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Modi & Leo

• Modi • Season 11 • Episode 163

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Episode 163: Modi and Leo regroup in the studio to talk about everything from the homecoming of the hostages, to lunch with Diane von Furstenberg, to headlines in The New York Times — and how to cultivate your aura.

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SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to And here's Modi. We are in the studio. Me and Leo. Shalom. Shalom. We are in the studio here on October 13th, hours after the hostages have been released. President Trump just spoke at the Knesset. Israel is in a state of happiness and mashiach energy. Nothing else can say it. It's so crazy. It's also this exact time of the year, two years ago, you and I were in Israel at the Satai Hotel when the war broke out. And now here we are, full two years later in the Hebrew calendar. We are witnessing the release of these poor hostages and hopefully the end of this war. And it's just um I don't know, it just shows that prayers work, I believe. All the prayers that I've put in the the whole all of uh anybody w wishing well for the hostages, it came together. You're seeing it.

SPEAKER_01:

What do you think? Um what is what's your rabbinical take on the timeline of all this happening in terms of all of the holidays and things that are happening in the Hebrew calendar and all that stuff?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, this is uh this is we we we're in a period of time called the our happiness. Zman Simchat Simchatein, uh, of our joy and happiness. We're in the holiday of Sukkot, where we those of you who don't know, it's where we sit in the hut outside and fully embraced in happiness and and the the warmth of God and um and celebrating. It's a fun holiday, it's a food holiday, it's a it's uh celebrating with family and friends holiday, and it is just it's crazy. It's a full cycle of two years.

SPEAKER_01:

It feels longer. It feels I can't imagine what it feels like for the people who are you know, the families and the hostages themselves, but it doesn't feel like two years.

SPEAKER_02:

It feels like so much more, so much has happened in the world and in our lives between you and me since since that day where the war began. You and I woke up in Tel Aviv and had a flight to to France, to Paris to go do four shows. And we were like, should we do these shows or not? And we ended up doing those shows and kept on doing shows to bring some pause for laughter for the the the the world, not just the Jewish community, the the anybody that just just needed it, and um and we've been all over the world. We really have been all over the world since two years ago. We've been all over Europe, all over America, all over Australia, Mexico City, Mexico City with Jewish communities and not Jewish communities, and just events and fundraisers, and uh uh a pot this podcast we had Omar Shemtov, one of the hostages, who's in for 505 days, and now we're we're seeing 48 hostages released that are in there for over 700 days. And because we are at the podcast now, I can't really see the visuals of what the hostages look like, but they much better than what I thought they would look. They're I mean, their smiles and they're waving and they're alive, and it's just yeah, it's just amazing. It's just it's really unbelievable that this is happening right now. And then we got to get we had the podcast book to be able to to to talk about it and share our happiness. And um, and and that's where we've got all the time. You said it could just change overnight. You always said that. I always say that. You just like just like you flip your your how do you call it swipe? Yep, a swipe of your thumb. As in everything can change in the swipe of a thumb. You can just swipe your thumb, and the next thing will be ceasefire, hostages released, bombing stopped, Putin says enough. You could just you have to believe in that. I was talking to one of our neighbors up in Connecticut and telling her that too. Should we tell that story? Should we tell that story, you know? Why not? Why not? I was we were walking with our neighbor, Diane von Furstenberg. And we she was she asked me, you know, what about the war? I said to her, everything could change in a flip flick of a finger. And this was we were with her like a few days before Yom Kippur, so it was about two two weeks ago. Yeah. And and then I I texted her, I said, look, like I said, everything can just change at the flip of a finger.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Should I tell the story? Tell the story how it came to be. Okay, so there's an amazing documentary on Hulu about Diane von Furstenberg. I believe it's on Hulu, 99% sure. We watch a lot of documentaries, and so and this is one of the my favorite ones that I've ever seen. Um, I mean, you always joke that a documentary could be about a spoon, and if it's well done, it's entertaining. But this is just like, I mean, Diane von Furstenberg's life is just so cinematic with the plot lines and the storylines and the visuals that of course it made for a good documentary. So anyway, we watched this. I loved it. What a love.

SPEAKER_02:

She was born to her mother was an Auschwitz.

