Jamie-Lynn Sigler may have played the quintessential mafia teen daughter in “The Sopranos,” but the actress is really a nice Jewish girl from New York.

In her new book, “And So It Is…: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope,” released this week, Sigler recalls how she got her acting start: at her brother’s bar mitzvah in a chapter oh-so-Jewishly titled “The Evil Eye.”

“Thanks to the enduring popularity of ‘The Sopranos,’ most people think I’m an Italian American from New Jersey. But I don’t have an ounce of Sicilian in my blood. I’m a Cuban, Greek, Romanian Jewish girl, and New York is where my story began,” Sigler writes. Her mother and grandmother were Cuban refugees; her father, a hard-working Jewish accountant from Brooklyn who was “always there when it mattered.”

Sigler says that while her family was loving and supportive, acting and entertainment were not a part of their world. But her oldest brother Adam was “into the magic of cinema,” and he recruited his youngest sister, at age 5, to sing at his Hollywood-themed bar mitzvah.

“After the hora, when everyone took their seats for lunch, I took the stage. My tiny frame, swallowed up by a frilly white dress…” Sigler writes that she belted out Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All.”

“In that moment, little did I know, a seed was planted — a burning need to be seen, heard, felt,” Sigler recalls in the book. She would go on to attend Wendy Taubman’s Stars of Tomorrow, where all aspiring Long Island actors went, and the rest is history. She was schlepped into the city for Broadway auditions, earning her first musical role in the national tour of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Sigler had to work on her homework and her own bat mitzvah haftorah while preparing for the tour. Three years later, she got the role of Meadow, Tony Soprano’s eldest child in “The Sopranos.” It was a role she would play for 10 years, and that she was playing when she got her MS diagnosis at 20.

The actress has played Jewish doctors and madams (Heidi Fleiss, specifically), but the Jewish role that’s perhaps most kvell-worthy for this mother of two is Jewish Princess Rebecca in “Elena of Avalor.” Rebecca gave our kids — and us — beautiful and diverse Jewish representation on the Disney Channel, and she was a way for Sigler to pay homage to both her Cuban heritage as well as to her Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jewish origins.

How lucky for us that she got her acting start at her brother’s bar mitzvah all those years ago!

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After two Jewish men were recently stabbed in London’s Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green, singer Boy George, known for hits like “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me,” took to social media to share his horror over the attack. He witnessed its aftermath when he was passing through the neighborhood on April 29.

“I was in Golders Green yesterday. I arrived just as the police presence was building,” he wrote on X. “My heart goes out to the two Jewish victims and to their loved ones. We need to make our Jewish community know we support them. Even before I knew what had happened, I was in tears because you could feel panic in the air. These are just regular people getting with their lives. London has always been a great multicultural city. Our Jewish community brings us so much. They are an integral part of the fabric of this city.”

The singer, who grew up in Eltham and whose mother came to London from Ireland with his older brother to escape the stigma of being an unmarried teen mom, knows of London’s diversity firsthand. “Growing up, I’ve had so many beautiful Jewish friends, and I still have,” Boy George, who has dual Irish and British citizenship, shared in a recent interview with Ireland’s Patrick Kielty, host of The Late Late Show.

A little over 10 minutes into their interview, Kielty brought up the Golders Green attack to Boy George, who came with his signature hat and colorful makeup.

“London is home at the moment. I saw you putting a message up yesterday [that] you were passing those horrific attacks,” Kielty said.

Boy George explained that at the time of the attack he was on his way to his doctor’s but couldn’t get there because of the chaos.

“You know, I’ve kind of had a lot of abuse online for my support of my Jewish friends,” he then went on to say, “but if you’ve got an Amy Winehouse record, you’re probably going to have to get over it,” the singer said, bringing up the famously Jewish late singer.

Kielty then responded as too many unfortunately do in interviews nowadays, which is to bring an attack against Jews outside of Israel straight back to Israel and Gaza. “It’s that idea, isn’t it, that… you’ve got attacks on the Jewish community, and the backdrop of that is obviously the horrors in Gaza. And this is a complex thing,” he said.

Irish Jewish groups have since called out Kielty for showing “a singular lack of empathy when speaking about Jews.”

RTE stood behind Kielty, saying that the comedian and host who, according to the channel, expressed empathy with victims after October 7, “allowed his guest to share his experience and views in a sensitive and editorially appropriate manner.”

“You don’t blame a whole nation for what’s going on in America or in Russia or anywhere else, you know?” Boy George said in response to Kielty’s statement.

“I think it’s really about your relationships with people,” he continued, “I don’t choose my friends based on their race or their sexuality or their age. I choose people because I like them, because they’re good people, and I know lots of amazing Jewish people. If you don’t know any Jewish people, maybe that’s the problem.”

“Well, do you know any Jewish people?” he then asked the studio audience, and was met with deafening silence.

“It’s interesting the silence, that’s surprising me a little bit,” the singer later said.

Kielty later pressed Boy George about Israel’s participation in the Eurovision. RTE has famously decided to skip the Eurovision this year in protest of Israel’s participation, but the Irish British popstar is not only refusing to boycott the show, he’ll in fact take the stage in Vienna on the same day that Israel will be in for the semi-finals on May 12. Boy George is representing San Marino, along with Italian singer Senhit, with the song “Superstar,” which he wrote. He’ll be singing one of the verses in the song, calling his appearance a sort of delightful little “sax solo.”

“I think music is about bringing people together and not separating them,” Boy George told Kielty about his participation, reminding his that his first group, Culture Club, was all about bringing cultures together — a band with an Irishman, a Jewish drummer and an Anglo-Saxon guitarist.

The former Culture Club frontman previously spoke in defense of his participation in Eurovision back in April: “I have many Jewish friends, whom I’ve known since I was 15 or 16 years old. Are people asking me, as someone with principles, to turn my back on my Jewish friends? That is not going to happen — it will never happen. From the beginning of my career, I wore the Star of David. Go back and look at photos of Culture Club. I feel very connected to the Jewish people. I’m not necessarily connected to Israel. I don’t really have an opinion on that. But the mission of music is to unite people.”

In response to Ireland’s boycott, he said, “Ireland is my mother’s homeland. I hope they’re not too angry. But if they are, that’s out of my control.”

In his interview this week, Kielty brought the topic back to the abuse that Boy George was getting online, saying that despite it all, Boy George seems very happy in his skin, and confident in his opinions.

“I personally think I’ve become a nicer person. That’s a choice, that’s not an accident. As you get older and wiser, that’s not what happens. You have to make a choice to be different,” the popstar said, “And I love being me.”

The post Boy George: ‘Our Jewish Community Brings Us So Much’ appeared first on Kveller.

Mah jongg is not just your bubbe’s game anymore; it hasn’t been for a while. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there’s been a real boom in the culture around the Chinese tile game, which was “Americanized” by mostly Jewish American players in the 1920s.

And who can blame the game’s legions of new fans? There’s something just so addictive about the tile game, the clacking sounds, the thrill of trying to form a set and stop another player from winning, the addictive joy of finally getting to yell “mah jongg” and announcing your win to everyone in the room.

So it’s not surprising that the game also has many famous fans, from Meghan Markle to Julia Roberts, who plays it once a week with her girlfriends. And of course, the game has quite a few famous Jewish fans who are following in their bubbes’ footsteps, too.

