Jewish Or Not: Wondering if a Celebrity is a Jew?

Was Colin Kroll Jewish?

2018-12-16T12:57:00.001-08:00

Yes, Colin Kroll was Jewish. The founder of Vine and HQ Trivia had also worked at Twitter and Yahoo. He went to high school at Bloomfield Hills Andover High School in Michigan. At 35, he died of a drug overdose in New York City on December 16, 2018.

Is Chris Fischer Jewish?

2018-02-16T04:58:00.000-08:00

Chris Fischer is not Jewish. The well-known chef from Martha's Vineyard married comedian and actress Amy Schumer in February 2018.

Amy Schumer has tied the knot with chef Chris Fischer in private ceremony in Malibu, California, on Tuesday. The magazine said Jennifer Anniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Lawrence and Larry David were among the approximately 80 guests.

The “Trainwreck” star shared photos of the nuptials Thursday on Instagram, complete with a tutu-wearing pooch on her aisle. She joked that she’s “not pregnant” and no gifts “but thank you for asking.” She urged people to consider making donations to support gun safety in the aftermath of the latest deadly school shooting, in Florida.

Schumer and her new guy only just made their relationship on social media official with a smooch photo Sunday on Instagram. Rumors first popped up last November when the two were photographed together.

Is Meghan Markle Jewish

2017-11-27T05:03:00.000-08:00

Meghan Markle is not Jewish. Meghan Markle is engaged to marry Prince Harry in 2018.

Her birth name is Rachel Meghan Markle. Meghan Markle was born on August 4, 1981. Markle is an American actress, model, and humanitarian. Since 2011 Markle has portrayed Rachel Zane on the legal drama series Suits and is also known for her role as special agent Amy Jessup in the sci-fi thriller Fringe. She has been in a relationship with Prince Harry of Wales since June 2016, and on November 27, 2017, their engagement was announced. The couple intend to marry in spring 2018.

Meghan Markle's father is Caucasian and her mom is African-American. Markle grew up in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. She attended Immaculate Heart High School, an all-girl, private Catholic school in Los Angeles. Markle graduated in 2003 from Northwestern University, near Chicago, where she took theater studies before completing her bachelor's degree in theater and international studies; coursework included an internship at the U.S. embassy in Buenos Aires.

On November 27, 2017, it was announced that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry had become engaged and would marry in early 2018. Earlier this year, multiple media outlets reported that Markle is Jewish. As of Monday morning, USA Today was calling Markle a biracial Jewish-American actress. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin quickly invited the couple to spend their honeymoon in the Jewish state.

JTA investigated the matter in May and discovered that the British tabloid behind the rumor was mistaken. Read more about the story below.

(JTA) — Is Meghan Markle, an American actress and the girlfriend of the British royal Prince Harry, a member of the tribe?

Stories in publications across the United States and United Kingdom have prompted the question. An article in the British tabloid Daily Express claims that Markle’s father is Jewish; Vanity Fair, Elle UK, Tablet and many others have cited the story.

The story also says that a spokesman for Westminster Abbey, the historic London church where British royals marry, confirmed Markle’s Jewish background.

“The spokesman also confirmed that Meghan’s Jewish background would not prevent her from having an ‘interfaith’ marriage there,” Camilla Tominey writes in the May 14 article.

Unfortunately, for those who would love to see a Jew marry into British royalty, the claim is utterly false.

Duncan Jeffery, Westminster Abbey’s head of communications, told JTA on Wednesday that the church never said that Markle was Jewish. It only confirmed that Markle could be married at the church despite a previous divorce, thanks to a rule that was instituted in 2002.

“[Markle’s Jewishness] is merely conjecture on the part of other people,” Jeffery said.

A source with knowledge of the situation also confirmed that Markle is not Jewish.

Markle, who is best known for her role on the USA Network drama “Suits,” was married to Jewish producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 to 2013. As Tominey notes, the pair had a Jewish wedding in Jamaica (complete with a “Jewish chair dance,” meaning the hora).

Markle’s father is Irish and her mother is African-American. She wrote an essay for Elle magazine in 2015 about her identity (it was subsequently published in Elle UK, one of the publications that has misstated her Jewish identity). The essay did not mention any Jewish ancestry or hint at a past conversion to Judaism.

“‘What are you?’ A question I get asked every week of my life, often every day,” she wrote.

Tominey’s article is correct in explaining that there is no “legal barrier that keeps a royal from marrying someone from the Jewish, Buddhist or Muslim faith, or even an atheist.” Since 2015, even those formerly despised Catholics can marry into the royal family — however, a Roman Catholic still cannot become the queen of England.

Nonetheless, we’d like to say “Mazel tov!” to Meghan and Prince Harry, who are considered likely to marry, even if they aren’t actually engaged yet.

Is Lara Trump Jewish?

2017-03-22T01:19:00.000-07:00

Eric Trump's wife Lara Trump is not Jewish?

Following an announcement by the couple that they were expecting a baby boy, it seems Jewish media outlets went into a bit of a baby frenzy.