SPEAKER_01:

Auschwitz survivor. Yeah. She marries a German prince.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, at the age of like 17, 18, she marries a German prince. So now a daughter of a Holocaust survivor is married to a German prince.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And then goes on to create like one of the biggest fashion empires of all time. Yeah. Most iconic pieces of clothing. Like so, wow. So I'm just like, I love watching those kind of documentaries. I'm not a huge fashion person per se, but just like, wow, what a life. And in the documentary, they briefly show her place in Connecticut where she spends a lot of her time. And I was like, oh, interesting, because you and I bought a house in Connecticut last year. And then we were driving recently, and I saw a very distinct thing that was shown in the documentary by the road. And I was like, oh my God, that's Diane's house. And you had done the Shabbat dinner for the CFDA uh fashion week in January. Um, so where you did a Shabbat dinner with all these fashion Jewish fashion designers and influencers for the CFDA to kick off fashion week. And because of that, I had some contacts at the CFDA. The costume, I don't want to get it right. I don't, I you know, I have it. I'm gonna Google it. Please hold CFDA something fashion for. I I have it, but I don't want to get it wrong. Catalog, nope. No, Council of Fashion Designers of America. There you go. Council of Fashion Designers of America. And so when I saw the documentary, I sent out an email. I was like, hi, this is maybe kind of strange, but like Modi and I just purchased a home in Connecticut and we realized we're basically neighbors with Diane. If anyone knows her, we would love to connect with her. And Mark was very kind to be like, yes, sure. Here's her longtime assistant who happened to be a huge Modi fan, and she helped us put a lunch on the books with Diane. So we just showed up two strangers, and Diane, to her credit, took us in for lunch, and it was just like such a magical.

SPEAKER_02:

I brought her a mazuza, a framed mazuza, and she was, oh, we'll hang it up right away. And she called for a hammer, and it just appeared, and it appeared a hammer. Someone came running in with a hammer, and we I I the picture came, the frame came with a nail, and we hung it right up, and it was so great. And she was so sweet. We had amazing lunch, and we walked with her. And while we were walking, I told her everything can change.

SPEAKER_01:

While walking, it was a 45-minute hike we did, never and we never left her property, or like even got close to leaving the property. It was the same.

SPEAKER_02:

And it was great. We got to meet from the documentary, her friend Olivier, who was in the documentary, and we got to meet him and her granddaughter, who runs a uh an um an arts camp. An arts camp up there that she used to attend, and it was just great energy, just unbelievable energy.

SPEAKER_01:

Should I tell the story of like how it happened, then didn't happen, then happened?

SPEAKER_02:

No, it's it was just uh it was just like it's funny. So tell us I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

So first uh the the the assistant, her longtime assistant who is a Modi fan, puts it on the books for us for Sunday. Then I want to say like that Thursday and she and in our correspondence, she goes, and by the way, her preferred florist is so and so. I said, Okay, I can read a hint. So I call the florist and I say, Hi, can you deliver this on Sunday? So it gets there before our lunch. She goes, We're closed on Sunday. So I said, Okay, so send it Saturday. Send whatever she likes, big over the top. Sure, do it, send it. And I I get that, I have that scheduled to send. Then Thursday, the assistant emails me saying, Sorry, she had something come up, she can't do a full lunch, but just maybe text her on Sunday and you maybe you can stop by for a hello.

SPEAKER_02:

She finally probably just threw on the calendar of like, what do I need to sit with for lunch with these two people? I don't have no idea who they are.

SPEAKER_01:

And she kind of like, but then the flowers arrived. Right. And she goes, Wait, who are these two? And she put the lunch back on the calendar. And I she told us as much while we sat down for lunch. She goes, I wasn't sure what was happening here, but then you sent those beautiful flowers, and I was like, saved by the florists. I was like, I was like, I don't blame you by the way. I wouldn't want to have lunch with two random strangers. Absolutely not. It was but it was a lesson for me because of putting two and two together and reaching out and asking, not for a favor, but just like utilizing the people in my network more because I hate doing that. Yeah. Um, but it was I think that was a lesson for me. It wasn't so much to meet her, which although that was like an amazing experience, and to be in the presence of someone who's had such a life, they she has an aura. You know, when you're arresting someone like that who has like one crazy auras, yeah. Um we all have an aura. I wonder what mine is. It must be gray.

