🎙️Episode 14: Melinda Strauss, Jewish advocate, food blogger, author and influencer. (Phew!)

This week on Jewish Grit, we sit down with Melinda Strauss, a cookbook author and Jewish advocate. She uses her voice to educate the masses on what it is to be Jewish, inspire Jewish people all over the world, and combat anti-semitism. You'll hear how she started her business, Combat Hate, and how she wrote her cookbook, a 2-year process. Listen this week on Jewish Grit. [music] Hi Melinda. >> Hello. It's so nice to see you. >> I know. >> U for those who don't know, we're very good friends >> for a long time. >> Melinda, can you share for those who do not know you what you do and what you're really passionate about? >> Sure. So, my name is Melinda Strauss and I am the real Melinda Strauss on social media, not the fake one. And I have been using Tik Tok specifically, but social media to uh focus on Jewish education for the last five years. And then before that, I was a food blogger. So I've definitely been through a lot of different versions of myself. But all of them just the main goal is connecting with people and sharing. And now I'm a a cookbook author also. I'm a author, which is incredible. So my book is Eat Jewish. And that came out just a few months ago. So I have on Tik Tok 1.5 million followers. And then I also love Instagram. I'll never leave it behind. I have around 255,000. At the beginning, actually, it was Twitter and Facebook. And then as the apps started, I started joining all of them, Pinterest, and then Instagram. And then when Tik Tok started, I was like, "That's the next one. Let's join it." Because that's to me how I feel like you should always be hopping on these trends and seeing if you can connect with them. I started with a WordPress blog like really a long time. I still have it. Uh, now it's melindastraouse.com, but before it was kitchen tested and I would test recipes and share everything was kosher and it wasn't what I was specifically focusing on. And really my focus was just sharing and having fun with recipes and wanting people to get out of their comfort zone. That was kind of my big goal, which really works because I think it's always my goal is just to push people to try something new. And then when Tik Tok started, I joined it and was like, what do I do on this platform? And when I would share, I don't know, I would like share that I'm getting off for Sabbath and people be like, "What's Sabbath?" Or I would share that I was eating something and they'd be like, "What's kosher?" And I realized that there were so many people who don't know anything about being Jewish. And that's not just non-Jews, but Jews also. It started out actually mostly with non-Jewish people. And then as I started sharing and answering questions, more Jewish people were joining and going, I didn't know any of these things. This is so cool. So they started asking questions. And I love to answer questions. that's really like my main thing and the more they ask the more I want to answer them and that's where the growth really happened and it's kind of where I found myself. It was always just like throwing things out into the wind and seeing what would take off and just having fun and with the Jewish education that's where I found like the real guts of the connection. >> Wow. >> Yeah. >> So, let's talk about prior to October 7th and post October 7th because I think that's really where your advocacy started. What was that like? >> So, before October 7th I was still Jewish advocacy really. I didn't consider advocacy. I was just to not just, but I was an educator on Jewish life, specifically Orthodox and modern Orthodox, and really like challenging people to understand more about who we were without obviously trying to change make them Jewish because that's never been ever the goal as Jews, but just for people to understand us because I believe that a lot of the hate in the world, or let's be real, most of the hate comes from ignorance. The minute they know you, they start realizing even if they don't agree with you, that they can tolerate you. And that's fine. Tolerance is all we're looking for. just being able to be side by side with someone even when you don't agree and just you live, I live. We're happy, we're good. >> And I was I was going to Israel. I was living my Jewish life. I was doing all those things and sharing them. So that was just what I did. It never felt like advocacy. It just felt like who I was. And then after October 7th, it went next level because it wasn't just me doing this in my own little platform, my own world, but this whole community started, right? all these advocates were coming out of nowhere, which is incredible because how many people realized they needed to start using their voices and so there became more Jewish educators and more people just proudly sharing about Judaism and people wearing their Star of Davids and making videos about it because they realized we need to show up. We need to be louder for each other. So to me, it never felt like my advocacy started after October 7th. It just took on a new role and a new a bigger