The false impression that Lara Trump (nee Yunaska), a former personal trainer and producer for CBS’s “Inside Edition,” is Jewish seems to trace back to a 2014 Page Six article in the New York Post that said the couple wed under “a crystal-embellished chuppa” (with Jewish brother-in-law Jared Kushner officiating). It’s not clear whether the canopy was, in fact, inspired by Jewish custom, but following the publication of that article, Jewish media outlets (along with some anti-Semitic ones) referred to her as Jewish.

Ethnicelebs.com, a website that traces the ancestry of celebrities, debunked the claim in July — reporting Lara instead to be of Slovak, English, German, remote Swiss-German and Dutch heritage — but that didn’t put the rumor to rest.

Lara and Eric’s baby will still be surrounded by plenty of Jewish influences. He will have three Jewish cousins: the children of Trump’s daughter Ivanka, a convert to Orthodox Judaism, and her husband, Jared. Plus, another Trump daughter, Tiffany, is dating Ross Mechanic, who is Jewish.

Is Carrie Fisher Jewish?

2016-12-28T03:35:00.001-08:00

Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress, writer, producer, and humorist. She was the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds. Fisher was known for playing Princess Leia in the Star Wars film series.

Fisher was born in Beverly Hills, California, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Debbie Reynolds. Her paternal grandparents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Her mother was raised a Nazarene, and is of English and Scots-Irish ancestry.

Fisher described herself as an "enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy to be shown that there is a God". She was raised Protestant, but often attended Jewish services, the faith of her father, with Orthodox friends.

On December 23, 2016, while on a flight from London to Los Angeles, Fisher went into cardiac arrest fifteen minutes before touchdown. Carrie Fisher died at age 60 on December 27, 2016, at 8:55 a.m. in Los Angeles.

Is Alan Thicke Jewish?

2016-12-13T19:39:00.004-08:00

Alan Thicke was not Jewish. Thicke was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada, the son of Shirley "Joan" Isobel Marie (née Greer), a nurse, and William Jeffery, a stockbroker. They divorced in 1953. His mother remarried to Brian Thicke, a physician, and they moved to Elliot Lake.

The actor, known for his role as Dr. Seaver on Growing Pains, was married three times. His first marriage, to Days of Our Lives actress Gloria Loring, lasted from 1970 until around 1984; they had two sons, Brennan and Robin. He started dating actress Kristy Swanson when she was 17 years old in 1986 and got engaged to her two years later when he was 42. He married his second wife, Miss World 1990 Gina Tolleson, on August 13, 1994, and had a son, Carter William Thicke, before their divorce was finalized on September 29, 1999. In 1999, he met Tanya Callau in Miami, where he was the celebrity host and she was a model. They were married from 2005 until his death on December 13, 2016, when Thicke suffered a heart attack while playing hockey with his son Carter. He was 69.

Is Steven Mnuchin Jewish?

2016-12-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

Steven Mnuchin is Jewish. The businessman and investor has been tapped by President-Elect Donald Trump to serve as Treasury Secretary in the Trump Administration. Steven Mnuchin was born on December 21, 1962 in New York City, to a Jewish family. He is the son of Elaine Terner Cooper, of New York, and Robert E. Mnuchin, of Washington, Connecticut. His father was a banker, a partner at Goldman Sachs, in charge of equity trading and a member of the management committee, and the founder of the Mnuchin Gallery at 45 East 78th Street, New York. He graduated from Yale University Married twice, Mnuchin is engaged to Scottish actress Louise Linton.

Mnuchin’s unusual last name is considered a Slavic version of the biblical name "Menachem," meaning "one who comforts" and a common Hebrew first and last name. The violinist Yehudi Menuhin’s original family name was Mnuchin but was changed by his Belorussian immigrant parents when they became American citizens.

Mnuchin is the first Jewish member of Trump's cabinet. He is also the business partner of a close friend and confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Australian billionaire James Packer.

According to an article in Ha'aretz, "Despite his background, Mnuchin appears to have no public connection to Jewish life or Jewish institutions – his preferred philanthropies appear to be the Whitney Museum of American Art and the New York food rescue organization City Harvest."

A Bloomberg Businessweek profile stated, "Trump tweeted an image of Clinton, a pile of cash, and a six-pointed star – a graphic that was previously posted on an anti-Semitic website. At some point on the job, Mnuchin got a call from a Holocaust survivor he knows. It went to voicemail, where the man told him how upset he is that Mnuchin supports Trump. He called the survivor back to say he respectfully disagreed. The article quoted Mnuchin’s friends and colleagues as saying it was hard for them to comprehend why someone like Mnuchin would take the job of raising money for Trump back when it looked like a difficult and thankless task. Trump’s likelihood of winning the Republican nomination and defeating Hillary Clinton seemed remote."

Is Stephen Bannon Jewish?