SPEAKER_02:

It's whatever you oh my god, don't say that. It's whatever I didn't say a bad one. It's whatever you want it to be, it's whatever you want it to create. And you and a part of in the morning, you focus on your aura. When I put my talus on, my my prayer show, and I wrap myself around it. That's when you're making your prayer for your aura. So I I say for mine, I want it, I put it on and I say the oh Makif surrounding light and your aura. And then I want it to be blessed and protected, blessing also to bless other people, protected, and also to be inspired, inspiring, to be grateful and show grave uh gratefulness. And you can plan what you want your aura to look like. You it's a it's a thing. It's you can you can you could control your aura. And then the word gray shouldn't be in there, but it should be I want it to be open and want it to be uh regal. I want it to be uh a good uh good you put good adjectives in whatever you want your aura to to be. So she has one because she wakes up in the morning like I am the bomb, I am DVF, I am DVF, I have done it. Mother F. Yep, and that's and so she has an amazing, amazing aura, and so we were blessed to be with her.

SPEAKER_01:

It was an amazing I more got along with the granddaughter, she's really cool.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, the granddaughter also has like she's like she's got it, she's she's amazing, she's but it was just such a stunning property.

SPEAKER_01:

It's I mean, like we've just acres and acres, and every once in a while, just like a bronze statue.

SPEAKER_02:

It was beautiful, it was hers. Exactly what you would think it would be, and it's all in the documentary, it's beautiful. Watch the documentary, watch the documentary, an incredible documentary. It was uh it's it was a life-changing documentary. Some lock some documentaries can really change your your life and perspective of how things should and can be uh 100%. Um, what other documentaries have we watched we loved? Well, if speaking of fashion documentary, Valentino the Last Emperor is one of the best. And let's give him one more that we've recently watched. I feel like we just watched something.

SPEAKER_01:

The one about Alan Carr, the uh in the 80s.

SPEAKER_02:

That was crazy. Yes, that Alan Carr was a cra uh this producer, this over-the-top gay producer, and just like his life story.

SPEAKER_01:

So nuts. We love a good documentary.

SPEAKER_02:

We love a good documentary.

SPEAKER_01:

But they should make one about us, honestly.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, they did not not make one about us.

SPEAKER_01:

There is a sizzle floating around out there.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, there is also an article that just came out about us. Oh, do tell. What me? Yeah. I'm not one to spread. But this past what was it? Thursday? Yeah, Thursday, I think. So on Thursday, an article in the New York Times came out about us. About you. About us. Uh I mean, it the title was He's Gay, he's he's an Observant Jew, and his career is booming. Um that came out on Thursday. And on Friday, we had our anniversary, so we dropped some pictures of us together. And the only thing we should have done was Saturday pretended to have adopted a baby. But just post a picture of a sonogram. Yeah, no captions. No captions, a sonogram. Like we're having a baby.

SPEAKER_01:

People would die.

SPEAKER_02:

No, but but there's no need for that because we got happening.

SPEAKER_01:

Why is there a picture of a ghost on my desk?

SPEAKER_02:

Um but the article was amazing, was it was was incredible, no?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so we were blessed because uh Lisa Lurer of the New York Times, who did the profile on you, she typically works with politicians. So she's used to dealing with a like a fierce sort of media person that acts as a barrier to her subject and filtering and making sure that every everything that all the information they're getting, she's getting is approved and you know, sanitized and whatever. So I think it was a change of pace for her to work with you because A we just gave her so much access.

SPEAKER_02:

Of course.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, she literally came to our house in Connecticut, she came to a show in Columbus, she was at a bunch of other shows, she went to dinner.

SPEAKER_02:

So she for to for to begin the stories like this. She's a political writer, but she said there's some kind of a sabbatical project that she that they do. Like you you can pick something of the you can do that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, if you click on her profile in the New York Times, it's all politics. Right, and then all of a sudden it's not like lifestyle pieces, and then all of a sudden it's us.

SPEAKER_02:

And so so she she said the first time she saw me was at the Republican Jewish Coalition performing there. She was in the press pit and she's like, Oh, this is interesting. And then she came to a show at the The Beacon, and then she came to a comedy cellar show of me working new material.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, that I arranged. That's after I knew she was already like.

SPEAKER_02:

Then she was interested in doing the article, and then she wanted to go to a kosher restaurant. We went to Reserve Cut. She said, I want New York Times to buy me a kosher steak. So she we went there, which was her choice. And I don't, I don't, I wouldn't have chosen it because I knew it's just hard to eat a meal with everybody coming over for a picture. And yeah, you were like Madonna. Right. So we're sitting there and she's like experiencing everybody asking me for a picture or showing me what cameo I did for them or tell me where they saw me and all that. And um, and so she that was something she she visualized on her own. And then she came to a show in Columbus to see what it would be like not in New York.