Here are some Jewish celebs who’ve proudly kvelled over mahj over the years.

Sarah Jessica Parker

The “Sex and the City” star talked about how she started playing mah jongg on “Live With Kelly and Mark” back in 2025.

“I started playing mah jongg about two and a half years before COVID and I fell in love with it, and I played every Wednesday,” she recounted. The play group she was in included one woman who she met on the beach, whose best friend teaches mah jongg in Stuytown in Manhattan.

Then that friend moved to Northern California and COVID came, and SJP’s mah jongg group stopped playing. The actress kept playing on her phone, but it just wasn’t the same. Still, she has all the mah jongg gear at home: “I have sets, old sets, new sets, banged up sets… I have a card table,” she told Kelly Ripa, who then attempted to bring her to play mahj with her in Palm Springs among a group that I assume probably skews more than less Jewish. (“It’s a group of your people,” the host told the Jewish actress.)

The “Hocus Pocus” actress then started singing the praises of the game, saying that even though the cliche player is an “archetypal housewife,” it’s “incredibly stimulating, there’s luck because it’s a draw, but there’s strategy, it’s really being thoughtful about how other people play… It’s a great game.”

We’d hire SJP to be mahj’s new ambassador — and also, she’s always welcome to come play with us!

Fran Drescher

While mah jongg was prominently featured in “The Nanny” from its first season in an episode titled “Schlepped Away,” Fran Drescher didn’t learn how to play the tile game until the 2020s, when she took it up, like many, as a pandemic hobby. She posted this adorable video of her teaming up with Rosie for her game, and the two can be seen celebrating their win quite joyfully:

Back in 2021, she hosted a mah jongg benefit for her organization Cancer Schamncer with our lovely friends at Modern Mahjong, with whom we’re hosting our New York Mah Jongg Festival this summer!

Tovah Feldshuh

The younger generation is bringing Broadway and TV star Tovah Feldshuh to the mahj table! The actress recently shared a picture of herself celebrating her daughter’s birthday two months late by playing the game. “What a fabulous gathering of so many people who love our daughter, and we all got tutored in the latest rage, MAHJONG!” Feldshuh shared on her Instagram.

Tovah, come play mahj with us!

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Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal took up mah jongg during the first weeks of the pandemic, when his wife, Janice, tried to teach him the game. He shared a video about his new hobby with the Hebrew Home of Riverdale, and even “played” his “Uncle Harry” and “Aunt Sheila,” old mah jongg pros, in the video he shot for the Jewish home, complete with a nice New York Jewish accent and wigs. The  2020 video is still pure gold, but we can’t help but want even more Billy Crystal mah jongg content.

Jill Kargman

Jill Kargman, creator and star of “Odd Mom Out” and the upcoming “Influenced,” is a relatively new, but pretty devout fan of the game. She told Kveller about it in a recent interview.

“It’s connecting me to my roots. My late grandmother, Ruth, she died at 98 and three-quarters. She was almost 99. She played mah jongg the week before she died. I really think it keeps you sharp as a tack… I think it keeps you sharp, and it staves off dementia. And you also just have, you know, top quality time with your friends, without your phones out, without a distraction.”

“I really think it can’t possibly be a coincidence that this is having a resurgence at the same time as technology and AI going crazy. It just has to be some sort of innate rebellion against that,” Kargman brilliantly observed. Hear hear!

Here is Jill hosting an event with Donna and Dara from Modern Mahjong:

Jackie Tohn

Back in October of 2025, “Nobody Wants This” star Jackie Tohn kvelled over her love for mah jongg with TODAY show host Jenna Bush Hager and guest co-host Savannah Guthrie. She talked about her parents’ 55 and over community where they take iPad classes, among other things, and Hager and Guthrie couldn’t help but ask if they play the duo’s favorite game — mah jongg.

“I love mah jongg,” Tohn then exclaimed. “You guys need to come to LA because I need mah jongg players!” Then there was a lot of lovely cooperative overlapping in which Tohn, Hager and Guthrie argued about who should go where to play mahj (“Can you come to New York?… Everybody plays Mah Jongg here!!” the hosts rightfully asked Tohn, which, please, come play mahj with us in June, Jackie!), but they finally all agreed to go visit Jackie in Glendale. Here’s hoping that magical mahj night really took place.

We’re hosting a Jewish Mah Jongg Festival in NYC this June! Get your tickets here.

The post These Jewish Celebrities Love Mah Jongg appeared first on Kveller.

TV and movie star extraordinaire Jamie Lee Curtis, the daughter of Jewish actor Tony Curtis, is very much in touch with her Jewish heritage.

It’s hard to forget how she burst into tears after Kanye threatened to go “death con three” on Jewish people, saying that all she could think about was her grandparents, who immigrated from Hungary and whose hometown’s Jewish population was completely decimated during the Holocaust. (Curtis has been very involved in helping rebuild that town’s synagogue.)

But she’s also in touch with her Judaism in less dramatic ways. Her children’s books feature Jewish holiday celebrations. She takes inspiration from Hillel and fellow strong Jewish women, and she loves using the occasional Yiddish word, as she proved in a recent Instagram post. While sharing a New York Times article about plastic surgery, Curtis, 67, wrote that she has been “geshreing about the cosmetic industrial complex for a LONG time. This piece is important!”

For those who don’t know the Yiddish word, traditionally spelled “geschrei,” it means to scream, yell or clamor about something, a beloved pastime for loud Jews like myself and absolutely a word that should get more mileage.

While Curtis says she never judges or proselytizes to any specific person who has had plastic surgery, including many of her co-stars, she has been speaking out against the plastic surgery industry for many years.

“I’ve been very vocal about the genocide of a generation of women by the cosmeceutical industrial complex, who’ve disfigured themselves,” she shared in a 2025 interview with the Guardian.

“I’ve used that word [genocide] for a long time and I use it specifically because it’s a strong word,” she continued. “I believe that we have wiped out a generation or two of natural human [appearance]. The concept that you can alter the way you look through chemicals, surgical procedures, fillers — there’s a disfigurement of generations of predominantly women who are altering their appearances. And it is aided and abetted by AI, because now the filter face is what people want. I’m not filtered right now. The minute I lay a filter on and you see the before and after, it’s hard not to go: ‘Oh, well that looks better.’ But what’s better? Better is fake. And there are too many examples — I will not name them — but very recently we have had a big onslaught through media, many of those people.”

I can’t say I agree with Curtis’ use of the word genocide in this context, but the “Halloween” and “Freakier Friday” star definitely isn’t mincing words about it, which also feels very Jewish. The actress is known for being loud and outspoken so using the word “geschrei” feels absolutely on point for her, even if she embodies so many other Yiddish words too, like kvelling and schepping naches — she loves to speak fondly of her children, her godchildren (Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal) and even her former co-star Daniel Radcliffe.

Keep geschreing and kvelling, Jamie!

The post Jamie Lee Curtis Just Used the Best Yiddish Word appeared first on Kveller.

What, exactly, do you get for Mother’s Day for the Jewish mom who has everything? 

In our humble opinion, the best gift is something that pays it forward — like a donation to a charity that supports women and children.