2016-11-16T05:39:00.000-08:00

Stephen Bannon is not Jewish. Steve Bannon is an American businessman and media executive. He is the executive chairman of Breitbart News, a politically conservative American news, opinion and commentary website noted for its connection to the alt-right. He became chief executive officer of the 2016 presidential campaign of Donald Trump in August 2016. Bannon will be chief strategist and Senior Counselor for the Presidency of Donald Trump.

Is Leonard Cohen Jewish?

2016-11-13T15:40:00.000-08:00

Leonard Cohen was Jewish. The late songwriter was most famous for writing and performing Hallelujah.

Leonard Cohen was born September 21, 1934 and died November 7, 2016. He was a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships.

Cohen was born on September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Quebec, an English-speaking area of Montreal, into a middle-class Jewish family. His mother, Marsha (Masha) Klonitsky, was the daughter of a Talmudic writer, Rabbi Solomon Klonitsky-Kline, of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry.

His paternal grandfather, whose family had emigrated from Poland, was Lyon Cohen, founding president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. His father, Nathan Cohen, who owned a substantial clothing store, died when Cohen was nine years old.

The family observed Orthodox Judaism, and were members of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim; Cohen retained connections to it all his life. On the topic of being a Kohen, Cohen has said that "I had a very Messianic childhood." He told Richard Goldstein in 1967, "I was told I was a descendant of Aaron, the high priest."

Cohen attended Roslyn Elementary School and Herzliah High School, where his literary mentor Irving Layton was a teacher, and, from 1948, Westmount High School, where he was involved with the student council and studied music and poetry.

Cohen was described as a Sabbath-observant Jew in an article in The New York Times. Cohen was involved with Buddhism beginning in the 1970s and was ordained a Buddhist monk in 1996; he continued to consider himself Jewish: "I'm not looking for a new religion. I'm quite happy with the old one, with Judaism."

Leonard Cohen was inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize.

Cohen died on November 7, 2016 at the age of 82 at his home in Los Angeles; cancer was a contributing cause. His death was announced on November 10. His funeral was held on November 10, 2016 in Montreal, at a cemetery on Mount Royal, his congregation Shaar Hashomayim confirmed. As was his wish, Cohen was laid to rest with a Jewish rite in a family plot.

Is Alan Rickman Jewish?

2016-01-14T06:28:00.003-08:00

Alan Rickman was not Jewish. He was born Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman on February 21, 1946.

The actor was born in Acton, London to a working class family, the son of Margaret Doreen Rose (née Bartlett), a housewife, and Bernard Rickman, a factory worker. His ancestry was English, Irish and Welsh; his father was Catholic and his mother a Methodist.

Alan Rickman died on January 14, 2016

Is David Bowie Jewish?

2016-01-12T09:19:00.003-08:00

David Bowie was not Jewish. The singer and songwriter was born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947 in Brixton, south London. His mother, Margaret Mary "Peggy" (née Burns), from Kent, worked as a waitress, while his father, Haywood Stenton "John" Jones, from Yorkshire, was a promotions officer for the children's charity Barnardo's. The family lived near the border of the south London areas of Brixton and Stockwell.

Regarding David Bowie's religion, he said, in 2005, "Questioning my spiritual life has always been germane to what I was writing. Always." He added that he was bothered by being "not quite an atheist".

Bowie showed an interest in Buddhism that began in 1967. He frequently studied in London under the Tibetan Lama Chime Rinpoche before becoming a solo artist. During a 2001 interview, Bowie claimed that "after a few months of study, he told me, 'You don't want to be Buddhist ... You should follow music.'"Bowie later wrote the song "Silly Boy Blue" in tribute to Rinpoche on his 1967 album David Bowie. In the 1960s he also studied with the crazy wisdom tulku Chögyam Trungpa.

While David Bowie was not Jewish, he did take classes in the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah. David Bowie died on January 10, 2016 from a months long battle with cancer. He was married to the supermodel Iman and the couple has one daughter, Lexi.

Is Sheldon Silver Jewish?

2015-11-30T17:34:00.002-08:00

Sheldon Silver is an Orthodox Jew. He was born February 13, 1944. The lawyer and Democratic Party politician lives in New York and became Speaker of the New York State Assembly in 1994. On January 30, 2015, eight days after his arrest on federal corruption charges, Silver submitted his resignation as Speaker, effective February 2, in order to defend himself against the charges. On November 30 Sheldon Silver was found guilty on all charges.

Sheldon Silver's parents were Russian immigrants. He graduated from the Rabbi Jacob Joseph High School on Manhattan's Henry Street, where he was captain of the basketball team.[2] Silver graduated from Yeshiva University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965, and received his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 1968.

Is Mitch Albom Jewish?

2015-11-03T04:03:00.002-08:00

Yes, Mitch Albom is Jewish. The author known for his 1997 book about his dying college professor, Morrie Schwartz, is a practicing Jew. Albom was born May 23, 1958 in Passaic, New Jersey. Albom lived in Buffalo, New York for a little while, until his family settled in Oaklyn, New Jersey which is close to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up in a small, middle-class neighborhood from which most people never left. He attended Akiba Hebrew Academy in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania around the same time as his friend and fellow author, Rabbi David Wolpe of Los Angeles.