SPEAKER_01:

She said, I want to see something that's quote, not New York or LA juice. I said, Well, we have a show in Columbus, Ohio. Would you like to join? And she got on a plane and she went to Columbus, Ohio. With a photographer, and she spoke to every she spoke to like 90% of the people in the room. She had her notebook out and her recorder, however, she was taking notes, and she was being a journalist. She was getting quotes and talking to people, and it was crazy. And um, but you're happy with how the piece came out.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm happy how the piece came out. I loved it. I'm surprised what you were surprised at, and I'm surprised that you weren't surprised. When when we when we we went when we read it once through, you thought like something was there. Was one thing that that you scared you. It still scares me, but but meanwhile, what was really like what was what everybody kept commenting was that you were you were the speedo line. How was the speedo line? I'll no I'll pull it up. So keep in mind, she's in our house in the height of the summer. We had a whole bunch of friends over sitting by the pool.

SPEAKER_01:

And at the pool in the manicured backyard. Sorry, no, let me just give the line first because I feel like that helps a little bit. Mr. Rosenfeld sees comedy as a holy mission, he explained on a sunny, sunny Sunday afternoon sitting in his second home in Connecticut, which he purchased last year. At the pool in the manicured backyard, Mr. Vega, me, was entertaining a group comfortable socializing in speedos. Inside, Mr. Rosenfeld was diving into the Talmud, the millennium's millennium's old collection of rabbinical discussion. And if that line doesn't summarize our relationship, then and now it's immortalized in the New York Times. Thank God it is. Um that is so funny. So great. She also found you know what she did. Comfortable socializing in speedos has so much weight to it without saying anything. It's so funny.

SPEAKER_02:

Comfortable socializing in speedos. That means you're you're talking to other people with your junk all out there.

SPEAKER_01:

Meanwhile, it was just me and you know the two. No, I know who exactly who it was. It was like family.

SPEAKER_02:

But no, she makes she makes it seem like there was like a huge party happening.

SPEAKER_01:

It's like a Fire Island moment out there.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, which that's a different time, but but um and and she and I were inside talking. I was explaining to her how comedians are in the Talmud and all that, and uh, and uh and it was it was it was great. And uh what does your mom have to say about it? Well, hold on. So she oh I it was great that she quoted she quoted Donnie Moss, who was the person.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she got good quotes from people.

SPEAKER_02:

Great quotes. She got great quote from Donnie Moss, who was the person that because of him, I'm doing comedy. He said, Go do this on stage. Gav, a rabbi, got Gabriel Bellino from the Sixth Street Synagogue, and Joe Lieberman.

SPEAKER_01:

Not really a quote from me, though. There's one quote about you being a high-functioning bisexual. That was basically uh that was your only quote, yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Um, but but she got Joe Lieberman, she watched the Joe Lieberman roast. Yeah, and so she took a quote from Joe Lieberman.

SPEAKER_01:

A post-mortem how would you describe a quote from a dead person? I just love the show. She said that it was a huge thing for her to fight to get it in there. Right. That her editor didn't want to quote a dead person, but it's on video. It's on video.

SPEAKER_02:

It was so great to see that. Uh my my mom still hasn't read the whole article through.

SPEAKER_01:

I gifted her a free New York Times article.

SPEAKER_02:

So she opened up. So she opened up and then she closed it.

SPEAKER_01:

So I'll resend her.

SPEAKER_02:

You have to resend it to her. Why didn't you tell me? She called she goes, why do they call you Mr. Rosenfeld? I said to her, that's the way it's the AP style. A P style. That's the way but like if they do a story about Madonna O'Cher, I think they would do Madonna O'Cher. They wouldn't say what Madonna's last name is.

SPEAKER_01:

Um I feel a little bit like well, I'll go I'll get back to you on that. I do think um Madonna and Cher are outliers. What's Cher's last Cher's last name?

SPEAKER_02:

Berkowitz.

unknown:

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02:

And Madonna's is Machanohovich.

SPEAKER_01:

Speaking of podcasts and Madonna, did you listen to the whole episode of the podcast she did talking about Kabbalah?

SPEAKER_02:

It was so good. I listened to the Madonna podcast on um Jay Shaw's podcast. Jay Shaw's podcast. And she also Eitan Yardeni, who was my teacher at the Kabbala Center for a very short time. Hearing his voice was so much fun. I remember his voice. Lack. I remember his voice.