There are countless nonprofits around the world that do important work in this sphere. But if you’re looking to honor mom with a donation to a women-focused charity with a Jewish bent, we’ve got you covered with our Jewish giving guide for Mother’s Day. 

Whether your mom, wife or daughter is a history buff or passionate about women’s health, there’s surely a Jewish charity in our list that will resonate with her interests. As they say in the nonprofit world, giving is the best gift. Happy Mother’s Day!

1. Jewish Fertility Foundation

Courtesy of Jewish Fertility Foundation

Infertility can be a lonely journey. The Jewish Fertility Foundation (JFF) helps individuals and families so they do not have to face this isolating issue alone. JFF provides financial assistance, emotional support and infertility education to anyone struggling to build their family — including LGBTQ+ individuals, single parents, Jewish families and people of all backgrounds. 

Since its founding in 2015, parents have welcomed 367 babies into the world, thanks to JFF helping to cover the cost of in-vitro fertilization and other treatments. A donation to JFF this Mother’s Day will help make another person’s dream of parenthood become a reality. Click here to donate.

2. Jewish Women’s Archive

Courtesy of Jewish Women’s Archive

The Jewish Women’s Archive works to ensure that women’s voices and contributions take their rightful place in the Jewish story. Through a diverse array of programming  — including the Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women, the world’s largest source of information about contemporary and historical Jewish women, as well as the Pomegranate Writing Fellowship for Jewish Women of Color and the “Can We Talk?” podcast — JWA aims to empower the next generation of Jewish women to become agents of change. 

In honor of Mother’s Day, celebrate the women who have shaped your life with a gift that honors Jewish women for generations to come. Click here to donate. 

3.Yad Ezra V’Shulamit

Courtesy of Yad Ezra V’Shulamit

Recent studies show that one-quarter of Israeli children live below the poverty line, and thus the mission of Yad Ezra V’Shulamit is a straightforward one: No child in Israel should go to bed hungry. The Jerusalem-based nonprofit organization gives hundreds of children across Israel their only hot meal of the day. The organization also delivers 12,000 food baskets to widows, orphans and single parents each week, as well as some 62,000 food baskets on Jewish holidays. 

In addition, Yad Ezra V’Shulamit provides emergency relief to victims of war and terror, and they also disburse items like warm clothing and school supplies to families and children in need. A gift to Yad Ezra V’Shulamit this Mother’s Day ensures the next meal for a child in Israel. Click here to donate.

4. Sharsheret

Courtesy of Sharsheret

Sharsheret provides free, confidential and culturally meaningful support, education and resources to Jewish women and men facing breast cancer and ovarian cancer throughout the United States and Israel. The organization’s diverse programmatic offerings — which are also available to those who are not Jewish — include genetic and mental health counseling, peer support networks, financial assistance as well as lifesaving educational outreach. In addition, Sharsheret helps to meet the needs of young families, providing a “busy box” packed with resources, games and activities to help guide children through their parent’s cancer treatment or prophylactic surgery. 

The organization’s name means “chain” in Hebrew; a Mother’s Day gift to Sharsheret helps strengthen the connection among women and families facing and at elevated genetic risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Click here to donate. 

5. Kveller

Courtesy of Getty Images

You didn’t think we’d create a charitable giving guide without including a reminder that we’re a nonprofit too, did you? Our virtual community, where we kvell about all things joyful and Jewish, relies on reader donations to keep our work strong and meaningful. 

If Kveller has made you — or the moms in your life — feel more supported, comforted, entertained or proud of your Jewish identity this year, please consider making a donation this Mother’s Day to support Kveller’s work. Click here to donate.

This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with the Jewish Fertility Foundation, Jewish Women’s Archive and Yad Ezra V’Shulamit. It was produced by Kveller’s native content team.

The post Stuck on a Mother’s Day Gift? Here’s Our Jewish Charitable Giving Guide appeared first on Kveller.

I’ve never done a maternity photoshoot, and sometimes, looking at other people’s adorable pictures of their bumps with their partners, I can’t help but regret it.

That’s how I felt when I saw actor and Broadway star Beanie Feldstein’s maternity shoot — and pregnancy announcement! — with her wife Bonnie-Chance Roberts. Honestly, after their dreamy and incredibly Jewish summer camp wedding, I should’ve expected it to be this perfect.

“Limited Edition Scouse Beanie Baby coming soon!!” Feldstein, 32, shared on Instagram, along with a picture of her in a pale puffed sleeved dress with delicate lace details that made her look like the epitome of a fairy princess, embracing her pregnant belly. Roberts gently cradles the bump too with an outfit that’s just as stylish: coral pants, a white eyelet button-up top and an ascot-meets-bowtie embroidered neckpiece that is true perfection. What fashion sense these two have.

Of course, the photoshoot wouldn’t be complete without a trendy pink decorated cake that announced “B + B are having a baby!”

Based on the comments on the post, this is going to be a very loved baby.

“Omg the most gorgeous [girls] and photo ever,” Feldstein’s mom, Sharon, commented on the post.

“B’sha’ah tovah beauty!!!!!” Feldstein’s “Funny Girl” understudy, Julie Benko, wrote.

“[The] universe is healing,” Feldstein’s longtime friend Ben Platt observed.

The list of celebrities with mazel tovs is too long to share here, but it includes Olivia Wilde (who directed Feldstein in “Booksmart”), Billie Lourd, Uzo Aduba, Jessica Barden, Kaitlyn Dever, Ariana Grande, Rachel Zegler, Amanda Seyfried, Joey King, Audra McDonald and Michelle Buteau.

Feldstein is already a super devoted aunt to four. Earlier in her career, she often shared cute pictures with her late brother Jordan’s two sons, Joshua and Charlie. In 2020, she kvelled on Instagram about Joshua’s bar mitzvah. Her brother Jonah welcomed his first child, a son, in the summer on 2023 — right around the time of Beanie and Bonnie’s wedding, which explains his absence from the ceremony. He recently revealed that he welcomed another child earlier this year, and we’re sure he’ll have plenty of newborn tips for the expecting mother.

The actress, who has been vocal about her experience with grief after Jordan’s death in 2017 at age 40, also recently worked with kids at Experience Camps, a camp for kids who are dealing with loss and grief. “I thought I had a heart that was pretty decently sized, but it just grew in an unbelievable way in seven days. This camp changed my soul. I want other people to feel it too,” she wrote of the experience.

And of course, Beanie learned from the best about motherhood — she once called her mother, Sharon, or Shay, “the queen of the world” and said that “my mom cares about everything and taught me to care about everything.”

B’sha’ah tovah, Beanie and Bonnie! Hope the rest of the pregnancy is smooth sailing, pu pu pu.

The post Beanie Feldstein Is Expecting Her First Child! appeared first on Kveller.

Claire Danes knows that starring in adaptations of Israeli shows can be a boon: Her longtime starring role as Agent Carrie Mathison in “Homeland” gave her a steady paycheck and two Emmys and Golden Globes over 11 years.

So it’s not surprising that she’s slated to star (and executive produce!) in yet another adaptation of an Israeli show. This time, it’s a romantic drama titled “Lovesick,” a fairly literal translation of the show’s original Hebrew title, “Cholei Ahava.” Sarah Treem, who created the show “The Affair” with Israeli TV maker Hagai Levi (“Scenes from a Marriage,” “Our Boys,” “In Treatment”) is the showrunner.