Mitch Albom was once quoted as saying that his parents were very supportive, and always used to say, “Don’t expect your life to finish here. There’s a big world out there. Go out and see it.” His older sister, younger brother, and he himself, all took that message to heart and traveled extensively. His siblings are currently settled in Europe. Albom once mentioned that now his parents say, “Great. All our kids went and saw the world and now no one comes home to have dinner on Sundays.”

In addition to being a long time sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, Mitch Albom also has a general opinion column in the Sunday edition of the Detroit Free Press, a popular weekday radio show in Detroit, and is a musician in a band. He has written several best selling novels following the success of "Tuesdays with Morrie," including a book called "Have a Little Faith" about his experience writing the eulogy for his childhood rabbi, Albert Lewis, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

In 1995, Albom married Janine Sabino, who is not Jewish. Albom and Sabino have attended Temple Israel, a reform synagogue in West Bloomfield, a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. He is the owner of the non-profit Detroit Water Ice in downtown Detroit.

Is Bernie Sanders Jewish?

2015-10-16T19:39:00.002-07:00

Oh, c'mon! Of course!

But if you came here looking for the facts, here they are: Bernard Sanders was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 8, 1941. He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

Bernie Sanders is the son of Dora/Dorothy (Glassberg) and Eli Sanders. His father was a Polish Jewish immigrant. His mother was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents. Bernie Sanders' paternal grandparents were Leon Sander and Ettel “Ethel” Horn.

Bernie’s maternal grandparents were Benjamin Glassberg/Glassburg (the son of Abraham Glassburg) and Brayna “Bessie” Greenberg. The American politician served as a United States Senator from Vermont since 2007; an independent, he caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate. He has previously been Mayor of Burlington, Vermont (from 1981 to 1989), and a U.S. Representative from Vermont (from 1991 to 2007).

Bernie Sanders is currently a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States in 2016.

Is Jackie Collins Jewish?

2015-09-19T19:47:00.004-07:00

Was Jackie Collins Jewish? The famed author's father was Jewish and her mother was not.

Born Jacqueline Jill Collins on October 4, 1937, Jackie Collins was an English-American novelist. She wrote 32 novels, all of which have appeared on The New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 500 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages.

Jackie Collins was born in Hampstead, London in 1937, the younger daughter of Elsa Bessant and Joseph William Collins (died 1988), a theatrical agent whose clients included Shirley Bassey, the Beatles and Tom Jones. Collins' South African-born father was Jewish and her British mother was Anglican. A middle child, Collins had an elder sister, actress Joan Collins (born 1933) and a younger brother, Bill (born 1946).

Jackie Collins died on September 19, 2015 of breast cancer.

Is Jon Hamm Jewish?

2015-07-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Jon Hamm, the TV and movie actor, is not Jewish. His long time girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt is Jewish through her mother.

Jonathan Daniel Hamm was born in St. Louis on March 10, 1971. He is known as actor, director and television producer. He's best known for playing advertising executive Don Draper in the AMC drama series Mad Men. Hamm has received 11 Emmy nominations for his performances in Mad Men and 30 Rock.

Is Anne Meara Jewish?

2015-05-25T20:29:00.002-07:00

Anne Meara was Jewish through conversion. She was known as an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband, Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of a prominent 1960s comedy team, Stiller and Meara. She was also featured on stage, television, in numerous films, and later became a playwright. Her son, Ben Stiller, is a famous comedian and actor. While Meara was raised a Roman Catholic, she converted to Reform Judaism six years after marrying Stiller. She claimed she did not convert at Stiller's request, but because "Catholicism was dead to me."

Anne Meara was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of parents of Irish descent, Mary (née Dempsey) and Edward Joseph Meara, a lawyer. She was raised in Rockville Centre in Long Island, New York and was an only child. Her mother committed suicide when she was 11. When she was 18, Meara spent a year studying acting at the Dramatic Workshop at The New School in Manhattan. The following year, 1948, she began her career as an actress in summer stock.

During her career, Meara was nominated for four Emmy Awards and won a Writers Guild Award as a co-writer for the TV movie, The Other Woman. In addition to being the mother of actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller, she was also the mother of actress Amy Stiller.

Meara took her conversion seriously and studied the Jewish faith in such depth that her Jewish-born husband quipped, "Being married to Anne has made me more Jewish." They discussed how they met and their early career during a guest appearance on the TV game show, What's My Line? in 1968.

Anne Meara died on May 23, 2015, at the age of 85. She is survived by her husband, children, and two grandchildren.

Is Trevor Noah Jewish?

2015-03-30T14:12:00.000-07:00

Trevor Noah, the comedian who will replace Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, is partially Jewish. Trevor Noah's mother is half Jewish.