SPEAKER_00:

A time of lack emptiness. So traumatic. Void. Your competition. Your compassion. Your abandonment issues when he is one of the that turned into Schwarzenegger at the end. I didn't mean to. It becomes a little Schwarzenegger. A little Israeli Schwarzenegger.

SPEAKER_01:

Israeli meet Schwarzenegger.

SPEAKER_02:

That's how he sounds it's it's so so the the teachers at the Kabala Center that are Israeli actually have good grammar. So the accent is not it's not not bad grammar. They speak English, but with an Israeli accent, but the grammar's good. So so it's it's it makes it easier to follow. He speaks English with an Israeli accent. Not like people put English words.

SPEAKER_01:

Is very dramatic.

SPEAKER_02:

Felt like they were putting reverb on the because it was they weren't reverb. They were just like banana, banana. But it was like very just his voice. It's just his voice, I guess, was doing that. Yeah, but she it was a she shone. She shined. She shined. She shined. She was Madonna, she killed it, and she's explaining like it was a it's a lot of the stuff that you always repeat and talk about. It's everything. It's everything I always repeat. I learned so much in the Kabbalah Center. You it's it's unbelievable. And she she she came out and like you know, it's oh you always hear she's a she goes to the Kabbalah Center, but she blatantly goes, I am a student of the Kabbalah Center, and this is my journey, and this is what I did, and this is what I'm learning constantly and and doing it. And and um and and it's it was amazing. It was amazing. It's you know, you know what's really funny, and I've obviously it's funny because before the article came out, I quoted Rav Berg from the Kabbalah Center about Apikorsum with when we had Steve Eisenman on the podcast um um saying that Apicorsim is somebody that believes in coincidence, and there's no coincidence two years ago today. We were staying at the Satai Hotel with and staying at the hotel at the same time was my Michaelberg and his family. He is now the head of the Kabbalah Center, yeah, and I'm assuming Etanyardeni's teacher or whatever he's up there too, you know. And um and two years ago we were staying at the hotel with them, which is crazy. Yeah, it's it it there's no coincidence.

SPEAKER_01:

And um the thing that she said that I kind of felt uh resonated with me was when she was talking about her talent, yeah, and how it shifted, everything shifted once she stopped. I I mean I forget how she worded it, but basically stop thinking that you are and own the talent, but you are just a vessel, you're just stewarding the talent, you are a vessel for the talent that is being lent to you by a higher power for the time being, and you are to manage it and bring it into the world, but it's not yours, and that's something you always say.

SPEAKER_02:

Always say that the anything that comes out of my mouth, anything that's funny is a gift that God gave me. It's called an Ibu. There's a moment of just God gave you like here's a little something, and so your talent is is in this vessel called Modi, right? And whenever you see a talent, you know, like um, there's always the what what what what if someone's a big like well someone was recently talking about Woody Allen, that they're in in awe at how great his talent is to make those movies and comedy, but he's what they think whatever the that's the the the the vessel came in in the gift is in Woody Allen. What whether you appreciate the vessel or something else, it's great when they both line up together. Well, that's why they say don't meet your idols. Right. And um, and the fact that you're calling them an idol is a is a problem. But that's just the phrase. I know, but but if you know, if the person that that the the the God put this gift in is an amazing person too, then even better. So God put the gift in Madonna, and then he gave her the cabal to to hone that she doesn't got a control because many she credits it to saving her life a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01:

And you see other artists like her like compares to she compares, you know, she um draws the line to uh what happened to Michael Jackson and Prince and a lot of her contemporary spears and all of that stuff. She says the only thing that keep kept her grounded was Kabbalah.

SPEAKER_02:

But it but the the the the talent and the gift when it's someone as a singer, a comedian, a drummer, a piano player, obviously it's obvious. But then there's gifts like with you, able to organize, able to to put together a show, to produce a show. That's that's also a gift. That's also a gift. People have gifts in them, and you know it's it's not just the three blatant gifts, but that was one of the things I always say that that you are you're a vessel for a gift that God put on earth, and hopefully you find out what what the what what what that gift is and and and you shine with it. And that but that the the interview was amazing. It was absolutely everything I've learned there at the cabbala center what was taught there. Unbelievable. She really it was an amazing, amazing. I saw her at the cabala center once. So when you when you and I met, it was 2015. My first time at the Kabbalah Center was 2004. Okay. I I'd been there. But in LA. No, here in New York. And then I went to LA and I went to the Kabbalah Center there, where everybody was, you know, with where the the heads of the Kabbalah Center were. The Rav was there and Michaelberg and Yehuda Berg and Karen Berg and and all of that. And they were um and all the celebrities. But but but but I wasn't there for the celebrities, and I wasn't there to to to get a connection in the show business. I was the stuff they were teaching was unbelievable. And when you are in a um But then when I came to New York, you took me to the center. So I was kind of like coming, I I was coming out of the cabal. I'm like, oh, you know what? I received a lot here, and now I need to go and implement it. Implement it.

