Jewish Writers Institute

Alexandra Zahav

Alexandra Zahav is an actor, writer, director. She judges the top screenwriting competitions and coaches screenwriters, as well as facilitates Jewish spiritual dance workshops. She has spent over a decade focused on seeking knowledge and understanding of self, others, and God, and chasing ever-elusive wisdom.

Miriam Anzovin

Miriam Anzovin is a visual artist, writer, content creator, and massive Jewish nerd, exploring the juxtaposition of pop culture, nerd culture, and Jewish culture.
Her comedic, yet heartfelt, short-form videos on Jewish text learning, particularly of the Talmud in the Daf Reactions Project, include her authentic reactions from her perspective of a formerly Orthodox, now secular, Millennial feminist. She exists at the intersection of Sefaria and Sephora, and also in some people’s minds, where she lives rent free.

Frieda Vizel

Frieda Vizel grew up in the Satmar Hasidic community of Kiryas Joel. Although she left the fold in her twenties, she continues to connect with the Orthodox Jewish community through her work as a Brooklyn tour guide and Youtuber. Her lively Youtube channel explores Hasidic life through interviews, street visits, analysis, food, holidays, and more.

Alan Niku

Alan Niku is a writer and MFA filmmaker from the only Persian-Kurdish-Assyrian-Jewish family in San Luis Obispo, California. He has written and directed comedic shorts, music videos, mockumentaries, and a Bollywood-style action flick shot in the back-alleys of LA. His dozen feature and TV pilot scripts are, in the words of his grandmother, “get that computer out of my face, weirdo.”