Our Mission

/yĭd’līf krī’sĭs/

the identity crisis one has reconciling their old world inheritance with their new world lifestyle.

The Three Pillars of YidLife Crisis

YidLife Crisis is a Yiddish comedy web series and Jewish cultural brand created by two friends, Eli Batalion and Jamie Elman, wanting to pay homage to the yiddishkayt in their upbringing and the Jewish comedic lens on life with which they were raised.

With the initial support of the Shaping our Future Grants and the Bronfman Fellowships, they created “YidLife Crisis” as a love letter about modern Jewish identity, set mostly in Yiddish,  making Jewish identity inclusive to all through the ice-breaking power of comedy.

What started as a passion project turned into a hit with over 3,000,000 video views and 30,000 subscribers, global press, awards and accolades, appearances and shoots around the world, the collaboration of talent such as Mayim Bialik and Howie Mandel, and a chance to work with various organizations from Jewish community centers through academic institutions through comedy festivals.

YidLife Crisis has grown from a fictional web series to all sorts of digital content, from their Global Shtetl docu-series all about Jewish life in all corners of the world through their feature length documentary CHEWDAISM: A Taste of Jewish Montreal to other assorted Yidshtick.

Behind the comedy of YidLife Crisis lies a strategy: in a world of unaffiliated “Pew Jews,” YidLife impacts through the scale of the internet to engage a digital generation in Jewish identity. This is done through storytelling and content with style and authenticity, not advertising or persuasion, with an open-mind and a collaborative spirit.