SPEAKER_01:

And just I can't be in an echo chamber talking about it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes. Well, luckily, yeah. And but I did bring you to a Purim event at the cabal, and you saw you saw Madonna, and you're like, oh wow, wow, that's Madonna. Okay. And then we left, and you with your all your Catholic trauma titles. That's enough of that, by the way. That's enough of of whatever was going on there. I don't need to be seeing Hebrew letters on a screen and hearing about the light and God. No, like no, no, but you didn't take me out. But I was I was already on my I was like, I'm good.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm good. But you phrase it in a way that was interesting to me the other day because you said you were there from 2000 when you started, 2000.

SPEAKER_02:

2004 was like when I began, I took a class here and there.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, there's it's something to be said about because it's not a religion, Kabbalah. It's a framework for spirituality, but it's not a religion. So I think it's interesting how you said it, like that you had to kind of step away in order to see if the tools that you received from it are actually usable or that you can find ways to implement them. Otherwise, it just becomes sort of like a womb, like of an echo chamber of people who are the same. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02:

That was my journey with it. That was my kind of journey journey with it. You know, my my my that was my I I had like you know the more religious teaching with the Lababach Yeshiva, and then um my my own teaching, you know, my my living that and then when the cabal center came in, it like it and then I had my kind of spiritual awakening with Dr. Wayne Dyer, so it went kind of like yeshiva, Dr. Wayne Dyer, and spirituality and seeing and that, and believe me, I wouldn't have been able to figure out Dr. Wayne Dyer unless I had that other stuff in me. No, the cabal was after that, and it was all linked, you know. And then the cabal, the lessons of of the of the reasons why I'm doing the things I'm doing was unbelievable. The technology, seeing it as technology rather than just something that you do. And um, I still and I I I read the books once in a while that are amazing, and um it's it was so great. And Madonna just gave it over, like wow.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and she well, to her credit, she didn't make it sound like some woo-woo thing.

SPEAKER_00:

She gave it over in very practical, like tangible terms, and then she put A ton on, and he's just does he's just you have to implement implementing the lesson from your childhood, where whether it's abandonment, no, it's it's it's just lists, it's it's a matter of lack, emptiness.

SPEAKER_02:

He really sits on the he sits on the note, he's amazing. He and he's a he's his I'm gonna tell you an eight on your Denny story that is so funny. So in the Kabbalah class, they were like the the the the wit of the weekly portion. So uh he would give the class and a packed house. And there's some celebrities sprinkled here and there, sometimes Madonna, sometimes not Madonna. And and uh you're reading the text, which is in Aramaic, the Zohar is in Aramaic, and the translation he has is in Hebrew, and now he's teaching it in English. And he knew who were the Israelis in the room were, and he thought that we would always be able to help him translate a word that he wasn't sure would be the word. One time he was fixated and stuck on a word, and it was either habituation or uh uh habitat or habit ha it was hab and something else, habitual or habitation, or he didn't know what it was. And he kept asking me, he goes, Well, the how do you say uh habitu hab habilit habitu I don't know, and then he goes from the the word in Hebrew, whatever the hawka ha. I got I don't know that word either. I I don't know, but he kept going at it and going at and I said to him, Eitan, life is not that difficult. You wake up, you have a coffee, you go to the bathroom, you have three meals, and you do it all again. It's all it's just that and everybody just cracked up because he was like stuck, it was fixated on this world. But that was like the environment, you could have a good time and laugh with them, and I will tell. You no one laughs harder than Karen Berg. She was she's the the the mother of Yehuda and Michael, and she was whenever she was whenever whenever I performed there, she I have pictures of her laughing uncontrollably. She had such an amazing sense of humor, and it was just it was great to do those shows, and it was such a big part of my life, and it was great. And just Madonna really nailed it. Just good for her. That was all I could say. I'm just so happy to have heard that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It's a good listen. I'll link it too.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, link that in. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So it's October.

SPEAKER_02:

It's October, and we're about to go crazy on the road.

SPEAKER_01:

Um, how do you feel about the hour that you're gonna be dictating in December?