The show is described as a “sweeping, modern romantic epic.” Dane’s character, Annika, is described as “a renowned breast cancer surgeon” who has just been diagnosed with cancer herself.

“Her new patient, Nate, is a promising politician. The series explores their interwoven lives, delving into themes of love, sex, illness, death, family, children, health, medicine and the meaning of life — all while Annika is simultaneously undergoing breast cancer treatment,” reads the show’s logline.

The plot is very similar to that of “Cholei Ahava,” whose official English title is “The Best Worst Thing.” That show premiered in Israel in February 2024. In it, Ayelet Zurer, known for her roles in Apple TV’s “Losing Alice” and “Shtisel,” plays Dr. Amalia Levi, a determined, high-achieving cancer surgeon and a divorced mom of two. “Do you know what the difference is between a surgeon and God? God wants to be a surgeon,” her longtime mentor, played by veteran actress and comedienne Hana Laszlo, jokes in the trailer.

It’s definitely exciting to think of Danes stepping into Zurer’s shoes to play this fascinating character, who reminds me a little of her complex character Rachel Fleishman from the very Jewish “Fleishman Is in Trouble.”

“I’m thrilled to get to tell this story with the genius Claire Danes,” Treem shared in a statement. “We’ve been looking for something to do together for a very long time and this character, Annika, is perhaps a mix of both of our wildest dreams. To get to tell a story about all the things keeping me up at night anyway — life, death, children, love, middle-age, courage, science and faith — is an extraordinary opportunity I don’t take lightly in these turbulent times. We’re very grateful to Netflix for this significant commitment and we cannot wait to get going.”

I also can’t wait for “Lovesick” to hit Netflix! Here’s hoping it comes to the streamer sooner rather than later.

The post Claire Danes To Star in (Another) Adaptation of an Israeli Hit Show Coming to Netflix appeared first on Kveller.

May may be Jewish American Heritage Month, but when it comes to new TV this month, there’s hardly any Jewish heritage to be spotted. That works out well for those of us playing TV catch up. You can, for example, start watching this season of “Friends and Neighbors,”  which is still airing this month on Apple TV and whose latest episode featured a surprising Passover seder with Amanda Peet. Or you can laugh your butts off at Robbie Hoffman in the excellent “Rooster” on HBO Max. And if you haven’t yet, you can enjoy the Jewish joke-laden season two of Netflix’s “Running Point,” where Max Greenfield’s Nice Jewish Doctor Lev Levison gets very protective over his bubbe.

But if you’re looking for something new and Jewish on TV, here are some shows with lovely Jewish stars and just a bit of Jewish representation to enjoy this month.

May 2: “Remarkably Bright Creatures” (Netflix)

What’s so Jewish about this adaptation of the bestselling Shelby Van Pelt book about a woman who works at an aquarium and befriends an octopus? Well, the protagonist’s name is Tova, an excellent Jewish name that means “good.” In the movie, Tova is played by Sally Field, and Cameron, the young coworker she befriends in the film is played by a Jewish actor — Lewis Pullman, son of actor Bill Pullman and Jewish dancer Tamara Hurwitz (Pullman and his father are set to star in the upcoming “Spaceballs” sequel). The film also stars another amazing Jewish actress, Sofia Black-D’Elia, who starred in the very Jewish series “Single Drunk Female.”

Judaism rating: 0.2/4 couch potato latkes

May 9: “All’s Fair In Love & Mahjong” (Hallmark)

Hallmark’s first mahjong romcom is coming, and people have feelings. The film about a divorced mom finding love and a calling in the beloved tile game has very little Asian representation (the game is a Chinese one) and no discernible Jewish representation (American mah jongg, which is the version played in the film, was largely standardized by Jewish women in Jewish spaces). We do know now that the movie will acknowledge mah jongg’s Chinese roots.

“Mah jongg is a critical part of Chinese culture, mah jongg means ‘sparrow,’ for the clicking noise,” actor Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, who plays Shelley in the movie, says in the teaser Hallmark recently released.

Will we still be watching? We’ll have to let you know.

Judaism rating: Maybe -1/4 couch potato latkes? Though we really don’t know yet.

May 12, 14, 16: “Eurovision” 2026 (Peacock)

Israel is participating in this year’s Eurovision as planned, in spite of the fact that four countries have decided to pull out of the contest in protest. Noam Bettan, who will be competing in the first semi-final on May 12, is currently projected to take 6th place by Eurovision betting polls with his song “Michelle,” a trilingual bop about a man letting go of a toxic relationship. Here’s hoping all the drama stays in the songs and outside the contest itself.

Judaism rating: 0.25/4 couch potato latkes

May 15: “Couples Therapy” season 5 (Paramount+)

Israeli-American couples therapist Orna Guralnik is back with another season of her always illuminating show, in which she helps couples better understand each other in hopes of healing their relationships. In previous seasons, she’s had observant Jewish couples and Jewish author Boris Fishman on the show, who became one of last season’s “villains.” He wrote that the response to his appearance “almost wrecked my marriage.”

“I have a really intense group of couples, anxious, crazed, pushed to the edge,” Guralnik says of the new couples she’s treating this season.

Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes. It’s therapy, baby.

May 22: “Mating Season” (Netflix)

It’s not likely that this new show, from the makers of “Big Mouth,” will be as Jewish as its predecessor but it definitely looks as horny and unhinged, if not more. Created by Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, Andrew Goldberg and Nick Kroll, “Mating Season” stars two of the best Jewish comedians around — Kroll voices a raccoon named Ray and Zach Woods voices a bear named Josh.

Judaism rating: 1/4 couch potato latkes

May 22: “Ladies First” (Netflix)

We thought you should know that Sacha Baron Cohen is in a new film. Is there anything Jewish about this film? Not really, no, not as far as we can tell, but we’ll never not watch something with Sacha, and his character’s name is Damien Sachs, which could be a Jewish name? Maybe. Anyway, the film is an adaptation of a French movie and is about a ladies’ man who “gets a real wake-up call when he finds himself in a parallel world dominated by women where he goes head-to-head with a fiery female counterpart who makes things far more of a challenge for him.”

Judaism rating: 2/4 couch potato latkes, Sacha really makes even the least Jewish thing just that much more Jewish

May 25: “World War II With Tom Hanks” (History)

Tom Hanks narrates this show about the well-known and little-known history of World War II, including one episode, “Darkness Falls,” which follows how as Hitler’s reach expanded into Europe, his hateful rhetoric led to anti-Jewish persecution and ultimately, genocide.

Judaism rating: 1/4 couch potato latkes

The post All the Jewish TV Coming in May 2026 appeared first on Kveller.

For a truly impressive number of years, Australian musician Nick Cave, frontman of the Bad Seeds, (not to be confused with American visual artist Nick Cave, though I am a huge fan of both) has been answering fan mail from his fans on the website The Red Hand Files.

Cave is not Jewish, but in the latest installment of the files he cheekily brings up a Jewish concept not often quoted by non-Jewish artists. That concept is lashon hara, which literally means evil tongue, but more expansively refers to bad speech and the prohibition, according to Jewish law, to speak ill of someone.