stronger voice. I think one of the things that prevent others from being an advocate or using their voice. Um, especially in today's day and age is is safety. >> So, have you ever had safety concerns or has your husband ever been like, "Hey, Melinda, keep like >> I should probably have more safety concerns." I do have filters in place for my address, phone numbers, the schools that my kids go to, all those things. I have filters for them. >> What does that mean? It means that on Instagram and on Tik Tok, you can create filters and it's words that if people type them, they don't come out in the comments. They go right into a filtered section. So, I can delete them. I can block those people. I can do whatever I want with them, but no one will see their comments. So, if somebody types in the school my kids go to, you'll never see that. Even their sleepaway camp is there. So, if somebody says, "Oh, hey, did your kids go to?" That comment will just go right into the filter so no one sees it. >> That's so interesting. and and social media a lot like has that type of >> everyone should do I don't care how small you are >> make filters for that kind of thing reality is if somebody's desperate to find you they'll find you but I'm not going to make it easy for them so at least on the platforms that I'm using regularly if somebody were to type in personal information like some people if you work out of the office and you're also a blogger or you work excuse me in an office put wherever you work in the filtered section so that somebody doesn't try to dox you people would do what they do there's a lot of hate but I'm just not going to make it easy for them to do it. >> Right. I hear that. >> Can you share with us one like crazy story that you had to deal with? Um could be anti-semitism. It could be um hateful. It could just be a challenge that you went through that you really had to really tap into yourself to get through. >> So I pre-occtober 7th I posted a video that was getting a lot of Holocaust jokes and I took a random comment just any one of the comments and I made a video about it. I get on Facebook a message. Thank god I was checking my messages because I don't often check them. And it was parents and they were like, "Hey, we really need you to take down that video. You use our son's comment and people are going and calling. They found out where he goes to school and he was in high school and they're calling his school and trying to get him kicked out of school because of his Holocaust joke." And I said to them, "I will take it down. I'm gonna put it back up and I'm gonna cover his name because it was a really important video and it was getting a lot of traction and conversation about the joke he was making. The kid comes on to the chat and we're talking and he's like, "I'm so sorry. I just got caught up in the jokes." He's like, "I really don't hate Jews. I just they were funny jokes because sometimes Holocaust jokes can feel funny. They can be funny. Some Jews make them, too, but they're not the kind of thing that you post online." And I took down the video cuz I was back and forth. I'm like, "Well, you made the mistake and I'm going to leave it up and you're going to be punished for it." But then I was like, "He's in high school. He made a mistake. I left it alone." So, I took it down and reposted it just covered his name and but it was nice like the parents came on. I had a whole conversation with them. They told me how they're punishing him [laughter] this whole thing. And I realized from that that I want to make sure that students always know or kids always know whatever you put out there, it's it's out there. Once it's out, it's out. People can screenshot it just because it gets deleted. like it's always going to be out there. Our our footprint is out there. And it's also a lesson for someone who's a blogger. Like it's okay, >> great, the video is getting a lot of views. Take it down. >> It's okay to sometimes take a video down and redo it for the sake of, >> you know, people's sanity and their safety. >> So Monza, as you were growing this advocacy piece, >> you also wrote your first cookbook. I did. >> How did that come out? Like how did your baby be born? How [laughter] was how was she born? Eat chewish because it's really because of Tik Tok which is so cool to me because I was a food blogger for a long time and I never thought about writing a book. I have all these friends who've written books and I was never something where I went this is my dream. >> It would be cool if I ever wrote one but what would I write about was always what I would say. And then when I started sharing on TikTok and I sh started with this advocacy and sharing about Judaism and showing how Jews and non-Jews can come together and just respect each other. I realized that I could also do that through food. >> So, I've been doing that and sharing recipes and every single Friday I share what I made for Shabas and all these things. And then in one video, I said if I ever Norah's broccoli was like a whole thing that my following had created the name for and just because it