SPEAKER_02:

I'm ready. Everything is there. It's 94 96% set. I keep coming up with little extra tidbits and lines, and as you see me, I'm rehearsing the stuff all the time in my head, and then getting on stage and doing it. And um and uh last night You did a pop-up show unadvertised. Unadvertised, incognito. Those of you know in the five towns there was a cheese store. When I was growing up in the five towns on Central Avenue. It's always been a cheese store? It's always been a cheese store. And no one ever went into. It was a cheese store. It was on the corner of Central Avenue and Cedarhurst. Okay, and it's a cheese store, and you just walked by and you just saw cheeses hanging there and cheeses on shelves, and uh who the hell? You we had in the house cottage cheese and cream cheese. That was it. There was no cheeses, breeze, and whatever the hell it was. And so Dove Newberger uh says, I'm doing a pop-up show there. I'm like, perfect. I need a few minutes of working out material without me having to sell tickets and advertise and all that. Packed. So it's it's not a cheese store anymore. Now it's like a it's a dairy restaurant. Okay, and it's he packed it in. It was like I'm I'm I think 150, if not 200 people there. Wow. Packed and they were so happy, and they were so and great to just they were grateful that there's a show going on. The night before, Mochi Shaba Saturday night, there was a show. He said it was amazing. They kept talking about how great that audience was, it was so much better than this audience. And then um, so he just introduced me out of nowhere. The the place went nuts. After the show, people said, I had a feeling you were gonna be here because you spoke about it on the podcast, telling Doby to let you know when there was the next pop-up show. Oh, so they kind of like knew, you know.

SPEAKER_01:

Another reason to listen to the podcast. Honestly, we drop all sorts of tidbits on here. If you put on your detective hat, you could yeah, like for example, if you were to go to your website, modilive.com, and scroll through your dates and hit April 23rd, it doesn't say the venue. No, but it gives you the option to sign up for when tickets at that venue go on sale, which is gonna be October 28th that and through the 31st. Right.

SPEAKER_02:

So I don't know when this is actually coming out. This is coming out next week. Well, I can yeah, yeah. And just as you know, we we're not allowed to discuss on on counsel of our agent and manager, we're not we're not allowed to talk about the fact that we have a show in Radio City Music Hall on April 23rd, 2026. And the tickets are going on sale on October 28th. So those of you put that in your calendar, get the tickets.

SPEAKER_01:

If you're ever watching this in the New York area and you're like, I always miss Modi. When is he gonna be here? Go to the website now, uh, select April 23rd and put your email and your tech and your phone number. We're only gonna bother you when the show goes on sale. We're not gonna send you extra stuff, and then you'll be the first to know when you can buy tickets to Radio City because don't complain when all the good seats are taken. Uh, and there's are you gonna open up more seats? Are you doing another show? Just get your tickets when they go on sale.

SPEAKER_02:

And we were there, we did some promo pictures there, and they were so much fun. The place is insane, it's beautiful. They just put a new sounds.

SPEAKER_01:

One show there. Mateo Lane.

SPEAKER_02:

I've seen other shows, I just forgot which ones.

SPEAKER_01:

I haven't seen like the Rockettes or anything, which is the Roquettes are why, because typically you do your big New York play in December. Um, it's been historically like a Christmas Eve show, then it turned into like a Hanukkah kind of time show. And then, but now because the Rockettes have the place booked from like October through end of December, yeah, or into January, I think, it's just Roquettes. Right. So we had to do your show in April. So it's okay, we'll adjust.

SPEAKER_02:

We'll adjust and it'll be great, and people will uh we'll get the tickets there. And again, it's it's a weekend in New York if you want. So Thursday nights, you make a weekend out of it in New York. Um, and I cannot wait for that show. That show is a whole other show that that's like in my mind, I'm going through the hour for the taping, and then also the stuff that's afterwards.

SPEAKER_01:

The taping, which is dis December 10 and 11 in Atlanta that you can buy tickets for. Yes. And it's fun to come to a taping. You get to see kind of like how the sausage is made. Speaking of sausage, or at least hot dogs, go ahead, do it. We'd like to thank our sponsors, AH uh Provisions, Delicious Glott Kosher Meets and Treats. Uh, you can visit them at kosher dogs.net. And if you use promo code Modi, you'll get 30% off of your first order. Uh, we'd also like to thank Whites and Luxembourg, the law firm that not only does well, they do good, super philanthropic, including supporting this podcast. This studio doesn't pay for itself. There's a lot of equipment here uh and someone working it. Uh uh whitesandlux.com. Uh thank you, Arthur, and thank you, Randy, for listening. His wife who listens to the podcast and lets Arthur know what we discussed.