In an interview he disclosed that his mom is half Jewish:

Your influences have been broad — your dad is a white European, your mum a black South African. Does that help a broad view?
Oh, definitely. My mum doesn’t fit into any category, she’s a black South African woman who’s half Jewish. I’ve never known myself or my world to be contained within one specific set of parameters, so I’ve gone with the flow. And if I like something I just like it. So I watch Star Wars, I listen to hip hop, and I really like classical music and yet at the same time, I also enjoy really cheesy kung-fu movies. I just like what I like.

According to Wikipedia, Noah's mother, Patricia, is a black South African (Xhosa), and his father, Robert Noah, is white (of Swiss-German descent). He has also said, "My mum doesn't fit into any category, she's a black South African woman who's half Jewish". His parents' relationship was illegal at the time of his birth, and his mother was jailed and fined by the South African government. His mixed-race heritage, his experiences growing up in a Soweto township, and his observations about race and ethnicity are leading themes in his comedy.

Is Harris Wittels Jewish?

2015-02-20T03:57:00.002-08:00

Harris Wittels, of the television show "Parks & Recreation," was Jewish. Wittels was born in Houston, Texas. He was the son of Dr. Ellison Wittels and Maureen (née Davidson) Wittels. Wittels had one older sister, voiceover actress Stephanie Wittels.

In March 2007 Harris Wittels celebrated his bar mitzvah at Temple Emanu-El in Houston, Texas across the street from Rice University. Wittels attended High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston and graduated from Emerson College in 2006 with a degree in television/video production.

Wittels got his comedic start on the Sarah Silverman Program at 22-years-old. Silverman discovered him while he was doing stand up comedy. He wrote the book, "Humblebrag: The Art of False Modesty."

In a November 19, 2014 interview on the podcast, You Made It Weird, Wittels candidly discussed his personal life and history of drug addiction with host Pete Holmes. He said he had done drugs recreationally since he was 12. He said his drug usage got "out of hand" because of a breakup with a woman he felt was "perfect" for him in every way, except that she and her family were Scientologists, which he described as a "deal-breaker." He said he began to rely on Oxycodone to deal with his stress over the relationship, his work on various pilots and writing the Humblebrag book. "It was easier just to take drugs and do it all. I wrote that entire book on so much drugs," Wittels said. "That's a humblebrag."

During the podcast, Wittels told Holmes he had gone to rehab for a second time after becoming addicted to heroin, and had just gotten out of rehab a month earlier. "Sobriety is still fresh. I haven't figured it all out," he said.

Wittels' life ended on February 19, 2015 from a possible drug overdose in his Los Angeles home.

In an interview on Jewcy.com, Harris Wittels spoke openly about his Jewish heritage:

Congrats on being named to the Big Jewcy. How does it feel?

I feel like a million…. shekels?

What is your background?

Right now, it’s a picture of a dog on a skateboard.

Frillz – I am from Houston TX. Went to Emerson College in Boston and then moved to LA.

When did you know you liked to make people laugh? When did you realize this is what you wanted to do professionally?

When I made that background dog picture joke.

A couple months back New York Magazine ran a piece called, “Parks & Recreation and the Comedy of Super Niceness”. If you haven’t read it, it argues that what makes the show so special is that it avoid the cynicism of most contemporary comedies. Would you say this is correct? Do you have an idea of how this tone started?

I do think this is correct, and I attribute it to Mike Schur, who is sickeningly positive all the time. He just grins and eats ice cream cones and watermelon all day. I have never seen him be bothered by anything, no matter what I try.

I think a big change from season one to season two was more of people working WITH Leslie, instead of against her. It gave it a nice warm feeling.

Do you have a favorite character to write for?

There was an angry black gentleman in “94 Meetings” who had one scene in which he just yelled about how he needs a permit to post a sign for his missing bird. That is my favorite person I have ever/will ever get to write for.

You got your start writing on the Sarah Silverman Program. Did you work under Dan Harmon (creator of Community) at all? It seems like Community and Parks & Recreation are in a constant neck in neck race for best comedy on TV. Is there a rivalry?

I never got to work under him. Dan and I have a very complicated relationship, in that it is solely based on opaque Twitter exchanges. Most of them have to do with Humblebrag.

No rivalry. Community’s great. We are all on the same night of comedy, so… good for the goose, good for the gander. In fact, I think they’re our lead-in next year. So, everyone watch Community!

In preparing for this interview, it seemed impossible to avoid the fact that you are known as a guy who often takes his dick out. How did this reputation start? How did you feel when it was cemented in history in Sarah’s book?

What’s funny is Sarah asked if she could use a picture of my dick and I literally didn’t know which one she was talking about. Could have been one of dozens. That was a fun writer’s room. Good times. I felt great about it. My mom didn’t, but she’s fine now. My dad thought it was funny though.

You know that nightmare where you’re naked at school? Well, now that the whole world could potentially see my penis at any Barnes and Noble, that fear is gone from my life. It’s very liberating. I recommend everyone do it.

Have you had one a “wow, I can’t believe I get to do this” moment?

