Ricki Lake

It's time for another installment of our "Ask Jew or Not Jew" feature, where young readers write in for advice. Here's a letter we recently received.

Dear Jew or Not Jew, I'm just gonna come out and say it — I am fat! F-A-T, fat! And all I want to do is be a TV star! I've tried it all: diets, exercise, bulimia — nothing helps! Should I just give up? — Sarah Koppelman, 18, San Francisco, California

Dear Sarah,

Give up? Why? Perhaps you should embrace your... zaftigity? zaftigness? After all, look at Ricki Lake, a fellow Jewish woman who broke into show business in her late teens. She was not exactly svelte, but she embraced her body, and landed a plum movie role. She then had a long, productive career hosting a popular, and only somewhat trashy, talk show. And look at her now, when...

Oh. She dropped the weight. Ummmm...

Are you too young for liposuction?

Yours in terrible advice,

Jew or Not Jew.

Verdict: **Jew**.

_March 12, 2012_