SPEAKER_02:

Good gezook. Well done. Oh, see? Wow, we got that done. Got it. Um, and that that's basically it. We have shows coming up in Europe that we're super excited about. Um all markets we're revisiting.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, hold on. Yes. Um Vienna, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris. Paris. The last time we did Paris was the week of after October 7th.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. That's we're literally two years later.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So it's gonna be a different vibe to say the least. But come come celebrate that in Paris.

SPEAKER_02:

The last time we were in Paris, the shows I we were in the back of the room watching people on their phones watching hostages being taken away. And now we're back in Paris. Um, and oh two years later, and the hostages have been returned. Thank you, Hashem. And um, and it's just it's gonna be a different vibe. And again, if you need to make a weekend in Paris, this is a good reason. Also, Vienna and Berlin, I cannot wait. I cannot we're we are performing in Berlin in this massive synagogue that used to house the horses of the Nazis. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, probably. And now we're doing a comedy show there. I mean, that's Mashirch Energy. And Vienna's Vienna, we're going back. We have a beautiful, we have friends there now. We have we have uh an audience there that that's wonderful. And um, and and uh what's the other one? Amsterdam. That's gonna be fun too. That's with the last time we were there, we were at a comedy club, now we're in a theater, and uh Meshirch Energy, all those shows are gonna be unbelievable.

SPEAKER_01:

But take a look at our calendar, modulive.com, and at the top, uh you can also sign up to be notified if we add shows in your geographic area so you can catch us on the road.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that good? Or we did we did we do good? No, no, we covered a lot.

SPEAKER_02:

We did Madonna, we didn't Madonna, we did Diane of Tines, we did Dan Bon Furstenburg, we did a show in um a show five towns. So much fun. I cannot tell you how much fun those are. I know you have a good time at the time.

SPEAKER_01:

I have such a good time. I had a great time too. I went to bed at like 7 30 p.m. last night.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, but I I came home. You were you were in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I housing at like 11 o'clock.

SPEAKER_02:

And Leo puts in an order at for Instacart. The house now is full of food.

SPEAKER_01:

It's not full of food, it's like so much.

SPEAKER_02:

It's like almond milk and eggs. I figured I'm gonna come in and you're gonna be sleeping. I come in, you are in shorts, in the bathroom, in the in the in the kitchen, just everything's open. You're just digging into everything, and it was I was grazing. No, but you it it's like a sleep when you wake up in the middle of a sleep. Yeah, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Sometimes I wake up and I'm like ravenous.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. My mom used to do that. My mom used to wake up in the middle of the night, just go down and says and house food. Just yeah, it's not a good habit. Yeah. All right. Anyway, on that note on that note, get tickets, modulive.com, be the friend that brings the friends to the comedy show. That is Mashir Energy. Mashir Merch is on on the uh it's linked on the website.

SPEAKER_01:

Also, there's its own standalone website, mashirchenergy.com.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, and the the vibe for this year, this upcoming Jewish year and the year of man for everybody, is to discuss and bring Meshir to the forefront in the conversation. Even if you don't talk about it when you leave, just go bye, Mashiach Energy. Just to mention Meshir in in that in that and those of you who are probably having a problem with the words mo, like mo Larry, and curly mo, she, like the pronoun she, mo she. If you got that, you're already almost there. And then ah. I got it. Ah.

SPEAKER_01:

You can go ah, mo shiach. Oh, I I want to plug uh the October 22nd event at the 92nd Street Y. Modi will be doing a live podcast taping with actress, producer, everything, multi-hyphenate, Deborah Messing. Um, the in-person tickets are sold out, and we will not be releasing more, unfortunately. However, you can register to have access to the live stream, and that's fun. And I think the link gives you like 48 or 72 hours afterwards to watch it as well if you can't watch it live. Um, all of that money goes to the 92nd Street Y, which is a great New York City institution. Um, and they do beautiful events, and they're partnering with us for this uh on October 22nd. So that's also on your website.

SPEAKER_02:

That's it.

SPEAKER_01:

And be the friend who brings the friend.

SPEAKER_02:

Be the friend that brings the friends to the comedy show or a comedy event or comedy taping or comedy podcast. Just bring your friends to something fun. Yeah that creates machiach energy. On that note, machiach energy and goodbye.