Sleeping with Scarlett Johansson was a big one for me. JK, but could you imagine though? She’s so hot. After reading this, she’ll probably NEVER sleep with me. Oh great.

I’ve had a few of those moments. It’s important to feel that way I think, so you don’t get jaded or something. It’s fun to do comedy and to get to do it everyday with the people I do it with. I feel very lucky, yes. God, I’m sorry if you’re reading this. I sound like such a jerkoff.

Beyond having almost 60,000 followers, the term has seemed to move beyond Twitter. It is a term that described a previously unnamed yet very common awful behavior. Did you ever think it would get this popular?

I did not. I love that people are responding to it. Sometimes people like it too hard and they’re mean to people I retweet on there, and I’m like “chill, yo!”

This answer was a humblebrag.

What makes a great Humblebrag?

The more veiled it is coupled with how extreme the brag is.

With Parks & Recreation done for the season, are you currently working on anything else? What’s next?

I got to write a couple of episodes for the third season of Eastbound and Down which was really fun and something of a dream come true since its my favorite show on TV.

I’m also working on a few feature scripts. Aziz, Jason Woliner, and I just pitched something together, so hopefully that ends up happening.

Is Julian Edelman Jewish?

2015-02-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Yes. Julian Edelman is Jewish. Edelman, the NFL football player for the New England Patriots, was born in Redwood City, California, the son of Angie and Frank Edelman, who owns a small business. He has Jewish ancestry on his father's side, but was raised a Christian. More recently on a NFL Network interview, Edelman stated that he is Jewish. Edelman played in the 2015 Super Bowl.

From JTA: During the Super Bowl Sunday night, many Jews across the country had the same question: Is that wide receiver Julian Edelman Jewish?

Edelman had an excellent game Sunday night, catching nine passes for 109 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots’ dramatic comeback victory over the Seattle Seahawks. He also happens to have a very Jewish-sounding name.

While his father has Ashkenazi roots, this is what Edelman had to say on the topic on a media day before his previous Super Bowl appearance with the Patriots in 2012:

“Well, I’m not completely Jewish, if you know what I mean. I know people want me to be. My father is Jewish. My mother isn’t. I’ve been asked this before. I guess you could say I’m kind of Jewish but not really.”

For the record, while traditional Jews believe one must have a Jewish mother or convert in order to be considered Jewish, both Reform and Reconstructionist Jews recognize patrilineal descent.
In an interview with the NFL Network last season, Edelman asserted more clearly that he is in fact Jewish. When asked for some “good Christmas answers” to questions from one broadcaster, Edelman said: “Well, I’m Jewish, but I’ll try to keep it to Hanukkah presents even though Hanukkah’s over.”

Here are a few facts about the Patriots’ Jewish (or not) star receiver:

He played quarterback in college.

Before playing wide receiver in the pros, Edelman played quarterback for a year at the College of San Mateo and three years at Kent State. During his senior year at Kent State, he also led his team in rushing yards. No word on whether he also showed up at the campus Hillel. He was not expected to do well in the pros. Scouting reports from 2009, the year Edelman entered the NFL draft, called him too small and said that he would not be a high-impact player. Edelman was not even invited to participate in the NFL Combine, a show of physical tests for professional scouts. His father (not exactly your stereotypical American Jewish dad) became an auto mechanic at age 14 but pushed him to succeed.

After his Super Bowl win Sunday night, Edelman told reporters:

“My dad was just a little trailer trash white dude that worked his tail off, didn’t have a dad. He started at working at 14, didn’t get to play sports. He dedicated his life to his kids to let us live our dreams. I love my dad.”

ESPN ‘s Jackie MacMullan expanded on the influence of Edelman’s father, who pushed the future star to tears while training him. His teammates nicknamed him “squirrel.” Not much to explain here, except that Edelman is noted for his constant hustle and energy. It is worth pointing out that Edelman is not even the most Jewish player on the Patriots — backup safety Nate Ebner’s father was a Sunday School principal at Temple Shalom in Springfield, Ohio.
Who knows? Maybe Tom Brady’s menorah will inspire Edelman to become more involved with his Jewish side.

Is Jay Glazer Jewish?

2015-01-20T04:14:00.000-08:00

Jay Glazer is Jewish. Glazer was born December 26, 1969 in New York. He was born and raised in New York. He did his college years there as well. He graduated from Pace University in 1993. His parents are Irene and Ed Glazer, who are members of Israel Congregation of Manchester in Manchester Center, Vermont. He married Michelle Graci, a model, in June 2006. They have one son together, Samuel.

Glazer made his first acting appearance in the film The Longest Yard alongside Adam Sandler. Glazer is a senior writer at Fox Sports’ website Foxsports.com and the NFL insider for NFL on Fox network since the year 2004. He is also an entrepreneur; he has co-founded a NFL athlete martial arts training center in Las Vegas and Los Angeles named MMA ‘(MMAthletics’)

Glazer started his career in the mid 90s. He covered New York Giants and Jets for the local station of New York then. As his writings got more strong and effective and he started making connections with players and agents, he rose up.