Cave used the term in response to some negative feedback he got, possibly in reference to the singer’s longstanding refusal to boycott Israel and insistence on still performing with his band in the Jewish state. Cave shared his feelings about BDS in an e-mail with Brian Eno, who tried to get him to cancel his Israeli shows, writing that he thinks “the cultural boycott of Israel is cowardly and shameful. In fact, this is partly the reason I am playing Israel – not as support for any particular political entity but as a principled stand against those who wish to bully, shame and silence musicians.”

Lee from Bournemouth in the UK asked the Grammy-nominated star: “Do you have any plans to spearhead a new artist’s collective? It could be called ‘Artists who are neither for or against crimes against humanity, because making money is sacred!’ (You could change the last bit to ‘art is sacred’ but I doubt it will fool anybody.”

The chutzpah-filled question got an ever more chutzpah-filled response. Cave wrote to Lee that he and his wife of over 20 years, Susie, “try to be mindful of lashon hara – a Hebrew term meaning ‘evil speech,’ an act forbidden under Jewish law. It basically means you are prohibited from saying anything negative about anyone, even if it is true.”

They’re not Jewish, he explained, but the concept just “feels like a pretty solid idea” to them. So the loving couple will be sitting together and gabbing and “if Susie starts to say something unkind about someone,” Cave will respond with: “Lashon hara, babe.” And when he engages in any egregious negative speech about someone else, Susie will respond with: “Darling, lashon hara,” a line I’m personally going to adopt and maybe paint onto a large canvas to hang in my dining room.

In his letter, Cave goes on to explain that the couple has taken on this habit to “keep each other on the righteous path.”

Unfortunately for Lee from Bournemouth, Susie was not on the premises when Cave was writing his response to Lee’s “suggestion that whatever position I may hold, I hold for the money,” so Cave finished his response with a verbose and explicit: “Well, lashon hara and all that, but Lee, you are a massive fuckwit and should forthwith, with no hesitation and great urgency, go fuck yourself.”

Is cursing someone else really lashon hara? Well, that depends on who you ask. Technically, lashon hara only really refers to language that causes harm, but colloquially, we most often use it to refer to gossip and maligning speech about another person.

One thing is for sure: It’s always a delight to hear someone who isn’t Jewish talk about lashon hara.

The post Musician Nick Cave and His Wife Follow This Jewish Law appeared first on Kveller.

The website Babycenter released a list of baby names that are truly timeless according to their data, and among the two dozen names is one that means timeless in Hebrew: Ethan. According to the Social Security Administration, Ethan has been in the top 25 baby names since 2000.

OK, technically Ethan means “enduring” or “solid,” but close enough, right? In the book of Exodus, the Hebrew form of the name, Eitan, is used to mean “perennial” or “ever flowing” with regards to the Red Sea.It’s also used in a somewhat iconic quote: “Let justice well up like water, righteousness like an unfailing (eitan) stream.”

Ethan has been popular for so long that it might seem like it’s been ubiquitous since its biblical days. But in the United States, the name only broke through to the top 1000 baby names twice in the first half of the 20th century. It entered the zeitgeist for good in 1956, really started climbing in the late 1980s (around the time Ethan Hawke starred in “The Dead Poets Society”), and peaked in the early 2000s — a jump Nameberry associates with the release of the “Mission: Impossible” movies, where Tom Cruise plays secret agent Ethan Hunt.

The name remained in the top 10 boys’ baby names from 2002 until 2016, peaking at number 2 in 2009 and 2010 (if you’re keeping track, that was during a “Mission: Impossible” drought; no movies from the franchise were released between 2006 and 2010). As of 2024, it was still in the top 25, landing at number 19. 

The popularity of Ethan isn’t altogether surprising, given that biblical boys’ names have dominated the top 10 for decades. Other Hebrew biblical names holding steady on the baby name charts (and also on Babycenter’s list of timeless names) are Benjamin, Daniel, Elijah, Gabriel, Matthew and, more recently, Noah and Levi.

“I want to name my baby Ethan but it’s too popular!”

If you love Ethan but want a name that’s less popular, why not go back to its Hebrew roots with Eitan? Eitan is familiar and easy to say in English, but not overly popular — the name has never been in the top 1000 baby names according to the Social Security Administration (although anecdotally, we’re hearing about more and more baby Eitans in less observant Jewish circles). In Israel, Eitan was the ninth most popular baby name in 2025.

What Kveller readers think about the name Ethan

“90s kid.”

“It’s just like….someone’s husband’s name.”

“A cool guy — but not a jerk.”

“He’s a trumpet player.”

“Boy next door.” 

“Nice Jewish boy.”

“Wasn’t that Lizzie McGuire’s crush’s name?”

“Preppy.”

“His mom wants him to be a doctor.”

“AEPi f*ckboy.”

What Kveller readers think about the name Eitan

“Cool Israeli counselor.”

“Someone’s Israeli cousin.”

“Popular kid at Jewish summer camp.”

“Nerdier version of Ethan.”

“More religious version of Ethan.”

“In the book ‘Ninth House’ there’s an Israeli gangster guy called Eitan, so… that.”

“Hot Israeli.”

Strong.”

“He’s a lil self obsessed.”

“Crunchy.”

Other Jewish baby names with similar vibes to Ethan, according to Kveller readers

Asher

Jacob (specifically with the nickname Jake)

Ezra

Nathan

Gabe

Isaac

Jonah

Levi

Seth

The post This Jewish Name Has Been in the Top 25 Baby Names For More Than Two Decades appeared first on Kveller.

There are days lately when I wake up already overwhelmed.

Not the existential, late-night kind of overwhelmed about the state of our world (though there’s that, too) but the mundane, domestic version that arrives before 8 a.m. 

My daughter can’t find socks. The baby won’t stop screaming. The news is grim. We are all running late. My coffee is cold. 

This is not exactly the emotional terrain where “live in the present moment” advice tends to land well.

And yet lately, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

Partly because the past few months have been full of reminders — from the news, public figures and private conversations — that life is fragile in ways we prefer not to dwell on. When people facing serious illness talk about how it forced them to see their lives differently, one thing comes up again and again: They learn to live in the present and see ordinary days as gifts. 

It’s the sort of perspective that sounds both deeply wise and completely impossible.

How does someone like me, muddling through after-school activities, laundry piles and a never-ending to-do list, embrace this mindset in a world that often feels like it’s unraveling in real time?

This is where a Jewish concept I recently encountered has been unexpectedly helpful.

It’s called “yishuv ha-da’at,” which is often translated as “settled awareness” or “settling of the mind.” In Jewish mindfulness teachings, it refers to a kind of mental steadiness: the ability to remain present rather than scattered or reactive.

The phrase itself comes from classical Jewish ethical writing, especially the Mussar tradition, which focuses on cultivating character and inner awareness. In those texts, yishuv ha-da’at describes a mind that is steady enough to pause, reflect and respond thoughtfully instead of reacting on autopilot. 

In more modern Jewish mindfulness practices, the idea is often framed a little differently: as a kind of contentment that can exist even amid the noise and chaos of daily life. It’s not about escaping stress or tuning out the world’s problems. Rather, it’s about creating enough mental space to remain present within them — to notice what is actually happening in front of you, and to find moments of steadiness, and even satisfaction, within it. It’s not about transcending life’s difficulties or achieving blissful, Zen-like detachment. Instead, it’s about entering fully into whatever is happening and meeting it with presence.

