expect everybody to show up on posts or in articles,

[26:20]Mandana Dayani: but in as friends, they come in different ways. Right? So okay. Let's go to the next question. Thing I will say for the people you care about, you have to tell them how to show up for you. That's true too. And it feels unnatural, but I have done that. And I've actually called my best friends and been like, I know this doesn't make sense, but this is really, really important to me, and I need you to understand why. Because it's not always

[26:42]Zibby Owens: so logical. Right. Or they've not there's no one who they can relate to that this has happened to. Yes. So let's go to being a mommy. As a grown up Yeah, where are we going here? Do you like it? You're raising two daughters while leading real change. What do you hope that they take away from watching how you navigate your values and your work? So I

[27:06]Mandana Dayani: and my husband who's here is the best and very supportive, but I I think, at some point, I realized the the most important thing I could do is include our kids. So they've just come with us for everything. Like, they've registered voters with us since they were this tall, and we have I mean, if I'm traveling to DC for something, if it's the UN General Assembly, whatever it is, they come, and they get to meet everyone, and they get to sit at the table, and they get to ask people questions. And so for me, the most important part is including them. I really like, I have watched them transform so much, and they are so engaged, and they're so excited, they have so many questions, and they've just become such leaders themselves. And it wasn't something I forced on them in any way or told them they have to care about an issue. They just so naturally started to gravitate towards these things because I think they meet met the people. They got to understand so many of them. I I don't know. Was amazing. And our daughter How old are they? -They're now 11 and eight. And when Ann my older one was eight years old, I took her to the White House for Hanukkah. -Oh, nice. -And I didn't it was so last minute. And it was the You sort of have these moments where you walk in, and there were all these amazing rabbis praying in the lobby. This one rabbi looked at me, and he's like, They used to not let us in this building, and now we're praying. Then I'm just like I'm such a democracy nerd, so I'm crying. Oh, my God. I can't believe this. Like, I you know? And we fleddy mean, the whole thing was nuts, and I was so excited to share that with Andy. And we go into this one room, we're all squeezing in, and and Noah Tishby, one of my dear friends, was standing next to me. Deborah Lipsat was there. We were all talking, and all of a sudden, I look up and, you know, Andy and Noah's son are standing on stage, and Andy has this huge, like, beautiful moment with the president. And everyone's, you know, everyone's where she declared that she wants to be the president of The United States, and her and Biden her and president Biden had this incredible exchange, and I'm just sitting there like, wow. Like, I fled my country because it wasn't safe for me to be Jewish or a woman. And now, within one generation, my daughter is standing, telling the president of The United States that she's gonna be president at a Hanukkah party at the White House. I mean, come on. You couldn't like, what? Wow. Like, if you wrote that in a script, they'd be like, okay. Come on. Right. Totally. That's a little too far.

[29:29]Zibby Owens: I feel like that's the moment where you you that's where you pinch yourself and say, oh, yes. I've I've done a lot of great work. Right? Or do you keep moving to the next meeting? Yeah. I'm I don't know how to do that. I'm really bad at that. But

[29:42]Mandana Dayani: it was definitely one of the most, proud moments of my life. I also took my dad last year to the vice president's house for Hanukkah, and he stood there. It was the first mezuzah that had ever been placed on a White House property, and he stood over there. Dad was a rabbi. He's Kurdish. My dad stood over the mezuzah and prayed. And I was like, my dad grew up in a village with, like, no electricity and had a donkey for transportation. And he's just, like, sitting here like, there are so many days where I'm like, what is this crazy life? It's amazing life. It is amazing. But it is wild. Right? You're just saying, what?

[30:18]Zibby Owens: You've spoken about often about staying hopeful when the world feels divided. What helps you protect that hope and keep showing up with clarity and courage? I think to be an activist,

[30:31]Mandana Dayani: you, like, you just have to wake up a hopeful idiot. You know what I mean? Like, I wake up every day, and I but it's true. I believe that I can make a difference. I you have to believe. You have to believe that change is possible. You have to believe that your work, not alone, but in aggregate with other people that also, you know, hold a torch with you, that you will be able to change and that that change is worth the work. And I wake up and believe that every day. And maybe it's because I get to look at our kids and that, you know, and you just you know that that they are worth fighting for. Mhmm. And I I think for me, the most important thing I learned as a child was that, honestly, the only thing and my dad used to always say, like, was like, dad, do you care that we have no money? He's like, as long as I have my integrity, I don't need anything else. Right? And that was sort of what defined me was just knowing that doing the right things, knowing that I have integrity, knowing that I can look our kids in the eyes and say, you know, I did the right thing regardless of the consequences. You know, because people always ask me, like, are you upset about the consequences of standing up? And I'm like, no. It's a privilege to do what I do Yeah. Because it's honest, and it's how I feel and it is the truth. And if I lose some friends, okay. Yeah. You're standing tall by doing what you I've seeing so many new friends. I know. Have a new friend over here. Yeah. I'm

