Meet the Cast

Alex Chester is an actor and the Editor in Chief of the online magazine Mixed Asian Media and the Director of Mixed Asian Media Fest www.MixedAsianMedia.com. Some favorite theatre credits include Broadway’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas'' Minnie Fay in “Hello Dolly'' with National Asian Artist Project, and Logainne SchwartzandGrubinare in “Spelling Bee” at Fire Island Pines Art Project. TV credits include “The Good Fight,” “New Amsterdam,” “The Closer,” and “ER,” as well as national commercials such as “Samsung/Verizon.” “Popeyes,” “HM,” and “UPS." www.AlexChester.com @AlexFChester

Alyssa Naka Silver (She/hers) was born and raised in rural MA, and is now a senior at NYU Tisch Drama. She is a proud Hapa of Japanese and Jewish/White descent. She’s an actress, singer, mover, and writer. Alyssa is one of the founder’s of Tisch’s All Asian Arts Alliance, and she’s passionate about Asian representation along with exploring what it means to be mixed race.

Bekkah 趙慧英 Scharf is an environmental educator, lifelong learner, and creative who was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area (Ohlone lands). Her art and writing explores themes of food, nature, identity, and social justice. She is both Ashkenazi Jewish AND Chinese-American. Fun fact- Bekkah’s great-grandfather was a “paper son” (紙兒子), an undocumented immigrant from Toisan (台山), China.

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann is a graduate student in environmental science living in the SF Bay area. They are Thai-Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish (via Brazil), and grew up in Orange County in Southern California, where they attended Jewish day school. Their Jewish practice is reconstructionist, but they are interested in many aspects of Jewish culture, including the history of Jewish mysticism and Jewish involvement in contemporary and historical movements for justice. Their broader interests include historical ecology, music criticism, and cooking.

Lee Harris is a native of California and currently lives in the Deep South. He considers himself to be a Non-binary Balabusta. He finds creating a home environment that is inclusive of his Filipinx culture is very important for his three biracial children. He also helps with PJ LIBRARY ARKANSAS social media page. During Lee's downtime away from homeschooling, you can find him perfecting his challah recipe or reading a well loved book.

Melissa Dai-Li Krassenstein was born in Hong Kong to a Taiwanese mom and an Ashkenazi Jewish-American dad. Melissa had a nomadic upbringing, moving around her whole life between East Asia, Latin America, the US and Southern Africa. She completed her BA in Politics & International Relations at Scripps College in SoCal and now resides in the Netherlands, after completing an MA in Conflict Studies & Human Rights at Utrecht University. She is passionate about Tikkun Olam, and now works in the field of security, rule of law and human rights in The Hague. In her spare time, you can find her wrapping kosher dumplings or fiddling around with her ukulele.

Nina Moskowitz is a native of the North Bay Area of California, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Asian American Studies. Raised in a multiracial, interfaith family by a Malay/Indian Muslim mother and an Ashkenazi Jewish father, she hopes to work within academia to expand student services for other students of color with diverse backgrounds like her. In her free time, she can be found reading and attempting to write her own fiction.

Vanessa Bloom is a Chinese adoptee raised in Southern California by a Ashkenazi Jewish mother and a German-American father. She loves history, filmmaking, and writing. Through these mediums, she ultimately hopes to help tell the stories of people like herself -- multicultural, multifaceted, and underrepresented -- with authenticity and joy. Her role model is director Taika Waititi, whose openness about his mixed Jewish identity was essential in Vanessa finding her own. Alongside filmmaking, she is pursuing a teaching credential with a focus on American history and culture.

Ali Pinhasi (she/her) is a graduate from OSU and a veterinarian in Chicago! She is Ashkenazi on her mother’s side and is Bukharian (Afghan/Uzbek) on her father’s side. She was born and raised in Ohio. You can usually find her pampering her dog, bouldering, drawing, and binge watching the newest Netflix release.

Amanda Lowell is a transracial adoptee from China who grew up in the Caribbean and New Jersey. She converted to Orthodox Judaism June 2020 and is figuring out her life. She loves her job as a Kindergarten teacher and, in her off times, likes to eat lots of takeout and walk in Central Park.

Daniel Hershfield is a recent graduate who is hoping to pursue a career in social impact research and advocacy. Having an Indonesian mother and an Ashkenazi Jewish father, Daniel grew up in Los Angeles, California and is proud to identify as a Jew of Color. He currently resides in Northern California and when not reading up on international development, he draws inspiration from activism, poetry, music, and nature.

Jess Adler (she/her) is a master’s student studying costume history in Bournemouth, England. She identifies as a mixed person of Thai-Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish descent. Jess credits being raised in a multicultural household and growing up in the culturally rich Bay Area, California as the root of her interest in people and their cultures. She hopes that LUNAR will spark a similar curiosity in others.