In other words: noticing your life while it’s happening.

That may sound simple. It is not.

Most of the time, my mind is going a million miles a minute, ruminating on all the things that I need to get done. Meanwhile, the present moment — the actual life unfolding around me — often goes largely unnoticed. Things like the baby’s delighted squeal when he discovers he can drop food from his high chair, or my daughter’s proud excitement to show me the picture she colored at school. It is so easy to overlook these little moments, but yishuv ha-da’at helps me remember how meaningful these can be. 

Yishuv ha-da’at doesn’t magically eliminate stress. The laundry is still there. The headlines are still grim. I’m always stepping on the baby’s discarded Cheerios.

But it offers a different posture toward life’s chaos.

Instead of trying to escape it, or frantically manage every piece of it, settled awareness invites us to inhabit the moment we’re already in.

Sometimes that looks like taking one deep breath before responding to a child’s fifth “Mom!” in 30 seconds.

Sometimes it’s noticing the warmth of a small hand wrapped around yours while crossing the street.

Sometimes it’s simply recognizing that even in the middle of exhaustion and worry and global uncertainty, there are still tiny, flickering moments of goodness happening all around us.

The Jewish tradition is full of practices designed to bring this kind of awareness into everyday life, and yishuv ha-da’at feels like one that can be especially helpful to parents who are trying to keep their heads above water while wading through life’s muck.

In a world that often feels like a nonstop cascade of crises, that kind of awareness can feel almost radical.

It doesn’t solve the problems of the world. It doesn’t erase anxiety or grief or uncertainty.

It does, however, remind us that our lives are happening now, not just in some hypothetical future where things are calmer and more manageable.

Maybe that’s the real gift of yishuv ha-aa’at: not a perfect, peaceful mind, but the ability, however briefly, to settle into the life we’re already living.

Are you looking for more joy in these trying times? Sign up for our e-mail series, Joy-ish, a Jewish guide to finding the good when things feel bad. 

The post This Jewish Mindfulness Practice is So Helpful in Our Chaotic World appeared first on Kveller.

Mother’s Day is approaching! This year the holiday falls on May 10, which is right around the corner. You know what that means: It’s time to order the Jewish mom in your life a present!

Last year, the Kveller editors got together to make a list of what we’d really want for Mother’s Day, and honestly, every item on that list is still very much an awesome present.

This year, we have a list based on the interests of the mom in your life. A crafter, a balaboosta, a voracious reader or a mah jongg die-hard? We’ve got something for everyone!

Here are 18 gifts that the moms in your life are sure to love.

The post 18 Thoughtful Gifts for Jewish Moms on Mother’s Day appeared first on Kveller.

Back in July 2025, I wrote about “Don’t Say Good Luck,” a Happy Madison movie filming, in part, in a Jewish deli (specifically filmed in Livingston, NJ’s Nana’s Deli) and centering a very Jewish family with a very exciting (and pretty Jewish) cast.

Now we finally have a first look and release date for the Julia Hart-directed and Adam Sandler-produced movie.

So mark your calendars for Aug. 14, the height of summer, when this new movie will be hitting our TVs (or whatever screens we stream Netflix on, really).

“Don’t Say Good Luck” is titled after the very important superstition in theater — never say good luck before the play, say break a leg — which, as a theater kid and the daughter of a very superstitious Jew (pu pu pu, kinehora was a part of my daily vocab), always felt very Jewish to me.

The Netflix synopsis reads: “Sophie Birenbaum (Sunny Sandler) is ready for the spotlight as the lead in her high school musical — until suddenly she’s living with even more drama at home than on the stage.” The movie is based on a script written by author Laura Hankin and Jordan Horowitz and is based on a story by Hankin.

Sophie will be played by Adam Sandler’s youngest daughter, Sunny, who we already loved in Netflix’s “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.” The transition from onscreen bat mitzvah kid to onscreen Jewish theater kids just feels right. Sophie’s dad will be played by the very Jewish Max Greenfield, known for playing Schmidt from “New Girl” and most recently, jilted Nice Jewish Doctor Lev Levenson in “Running Point” (justice for Lev!). Her mother will be played by Melanie Lynskey, who isn’t Jewish but who recently starred in “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” as author Heather Morris. Sophie’s siblings will be played by 8-year-old Jewish twins Eitan and Matan Friedman — mazel tov to them on the big Netflix role!

The film also features Bebe Neuwirth, Steve Buscemi and Jon Lovitz, so there’s really a lot to be excited for. Netflix has promised this movie will be our new obsession. And Chandler Levack, the director of Happy Madison’s new and excellent “Roommates,” which stars Sadie Sandler (a producer on “Don’t Say Good Luck”) and was filmed in New Jersey at the same time as this film, commented that she thinks it’s going to “break the internet.”

This Jewish theater kid truly can’t wait!

The post A Very Jewish Movie Starring Sunny Sandler and Max Greenfield Is Coming to Netflix This Summer appeared first on Kveller.

You don’t have to be a basketball fan to be obsessed with Deni Avdija.

The Israeli NBA All-Star has been making waves on the Portland Trail Blazers this playoff season. Until the latest NBA draft, he was the lone Israeli in the NBA; he was joined by the Brooklyn Nets’ Ben Saraf in 2025.

Avdija began his career in Maccabi Tel Aviv as the youngest player to ever join the team. He was drafted to the Washington Wizards in 2020 and traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in 2024. While he first struggled with the Wizards, he’s become one of the NBA’s standout players. A lot of basketball greats have sung his praises. “He’s a quality player, he’s a big time player,” LeBron James said of Avdijah in one interview. Many consider him to be the best basketball player to have ever come out of Israel.

Here are some things to know about Deni Avdija beyond his incredible basketball career.

His parents are both former basketball players

Deni’s father, Zufer “Zufi” Avdija, a Gorani Muslim from Serbia, formerly played basketball in Serbia and Yugoslavia before moving to play for Israeli teams in the 1990s. Zufer fell in love with Israel as a young player. He first came during the time of the Gulf War, and decided that he would stay through thick and thin. “I came 30 years ago, if I had to go back in time, I would come even earlier,” he shared in an interview.

It was in Israel that he met his wife, Sharon Artzi, from Kibbutz Beit Zera. Sharon was a basketball player and track and field star.

The two married and raised Deni in Kibbutz Beit Zera.

Deni is really close to his parents

They’re both his biggest fans and have a lot of faith in him. While his father, who worked as a coach while Deni was young, is known for giving him his drive and indispensable player tips, his high school coach shared in an interview that Deni’s mother, Sharon, is his anchor: “She’s with him at home, she helps him keep that [routine] at home, that NBA routine is very hard.”

Zufer, too, credits Sharon with how Deni turned out: “It’s his mom, Sharon, 80% her, 20% me, if it were my education, it would be a mess, but they didn’t let me get too involved, so it all came out great.”

“I feel like Zufi is a hard person to take seriously, because he’s colorful, he has that silly spirit, but he’s very clever,” Deni said of his father. “The problem is that he doesn’t always know how to express himself in Hebrew, but I feel like at the end of the day he says a lot of smart things.”