His network got him a great break at CBS’ The NFL Today, where he worked off-camera.
Apart from his professional life as a writer and reporter, he is in martial arts. He is 4-3 in submission fighting and mixed martial arts and won a gold medal for his win at the World Championships of Submission Fighting.

The senior writer for FoxSports.com has been the NFL Insider for NFL on Fox since 2004. Glazer is also a business partner with Randy Couture in MMAthletics based in Las Vegas, Nevada at Xtreme Couture Training Center. Glazer trains NFL players in Mixed Martial Arts at their Los Angeles location during the off-season and hosts UFC shows for FOX Sports and Fuel TV, including weigh-ins and pre/post coverage.

Glazer has appeared in such movies as The Game Plan, The Longest Yard and The League.

In an interview with the congregation's rabbi emeritus, Rabbi Michael Cohen, Jay Glazer discussed his first Jewish memory. Glazer says, "I was very A.D.D. growing up. Actually, I was more-than-A.D.D. I was more like L, M, N, O, P. As a result, my brain never slowed down so I didn't sleep much. Many of us with A.D.D. also suffer from insomnia. And of course I worry a lot... because I’m Jewish. I also stress a lot, again... because I’m Jewish. I'd lay in my bed at night hours upon hours often bored out of my mind wishing I had someone I could talk to. One night when I was about 10 I realized there was someone I could talk to: God. I'd talk to GOD about everything. For hours I'd talk about my day, ask GOD how his day is and really just talk like anyone would talk to one's best friend. It became the foundation of my relationship with God."

Regarding Shabbat, Glazer has explained, "The Fourth Commandment. Observe my Sabbath. GOD actually demands that we chill out, take a break, hang with the family. Well gee, that's not a hard commandment to follow. GOD is insisting, "Dude, chilllllllll." God isn't commanding us to give away our money or not have a good time or sacrifice Isaac. God is simply saying, "Dude, chill out. Hang out with your family. Relax!"

"I started doing this in 1989 and I didn't get a full-time paying job that didn't go Chapter 11 until 1999. That is 10 years of rejection and heart-break, 10 years of using the Sabbath to renew my spirit to fight on each week. I'd go sit in shule, let the songs I grew up with breeze through me and let the week go. Clean slate!"

Jay Glazer said his favorite Jewish holiday is Yom Kippur: "I wait until I am at my hungriest point of the fast and I go out and find homeless, walk up to them and ask,” If you could eat anything you could right now what would you like? I’m talking a feast, what do you REALLLY want?” Often they ask for something simple like a simple slice of pizza. But instead of just a slice of pizza I add some baked ziti, calzone, soda, etc. I try to give these homeless people a feast. In those three minutes we change roles. For those few minutes I am absolutely starving, actually wishing I could have what this homeless person is feasting on. I’m starving, waiting for the second I too could have that piece of pizza! That homeless person is eating like a king feeling like I normally do while I feel like this poor soul normally does. Talk about perspective. No matter how crappy at times I may feel like my life might be, how pissed off I might be about something in life that isn't going my way, it really puts things in perspective."

"This year it was really hard because we walked, my girlfriend and I walked, into a Cheesecake Factory right before neilah and we got eight meals of filet minion, chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, french fries, bread, bottle of water. When I tell you I was dying, oh my God, and we went and gave these feasts out to different homeless people. That puts it in such wonderful perspective. I’ve gotten other people now to start doing this as well and they love it. I just heard someone who told me, “It’s now our family tradition were doing it now on the Pacific Coast Highway every Yom Kippur when we’re hungry.” It’s great and they do it with their kids."

The rest of Rabbi Cohen's interview with Jay Glazer is below:

So if a kid were to ask you, “How do you define God?’ what would you say to them?

How do you define God? What do you always want in a friend? Someone who’s always going to be there for you, someone who’s going to be loyal to you, and someone you can really open up to and listens to you. That’s what you want in a friend and they’re right there. That’s how I would define God.

Does it really hurt to have faith? I feel people often try to outsmart themselves. If I could say anything it is this: give a shot, it can’t hurt. If you have someone who’s so loving like a grandparent looking over you, or a best friend it may just make your life and journey a little bit easier, a little bit better. I believe that’s all that God wants.

So you see lots of football games and often at the end of a football game in the interviews a player will thank God that they won. I’m curious in their theology do they think that God is actually watching and cares whether the Green Bay Packers or the Patriots win?

I think when you have this belief that God is with you, you really believe that God is with you and you only. The thing is as an athlete you’re going to look for any edge in confidence that you can find. This relationship with God provides internal strength. I have this extra internal strength that gets me to feel like I can overcome anything that’s thrown my way.

Faith is the greatest weapon you can wield.

Is there a right way and a wrong way in having faith?
The right way is to use faith to love, overcome and make life better. It's wrong when people use faith in such a way as to say, "OK I’m going to be friends with God so good things will happen for me and if they don’t well I’m done with you." It doesn’t work that way folks.