[31:53]Zibby Owens: going to go to your new organization. So the Calanet pronounced that right foundation now brings many of your impact projects under one roof. What inspired you well, talked about this in the beginning, but to create something that can turn individual ideas into long term systems of change, which we talked about earlier, but can you go more in-depth than that? Yeah. I I think that I sort of have always been the outsider. Like, any industry I worked in, I pretty much didn't know anything about it. And that always allowed me to be really objective, I think, in some ways. That always helped the work. And

[32:30]Mandana Dayani: in the advocacy space, I think this the fact that I sort of came from outside of traditional impact organizations, and my friends and my colleagues are all the best creative directors and writers and storytellers. We would come together and the outcome was always so different and so innovative. And I think that that was really what I wanted to do within the Jewish advocacy space. So everyone who works at the organization comes from incredible consumer backgrounds who've worked on massive consumer brands, celebrity brands, and they just have a very different take on things. And so I think it wasn't that I think anything we did was necessarily better, but that it was at least innovative and it felt at least different. And it's a collective of a group of 20 people, right? That is Our Campus United, yes. Oh, that's our okay. So this is But there's sort of like a core group that works across all of our projects, and they're amazing. Got it. Yeah.

[33:28]Zibby Owens: So as we wrap up, and you've been incredible, and your resume, I I I'm just fascinated by, because I thought I had a really big resume, but you blow me away. What

[33:41]Mandana Dayani: does being Jewish mean, and how does it feel to you? Oh, God. I it's just such a privilege. Like, I feel so lucky to be Jewish. I feel so lucky to know that I could walk into the home of any other Jewish family in the entire world and be hugged and loved by them, that there are people across so many oceans and continents that care about our collective existence and thriving. I love tradition. I love rituals. I love things that sort of anchor us to our past and sort of link us to our future. There's so much within the Jewish culture that has defined all of the values have defined me so much and how we raise our kids. Honestly, I so I know it sounds so corny I really feel so, so blessed to be Jewish.

[34:35]Zibby Owens: We talked before we came here about your Shabbat dinner tonight. I grew up having Shabbat every Friday. I still try to do that within my home now. And my Shabbat tables are always different walks of life, different people from different cultures. My parents loved to bring that to the table, and my friends growing up who weren't Jewish want to do Shabbat now. They always tell me, We gotta do Shabbat with you. So that table of being with community and what they saw who weren't Jewish, like, how they loved it so much to come every Friday. So tonight, can you tell me what you're doing for Shabbat?

[35:14]Mandana Dayani: Well, I will say that I'm also Persian, so Persian Shabbats are really different. They're really loud. There's

[35:20]Zibby Owens: so many people. There's I feel like it's like Thanksgiving.

[35:23]Mandana Dayani: Right? It's just chaos. Like, you just walk in, there's kids running around, everyone's drinking, you eat dinner really late, there's so much food. It's it's I love chaos, and it's just so much love and so much fun. And yeah, I always describe my life Unfortunately for my husband. No, it's sort of like a well, my whole family lives walking distance from our house too, so I always define our life as, like, a a cross between my big fat Greek wedding, everybody loves Raymond, and, like, a little hint of Borat. And that is Shabbat for you. So that is Shabbat. That is life. That is every day. That is, like, my dad walking through the front door and just, like, opening up our bills and being like, Peter, why are you buy spending so much on electricity? Like, no one has a boundary ever. So, yeah, Shabbat tonight actually is so I'm so excited. I'm hosting Shabbat with my friend Mona Vaynerchuk at her home. Our friend Zach Neiman is cooking Persian food, and I think there'll be 14 of us. We just got to eat really, really yummy food. Yeah, I'm very, very excited. I don't think we've ever, ever missed Shabbat, so it's our favorite part of the week. Well, good Shabbat. You too. Thank

[36:38]Zibby Owens: you for being Oh my goodness for having us. Shabbat Shalom. This was so fun. Thank you for listening to Totally Booked with Zibby, formerly moms don't have time to read books. If you loved the show, tell a friend, leave a review, follow me on Instagram at Zibby Owens, and spread the word. Thanks so much. Oh, and buy the books.