was the only thing Norah would eat at the time and I made her recipe and I made like a million times and I was like, you know, one day if I ever have a cookbook, I'm going to put Nor's recipe into it. Nor's broccoli in. And someone reached out to me and she's like, I have a friend who's an agent. can I introduce you guys? So, I did all my homework to make sure that, you know, she wasn't a crazy person. She was not. Met her friend who's an agent and we hit it off and that was it. Like, it was to me it just felt so simple and easy. I'm not the kind of person who needs to shop around a lot. Like, I tried on four wedding dresses and I was happy. Like, I don't need to try on a 100 wedding dresses. I didn't need to date a 100 guys in order to make sure I had the right one. Like, when it fit, it fit. when I go shopping for couches. I know I just went from husbands to couches, but [laughter] if it's comfortable and it's cute, I don't need to keep shopping to find one that's better, right? So, I found Joe and he he's amazing. So, it wasn't just like settling. >> Yeah. >> And that was it. And then we started, you know, reaching out to publishers and going through the >> very lengthy process of getting an agent or getting, excuse me, a publisher for the publisher. >> Yeah. So, talk to me about what it's like to write a cookbook. Like, what goes into it? >> There's so much. [laughter] I will say the hardest part was editing. Um, even then, even with all the editing, still finding mistakes in the book that we're going to fix. Like, it's always going to be there and you have to be okay with it not being perfect. >> Do I love everything? Do I love every picture? I'm not going to tell you which one's my least favorite. We're working on it. But, >> it's also accepting that you're going to put out something beautiful and everything isn't going to be perfect. like right >> just like you know with business like you're growing a business and >> along the way there's going to be mistakes and there's going to be things you have to learn and grow from but it's still going to be amazing. >> Yeah. >> So yeah it's it's a process but I'm proud of her. >> So how does your everyday life inspire you in your Jewish life? >> Me being a Jew is the number one thing that leads everything in my life. Every choice that I make. Even when I wake up in the morning, it used to be when I first started kind of manifesting, I would write down 10 things I was grateful for every morning. And then one day it hit me that I was writing all these things down, but I wasn't saying modi. I wasn't saying the actual morning prayer, thanking God for my eyes opening, for me waking up, for my soul returning to me, like all these beautiful things that come with modani. I wasn't even saying that. So it hit me that Judaism and all those things are what what guide me. So I wake up in the morning, I say mod ani, I still think about the things I'm grateful for, but they're the good things that come right after, >> right? So even when I think about all the things that I share on my platform, I share beauty because I love sharing about beauty. I've always shared food. I share just inspiration for things going on in my life that if I'm thinking it, other people are thinking it, too. So I'll I'll say it to connect. All of that is about me being Jewish. Like I was trying to think of it the other day. I was like, well, what am I? Am I a food blogger? Am I a cookbook author? Am I a this? Am I a that? I'm all of those things, but I'm a Jew. So, all of those things are under the umbrella of me being Jewish. Every choice I make, every single choice I make during the day is led by me being Jewish. We don't always think about that as Jews, whatever level of religion. That's what I think is so like amazing about this concept is that you could be traditionally Jewish, secular Jew, who >> but if you actually take the time to think about the choices you make, you're making them because you're Jewish. you're making them because of your history. Maybe it's your trauma. Maybe it's something with the way you were raised, but all of our choices end up being because we're Jewish. >> So, I guess that leads me to my next question is um mentorship, right? Mentorship is very important. >> The best. >> Yeah, it really is. So, have you had what type of mentors have you had and how have they supported you through this journey? >> It's changed along the way. It really has. Like I would even put you into that category of certain times >> but there are certain times for sure where like we lean on each other even right to be able to mentor and get help from each other in different ways especially in business which is something that you excel at and at the beginning for me it was mentors in the food blogging world. So Leia Shapi uh who is amazing Jamie Geller Naomi Noman's been a huge mentor for me people who are in this industry who can help me focus. I remember Leia Shapiro saying to me from Between Carpools saying to me really really early on, you know, you could be making some money from this, right? It's time. And I'm like, you could make money