If only good things happen then how does God really know who loves GOD? You know what I mean? Sometimes I think perhaps bad things happen because God’s gotta know if I’m still loyal. Doesn't it give us such joy and pride when we stick by a loved one through difficult times? The soul rises up and your heart leaps when you know you've stuck by someone getting through a really, really difficult time.

Do you have a favorite Jewish memory?

The beauty of Judaism and religion gave me my final and perhaps greatest memory of my grandmother, who I referred to as Nanny. We were at my cousin Sydney's Bat Mitzvah and my beloved Nanny was on her last few months of life. She was pretty much incoherent, didn't really remember who any of us was anymore. She was wheelchair bound and like I said, in her own incoherent world. But when the rabbi and cantor began chanting some of the prayers, she was suddenly Nanny again, singing along right next to me. I held her hand the whole time and we sang together and for the last time in our lives I was able to have a connection with my grandmother. We sang the Sh’ma, we sang the Ve’ahvta, the B’rechoo, the Avot and we sang it all together. It gave me my last coherent moment with my grandmother. That’s pretty darn good.

I have a friend of mine who’s a cantor and she’s beginning to get involved with the situation like your grandmother where they connect to these tunes and they open up and they suddenly have these relationships with their family members that they would not have had because it sometimes can go beyond the song and it opens up that real part of them.
That’s God. That’s why I have this picture of this beautiful God. That’s so far above what we can do as people. That’s why there’s gotta be a God ‘cause something like that is well above our pay grade. We can’t produce connections in the soul like that, we can’t. As much as those in the field of science often set out to try to disprove faith, science could never produce connections in the soul like that. There's nothing better.

Is Bess Myerson Jewish?

2015-01-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

Bess Myerson was Jewish. She was the only Jewish woman to be crowned Miss America.

Myerson was born in the Bronx in 1924 to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents. She lived in the Shalom Aleichem Co-operative with a few hundred other Jewish families and attended the High School of Music and Art. As a talented piano player and performer, she went on to play at Carnegie Hall and appear on television shows such as “I’ve Got A Secret.”

Bess Myerson died on January 5, 2015.

Is Andre Tippett Jewish?

2014-12-15T11:22:00.003-08:00

Yes, Andre Tippett is Jewish. The former NFL player for the New England Patriots is a member of the National Football League Professional Football Hall of Fame as well as the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Tippett was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Barringer High School in Newark, New Jersey. He first attended college and played football at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls in 1978. Andre Tippett married the Jewish Rhonda Tippett (née Kenney) with a rabbi officiating in 1993. Tippett, who was born and raised Baptist began taking Judaism classes that led to his conversion in 1997.

Together the couple has three daughters, Janea Tippett, Asia Barnes and Madison, and one son, Coby. Tippett and his family currently lives in Sharon, Massachusetts, and is a Pop Warner football coach.

Is Mario Balotelli Jewish?

2014-12-03T10:09:00.002-08:00

Mario Balotelli, the soccer player is not Jewish, but his foster mother is Jewish. Mario Balotelli was born in Palermo, Sicily to immigrants from Ghana.

Mario Balotelli's family moved to Bagnolo Mella in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, when he was two. In 1993, the authorities suggested he be placed into foster care. The Barwuah family gave up the three-year-old boy to an Italian foster family, the Balotellis. His foster parents are Silvia, the Jewish daughter of Holocaust survivors and Francesco Balotelli. They lived in the town of Concesio, Brescia, in northern Italy. Mario has three biological siblings: Abigail, Enoch, and Angel Barwuah.

At first, he stayed at the Balotellis during the weekdays, and returned to his biological parents on weekends. But after a while he started to be indifferent towards his biological parents and adopted the surname of the Balotellis, and it was arranged for him to be permanently fostered by the Balotellis. In June 2012, he dedicated his goals that put Italy in the final of the Euro 2012 football championships to his foster mother Silvia, and rushed over to embrace her as she wept after the win.

In December 2014 he started quite a scandal when he posted an image of Super Mario (Nintendo character) to his Instagram account in what was dubbed a racist and anti-Semitic post. Balotelli published a photo to the social media site of the Nintendo character Super Mario that read, among other things, “jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew.”

Balotelli, also dubbed ‘Super Mario,’ said the post was his “unlucky moment” and later deleted the image.

The rest of the text read: “Don’t be racist. Be like Mario. He’s an Italian plumber, created by Japanese people, who speaks English and looks like a Mexican.”

A spokesman for the FA said the governing body can take action where it believes an individual has “bought the game into disrepute by making comments which included a reference to ethnic origin and/or color and/or race,” The Guardian reported.

Is Martha Stewart Jewish?

2014-09-15T16:35:00.002-07:00

Martha Stewart is not Jewish. Born Martha Helen Kostyra on August 3, 1941, she is an American businesswoman, writer, convicted felon, television personality, and former fashion model.

Martha Stewart was born in Jersey City, New Jersey to Edward "Eddie" Kostyra and Martha Ruszkowski Kostyra, who were both of Polish heritage.