His mother, Sharon Artzi, gave him the name Deni — and some Israeli reporters still struggle with it

In an early TV appearance on Israel’s sports channel, Chanel 5, Zufer Avdija brought a printed sheet of paper to the studio from home. On it was his son’s name, with the Hebrew vowels on it. You see, Israeli reporters still mispronounce Deni’s name to this day as Dani Avadia, but the way it is meant to be pronounced is Deh-nee Av-dee-yah.

In an interview from the days when Deni played for Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sharon shared that she gave her son the name Deni because she envisioned him as an international star: “Deni is beacause I wanted him to have international luck so I gave him an international name.”

He’s a big fan of anything his grandmother cooks — especially kubbeh

In a 2020 interview, Deni’s grandfather Ze’ev shared that his grandson, like many an athlete, is a voracious eater, and is especially fond of his grandmother’s kubbeh.

“What will Deni do in the NBA without his grandmother’s kubbeh?” the interviewers then asked Ze’ev.

“No, no you’re wrong,” he replied. “His grandmother will come with him to the NBA to make him kubbeh.”

He believes in giving back to his country

Deni hasn’t just helped Team Israel achieve big sports feats, winning two gold medals at European championships — he’s also known for volunteering his time. For example in the summer of 2024, he met with kids in the South who were evacuated from their homes, even signing a shirt for a child whose father was killed on October 7.

His thoughts about what to do when other players speak against his home country? “I don’t think I should pay attention to every person who has something to say.”

The post 5 Fun Facts About Israeli NBA All-Star Deni Avdija appeared first on Kveller.

Almost a year ago, I became obsessed with mah jongg.

I know. I know. The world is on fire, and I’m over here organizing neighborhood games, teaching at my local synagogue and running a Facebook group for Jewish mah jongg players. If that sounds a little ridiculous, well, it is.

But here’s the thing: Mah jongg has changed my life in ways I wasn’t expecting. It keeps my brain focused and engaged instead of spinning out into anxiety. It’s introduced me to a lovely, funny group of people in my community and online. Every time I sit down at the table, I feel connected to generations of Jewish women who have embraced this popular Chinese game. And also, it’s just really, really fun.

In other words: This game brings me joy.

I used to wonder if I had any right to seek joy when there is so much suffering in the world. I wondered if I was being selfish.

But I don’t worry about that anymore.

That’s because I’ve realized that joy isn’t a luxury we get to enjoy once things calm down (and not just because things never really do). Joy is what keeps us going when things are hard. Judaism has understood this for thousands of years — joy isn’t a suggestion, it’s a mitzvah. The book of Deuteronomy literally commands us to rejoice. Every Simchat Torah, for example, we pull the scrolls out of the ark and dance around the shul with them, no matter what kind of year it’s been.

I’m Carla Naumburg, a licensed clinical social worker, author and the author of Kveller’s Calm-ish series for Jews with anxiety. This new series, Joy-ish, is about the next step. It’s not about pretending everything is fine, and it’s not about toxic positivity or forced gratitude. Instead, it’s about making deliberate, sustainable space for joy — even now, especially now — in the middle of real life.

Sign up for this new, limited-run newsletter about how to embrace joy during troubled times. Over the coming weeks, we’ll explore what that actually looks like in practice: practical, Jewish-infused strategies for feeling more present, more connected and more joyful, including:

• Noticing and giving thanks (and why Judaism is so obsessed with it)
• Marking time to make meaning
• Making space for grief and fear without letting it take over
• Connecting as a necessity, not a luxury
• Giving what you can (and why “small counts”)
• Learning to love learning again
• The power of play

I hope you’ll join me on this journey to help cultivate a deeper sense of joy in our lives, even when faced with challenging circumstances. And maybe, in the meantime, consider taking up mah jongg.

Sign up for our new email series, Joy-ish, here. 

The post Finding Joy Is a Mitzvah. Yes, Even Now. appeared first on Kveller.

Grief always shows up extra hard at life cycle events: birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations.

For Jake Reiner, whose parents renowned director Rob Reiner and photographer and producer Michele Reiner were killed in their home on Dec. 14 of last year, that feels especially true with his 34th birthday just a week away. It is the first one he will celebrate without his parents.

In a moving Substack post, which opens with a picture of him as a baby with his loving parents, the actor, producer and writer reflected on his grief and his relationship with his parents. Reiner revealed that he was actually at a celebration of life for a recently deceased friend when his sister Romy, who found their parents’ bodies in their home, called to deliver the news.

“The 45-minute Lyft ride from downtown to the west side was unendurable. My world, as I knew it, had collapsed. I was in a trance. The only thing I could focus on was that I needed to get to my childhood home. I needed to get to my sister. I needed to figure out what the hell just happened,” he recalled.

Like many people dealing with fresh grief, Reiner shared that he still wakes up every morning thinking that what he experienced was just a nightmare, acclimating himself every day to his unimaginable loss. He called the situation a living nightmare, saying he can’t stop reflecting on how frightened his parents must have been that night, and how they were the last people who deserved to experience such horrors.

He called Rob and Michele the best parents one could ever have, the center of his life and his guiding lights. He wrote about how easy to talk to they both were, and how they made no subject taboo and gave their children all the attention and advice they could.

“The love they have for me, my brother, and my sister is truly unconditional. And the love they have for each other in their marriage is something I always looked up to as the standard of what a successful relationship looks like,” he shared.

Reiner recalled the magical experiences he was privileged to share with his parents: going to see Broadway shows with his mom, going on vacations, going to Dodgers games and events with his dad, who passed on to him the love of baseball he inherited from his father, comedian Carl Reiner. But he said he would happily give all of those experiences up for just one hour with his parents, to be able to say his proper goodbyes.

His recollections about his mother, Michele, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, are familiar to many of us with Jewish moms and balaboostas in our lives. He called her “the engine, the backbone, and the heart of our entire family,” and shared she would be the one who organized all holiday dinners with their extended family — vowing never to host again each year only to inevitably do it all over again the next year — and family holidays. He wrote that she always planned things perfectly.

On Instagram, Reiner credited David Kessler, who has written multiple books about grief, for helping him and his sister deal with their grief, and thanked their aunt, Martine Singer, Michele’s sister, for taking care of them.

When reflecting on what people can say to him to help in the wake of this tragedy, he divulged that in truth, there really is nothing to say to ease his pain. “I just ask for love and compassion,” he wrote. “The same principles my parents lived by.”

Our hearts are with Jake, Romy and their loved ones. May the memories of Rob and Michele Reiner be for a blessing.

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The post Jake Reiner’s Reflection About His Parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, Is Moving and Heartbreaking appeared first on Kveller.

After more than four years, one of HBO Max’s biggest hits “Euphoria” is back on the platform with season three.

In this season, we spend time with the show’s teen protagonists Zendaya’s Rue, Jacob Elordi’s Nate, Sydney Sweeney’s Cassie and the rest of the talented young cast. The characters are still struggling to find a way through addiction and greed, and attempting to figure out their futures.

This new season of the show that never plays it safe is already making plenty of waves.

One controversy in particular involves Zendaya’s Rue, the show’s main protagonist, wearing a shirt with the word “Jerusalem” and a camel in the season’s second episode, which shows her going through a spiritual journey of sorts. It’s a perfect prop for anyone on a quest for meaning and religion, but some have called it Zionist propaganda — and a few linked it to the fact that the show was originally an adaptation of an Israeli show.