from blogging. [laughter] I had no idea. It wasn't why I had started doing it. [snorts] And when she said that, it shifted something. It was like, oh, I could really make a business out of this. And with it is passion because and I love that I started it not just to make money, but heck yeah, you can really make social media into a business. And so Leia saying that as my mentor was like, okay, thank you. So, there's been a lot of different mentors along the way, and it's changed. At one point, I even hired and paid a mentor, somebody to help me really more with focusing on how to have dreams and goals because I didn't know you could have those, which sounds a little crazy me when I say it now, but every time I would think of a dream for myself, I would be like, "No, no, that's really stupid." And I would like dismiss it. >> And so, I hired someone to be a business coach. And he really helped me. He was, it's not therapy. He literally was like, "If you need therapy, I'll tell you." I was like, "Thank you." But he really helped me to understand that you can have the biggest dreams, no matter how crazy they sound in your head, and you got to say them out loud. You have to say them out loud. You need to get them out of your brain because otherwise you will keep telling yourself they're not real. >> And that was worth every penny because that's what we built from from was me realizing that I could have those dreams because I always set myself down as keep things small. >> Interesting. >> Keep it small so you can reach the the goals. I I had goals, but they were always little. They were little bits here and there because I just felt like, okay, you reach it and then you go to the next one. It was never something massive and great. And I'm still and I will hopefully reach for it my entire life. And then as it and I've learned from it that getting to your dreams is going to go in a million different directions >> and you're not always going to know what how you get there. You're going to think that you're not reaching them because you went this way instead of that way. But then when you really take like a wider lens, you zoom out, you realize you're still going for it in a totally different way, which is like I think Tik Tok did that for me. It was this huge shift in the direction I was going in, but it didn't change my dreams, just changed how I get to my dreams, which I think is so cool. Just being open to totally different things. >> Having a mentor, that's a huge part of that. >> They help you when you set set limits on yourself, >> right? It's a big help. And finding a mentor can be a challenge, right? So that's where it becomes who do you talk to? And that's where by the way community we talked about at the way beginning. It's when you build your community of people who are like-minded. They don't have to think the same on everything. It's important you don't think the same on everything. But by building your community, especially with other Jews who who religiously think different, who politically think different, who look different, who act different, all these different things, you start finding similarities in that. And with that, you can sometimes find someone who you can trust wholeheartedly to just be your mentor. >> What makes you most proud to be Jewish? >> Well, we've been talking about it this entire time, but the community. >> Yeah. >> Thousand%. It's being a part of something so much bigger than myself and having people in your life who support you, who challenge you, and and it's so cool to be Jewish. Like I said one time, I feel so lucky to be Jewish. And someone's like, it's not luck, right? We make this happen for ourselves. You could be born Jewish and have nothing to do with the Jewish world. So from that point, yeah, you're lucky you're born Jewish if you're somebody who's part of that. But >> they somebody said it's not luck. It's so much more than that. Like you make your community. But that is my favorite part about being Jewish. No matter where you go in the world, you will find another Jew and you will have someone in common because Jewish geography is elite. It is the best thing ever. Literally on an airplane with random people and you're like, "Oh, we have a person in common." And it's never like two people away. like you always have that one person in common no matter what. And that is the most powerful thing for me about being Jewish. >> Melinda, thank you so much for joining. This >> is so fun. >> This was so fun. I I feel like you gain you gave us such great insight into just who you are, where you've come from, and you know, the world as it is on social media. >> Yeah, just be proud to be Jewish. It's something to be proud of, not something to hide. >> Thank you for listening to Jewish Grit, an OM [music] mentorship podcast. At OM mentorship, we believe that everyone needs a mentor. What better way is there [music] to tap into your personal and professional potential than with a Jewish mentor at your side? Learn more at olami.org/metorship. Don't forget to keep listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.