“I am the collective pride and excitement that is felt when we find out that a new actor, that great athlete, his chief of staff…is Jewish. And I am the collective guilt and shame that is felt when we find out that the serial killer, that Ponzi schemer, that wife beater…is Jewish.”

“I am the complicated reason you take the cheese off your burger you eat at the Saturday morning tailgate.”

“I am the Torah and not the old Testament.”

“I am on JDate and not Match.com because well … it’s just easier that way.”

These are a few excerpts from Jewish spoken word millennial artist Andrew Lustig’s poem “I am Jewish,” which he delivered at the seventh annual JUF’s Young Leadership Division (YLD) Big Event Fundraiser on Saturday night at the Sheraton Chicago.

Lustig’s poem (watch Lustig perform “I am Jewish” here) speaks to the complicated identity of what it is to be a young American Jew today, an experience that the audience of his peers could relate to.

Odds are good that if you’re a young Jewish Chicagoan, you were hanging out with Lustig and a lot of other young Jews Saturday night, December 13. A whopping 2,400 people gathered to support the Chicago Jewish community through the Jewish United Fund, and—of course—to laugh at the standup comedy of Seth Meyers, the host of Late Night with Seth Meyers and an alum of Saturday Night Live.

Big Event—which featured a new format with a comedy show, followed by a hotel after-party—kicked off YLD’s 2015 Annual Campaign. The event is JUF’s premier fundraising event for the next generation of Jewish Chicagoans, and marks the first YLD event for many guests in attendance. The event raised approximately $333,000—an increase over last year’s Big Event Fundraiser—and garnered 1,725 gifts, and 833 first-time donors to JUF.

“No matter what being Jewish means to you, you are all here in this room because you feel some connection to your Jewish community and some connection to the organization that brought us all out here tonight: JUF,” YLD President Brandon Prosansky told the audience.

During the war last summer, Amy Kirsch, 2015 YLD Campaign Chair, traveled to Israel, where she spent time in bomb shelters and met residents of Israel under siege—including Holocaust survivors—who were helped through the vital work of JUF. “Through JUF, I am continuously impressed by all of the efforts dedicated to improving the lives of individuals here at home, in Israel, and all over the world,” Kirsch told the Big Event crowd. “JUF provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to pool our resourcesand extend our reach beyond any horizon we could ever hope to touch on our own. It’s crowd-funding with a heart! Every dollar you give counts. Every minute you volunteer makes a difference.”

‘Give me a shout-out if you think I’m Jewish’

Meyers’ appearance was a return home to the Windy City for the Northwestern University alum. The comedian, born in Evanston and raised in Bedford, N.H., spent a long tenure at Saturday Night Live (SNL)—12 years as a cast member, eight seasons as head writer, and seven as anchor for SNL’s Weekend Update. In February, Jimmy Fallon—a fellow past Big Event performer—passed the baton to Meyers to host NBC’s famed talk show, Late Night.

Meyers delivered a hilarious set touching on everything from President Obama’s second term, to the European economy, to his love for video games, the movie “Frozen,” and Pope Francis. (Watch Cindy’s interview with Seth Meyers following the show.)

Meyers poked fun at himself for waiting five years to pop the question to his now-wife.

Back during their courtship, Meyers traveled to Paris with her. “Shame on me,” he said. “You cannot take a woman who’s waiting for an engagement ring to Paris—that’s just cruel and unusual punishment. At one point we were walking over the bridge on the River Seine and I dropped my passport. I looked down at my passport and thought I think this will be easier to kick into the river and go to the embassy than to take a knee in Paris and not come up with an engagement ring.”

The comedian told the audience he’s constantly mistaken for a Jewish guy. After all, he’s married to a Jewish woman, his paternal grandfather was Jewish, and he has a Jewish sensibility about him.

“Give me a shout out if you assumed I’m Jewish,” he told the crowd. “I’m assuming you based it off my name, my face, and everything else about me.”

Unlike him, his mom, he said, is never mistaken for being Jewish. “My mother could not be less Jewish,” Meyers said. “To give you an example…she recently said as long as my kids are happy, I’m happy.”

He’s reached the conclusion that his level of Jewishness will suffice. “…I’m Jewish enough. Over a five year courtship with my in-laws, they became okay with the level of Jewish I was… I feel like that’s the only religion that happens with because it’s the only religion that ends with ‘ish.’ On my wedding day, people would ask my in-laws, ‘Is he Jewish?’ and they would say, ‘he’s Jew-ISH.’ I guess “Amish” is the other one. ‘He’s Am-ISH. He’ll use a flashlight if the candles run out.’”

Then, Meyers looked around the room: “I may not be Jewish but being here in a hotel ballroom with all you Jewish people and candy on the tables is as close as I’m ever going to get to having a bar mitzvah,” he joked. “I’m going to go back to New York a man.”

A special thank you to YLD’s Big Event Fundraiser Lead Sponsor: Eleven Lincoln Park; Platinum Sponsors: Associated Agencies, Inc. and Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, Burns & Wilcox, Charles E. Dobrusin and Associates, Civello Salons, Spin-Spun All Natural Confections; Event Sponsors: Bub City, Emporium Arcade Bar, Hub 51, JFS Realty Capital, Morgan Stanley: Cohn Weisskopf Oxman Group, Paris Club, RJ Grunts, RPM ITALIAN, RPM Steak, SpotHero, SpotMyPhotos, a CloudSpotter Technologies company, and Three Dots and Dash; AV Sponsor: AV Chicago; Beverage Sponsors: Lakeshore Beverage, and Sam Adams; Media Sponsor: SPLASH: A Wrapports Publication; Mercadito Hospitality, and Richard and Cheryl Kirsch for their support of this event.

Another special thank you to the 165 Table Hosts whose support of this event made it an enormous success.

Visit the YLD facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ChicagoYLD and for a list of upcoming YLD events, visit www.yldchicago.org.