Maya Babow was adopted from Vietnam and raised in Sonoma County, CA. She is a student and human trafficking activist/consultant. She is currently at university working towards her teaching credential and speaks about the dangers of human trafficking to schools and other organizations to spread awareness.

Meorah Ha-Me’ir is the Founder & Creative Director of BARA Worldwide (www.baraworldwide.org), House of Judah™ (www.houseofjudah.co) and LuxeBesamim (www.luxebesamim.com) Through these ventures, along with sharing her journey on YouTube (www.youtube.com/meorahhameir), Meorah is making Judaism more accessible by creating a bridge between mainstream culture and observant Jewish lifestyles. She aims to inspire Jews of all backgrounds to return to the values of Torah & mitzvot. As a Korean-American Jew aspiring to live both authentically and observantly, Meorah embraces her unique Jewish identity and hopes to encourage others to do the same.

Rachel DeAngelis is of mixed race Chinese-American and Ashkenazi Jewish descent, and on top of that has an Italian last name - but that is a story for another time! She grew up in Northern California and is currently living in London, United Kingdom where she is studying towards a Masters in Modern European Studies. Rachel is looking forward to continuing the conversation surrounding mixed-race identities and hopes she can be a voice for those seeking more Hapa representation. In her spare time, Rachel can be found in the mountains, by the sea, or at the crafty table. Oh, and she can make a mean matzoh ball soup.

Alicia Fox does Polynesian dancing professionally and ukulele playing amateurly. She is a self-proclaimed codemaster and has successfully completed every escape game she’s attempted. Rumors have it that she has saved over a thousand projects that she will definitely actually do someday, probably. She enjoys adequately sized walks on the beach, witty humor, and marathons exclusively of the Hulu variety. She’s working on her punctuality.

Raised in the suburbs and rocking the city, Chicagoan Becca Nix Tham is a comedian, cultural work activist, and hobby baker. She is a UIC alumni who loves celebrating her Chinese Singaporean and Ashkenazi Jewish culture through food and jokes. A few years back, Becca became a member of JCUA (The Jewish Council on Urban Affairs), a volunteer with AAAJ (Asian Americans Advancing Justice) and a regular improv performer at The Annoyance Theatre (now streaming shows on Twitch.tv). She recommends Googling “koala memes” if you need a pick-me-up.

Hannah is a Chinese, Costa Rican, Ashkenazi Jew of Color. She currently lives in St Paul Minnesota where she is finishing her BA in Mathematics. Hannah is passionate about collective living and public education. Hannah attributes her love for the radical Jewish community to Habonim Dror Camp Tavor- the progressive Jewish summer camp that shaped much of her childhood and young adulthood. After graduation, Hannah hopes to pursue a career as a math teacher.

Kayla Sklar is a documentary film editor who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia with her Malaysian-Chinese mother and Ashkenazi Jewish father. Now living in New York City, she is inspired daily by her multicultural, diverse community. She identifies as an Amerasian and a Reconstructionist Jew.

Maya is the Bay Area Field Manager at OneTable, where she works to highlight various parts of th Jewish narrative and Jews of Color in the local community She was born and raised in a multicultural home in Oakland, California. Her father is Muslim, born and raised in Bangalore, India and her mother is Jewish, born in New York the daughter of a World War II Refugee. Maya completed her B.A. and M.A. at Clark University in Massachusetts; during international internships and studies she deepened her love of building community across global contexts and bringing people together. She sees sharing stories, traditions, and values as central to our growth as a global community, which is one of the reasons LUNAR is so important to her.

Naomi Tamura is Ashkenazi Jewish on her mother’s side and is fourth-generation Japanese-American on her father’s side. She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia before spending a gap year in Israel and completing her B.A. at American University in Washington D.C. After graduating, Naomi lived in Brooklyn where she worked as the Israel Programs Director for Habonim Dror North America. After two years, Naomi moved to Haifa to join a network of informal educators called Dror Israel, whose members work within communities all over the country to create social change in Israeli society. In her spare time, Naomi enjoys running, biking, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Stephanie Mieko Cohen is an actress from Los Angeles currently living in New York City. She is fourth-generation Japanese-American (‘Yonsei’) on her mother’s side and fourth-generation Ashkenazi Jewish (Polish/Romanian) on her father’s side. Besides performing since the age of five, Stephanie loves to draw, write, craft, practice yoga, take bubble baths, eat as much Mexican food as she can, and pet kitty cats. She is a proud Hapa and loves exploring both sides of her heritage through new friends and conversation. Stephanie is a strong advocate for amplifying mixed race voices and for de-stigmatizing mental health.