“Euphoria” was indeed co-created by Israeli TV makers Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. In an excellent piece for Ynet, Leshem opened up about how the show came to be. Here’s everything you need to know about the original show.

What is the story behind the original Israeli “Euphoria”?

In 2012, “Euphoria” aired in Israel on Hot. The show was created by Ron Leshem and Daphna Levin. It told the story of a jaded group of teens trying to dull their pain and ennui with sex and drugs. The fantastically rendered characters were all based on real stories. In many ways, “Euphoria” was ahead of its time; its magical realism tapped into a dark, unhinged and hopeless teen reality that other shows about teens do not match.

The series faced backlash. Its incredibly explicit content had to be kept away from young people, airing and available on VOD only after 10 p.m. and always clearly demarcated for viewers who were 18 and over. Leshem said the show’s creators were chastised by a Likud representative who said they should’ve painted Israel’s youth in a positive light.

The show touched on both universal trials of being a teen and those specific to growing up in Israel. The show’s only season follows the happenings in the aftermath of a murder: a young teen is killed by the boyfriend of a girl he supposedly hit on at a party. It is based on a real 2004 murder. Some of the characters include a gay teen who left his home and is being pressured to do conversion therapy, a young man who was drafted to the IDF but deserted, a shy but gifted teen who dreams of being an IDF pilot and makes hallucinogens, a kippah-wearing boy who becomes a murderer and an Arab teen who dreams of becoming a veterinarian. There is a lot in this show about porn addiction, body image, drugs and people using sex as escapism.

How did the HBO Max “Euphoria” adaptation come to be?

According to Leshem’s recent Ynet piece, the show is a culmination of many years of “no,” as Leshem and producer Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein tried to shop it to different studios across the U.S.

Apparently, the former HBO CEO said the show would never get made in the U.S., but when Casey Bloys ascended to his current position as the head of the network, he remembered the show from previous meetings and greenlit a pilot. He put Sam Levinson — a gifted director all on his own, and the son of famed Jewish filmmaker Barry Levinson — at the helm.

In his recent piece, Leshem recalls that all the young stars of the show were skeptical of what would come to be, knowing HBO produces so many pilots and shows that never make it anywhere. Many of them were relatively unknown before the show’s success, and Leshem recounts how delighted they were when they realized that “Euphoria” was the channel’s second most successful show after “Game of Thrones.”

How involved are the show’s original creators in the HBO Max show?

Leshem and Levin are credited in each episode as the creators of the original “Euphoria.” And while Levinson is known to take on the writing of the episodes mostly himself, it does seem like Leshem and Levin are a presence on set.

How Jewish is the American “Euphoria”?

So far not Jewish at all, aside from a few stars (the late Eric Dane, Maude Apatow, to name a few) and Levinson being Jewish themselves.

But according to Leshem, this season was in some ways inspired by a quote from Levinson’s rabbi: “There is no great light, but that which comes out of great darkness.”

The quote means a lot to Levinson, especially after the show and the people creating it experienced many tragedies. Star Angus Cloud died of a drug overdose in 2023. Jewish star Eric Dane, whose storyline was particularly moving to Leshem, who is gay and partnered with two children, died of complications related to ALS. And one of the show’s main producers, Kevin Turen, died from a heart condition.

Levinson told Leshem and the cast and crew that he wanted to make a third season about “faith and salvation.”

What else can I watch by “Euphoria”‘s Israeli creators?

They’ve worked on too many excellent shows to name, but “Bad Boy,” which is streaming on Netflix and “Valley of Tears” are good places to start.

The post Everything You Need to Know About the Original Israeli ‘Euphoria’ Show and Its Creators appeared first on Kveller.

A non-Jewish friend once told me that driving my daughter Sacha to drama class every week had become the highlight of his Monday. On those car rides, she would chatter away about Jewish holidays, traditions and stories, completely unprompted.

“I can tell she’s really proud of her family,” he said.

It meant more to me than he knew. It’s one thing to see your child celebrating their Jewish identity at home, but it’s another entirely to hear who they are when you’re not there.

That was the moment I realized how much things had shifted across generations. Because when I was a child, my Jewish identity lived mostly at home.

I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood in London, in a home with a strong Israeli foundation and energy. My mum was Sephardi Israeli, and my dad was Ashkenazi and English. It was a happy, vibrant childhood, filled with Shabbat dinners, synagogue and summers in Israel every year. Israel was the highlight of my childhood; festivals with my extended family there felt natural and effortless.

My parents never told me to hide who I was. They also never told me explicitly to be proudly Jewish. They simply were themselves in the world. My mum was bold, outgoing, vibrant and daring. My dad was gentle and steady. 

Out in the world, it was a different story. I went to a non-Jewish school in a largely non-Jewish part of London. I definitely had a feeling that I didn’t quite fit in Jewishly. The Jewish crowds I encountered felt very cool and overconfident, and that wasn’t me. 

I remember feeling irritated when some Jewish girls talked about Shabbat or challah in front of non-Jewish friends. I thought it excluded the non-Jewish girls and seemed cliquey. Looking back, that probably says more about my insecurity than anything else. I never consciously feared antisemitism, but I didn’t feel completely comfortable being openly Jewish in non-Jewish spaces either. 

At university, I mostly had non-Jewish friends, and I don’t even remember explicitly telling people I was Jewish. It wasn’t hidden, but it wasn’t expressed either. 

In fact, I only really began living my Jewish life more loudly and proudly after becoming a parent.

I never thought about how I wanted to raise my children Jewishly prior to having my girls. But as Sacha and Zara started getting older, I realized that there were parts of my childhood that hadn’t sat comfortably with me, and as a mother I’m intentional about not repeating the things that didn’t work: everything from hating Sunday school and being “forced to do Jewish stuff,” to the awkwardness of compartmentalising my identity and feeling slightly out of place in both the Jewish and non-Jewish worlds.

So to counter all of that, I’m quite intentional about making Judaism fun, meaningful and relevant. We talk openly about why we love being Jewish and what it means to us.

For holidays, the girls help me set fun tablescapes. One year my younger daughter Zara invented a tradition where everyone had to decorate their own special cupcake for Rosh Hashanah. 

I love the idea that Judaism can evolve over time, and while we absolutely keep some of the traditions that I remember from my parents and my husband’s parents, I’m passionate about introducing new ones that resonate with my kids — and giving them the freedom to create their own. I’m very against shoehorning Judaism into the one “right” way.

Today, at 11 and 12, my girls love being Jewish. They see it as a superpower and a big part of their identity. Judaism is central to who they are in a way it just wasn’t for me growing up. 

Part of it is probably because they see how my work revolves around celebrating Jewish life publicly. I’m so out and proud that they follow suit. But the thing about my work is that I started my first business, Smashing The Glass, because I felt unseen as a Jewish woman in the wedding industry. That led to other projects, like Your Jewish Life and Luxe Jewish Life, which now sells “Jewish Joy Journals” for kids and adults,  which also emerged from spaces where I felt unseen and wanted to fix that. 

All that said, I feel like it’s important for my daughters to know that Jewish pride doesn’t have to be loud. Sometimes it’s that small voice inside you that says, “I can handle this.” “I belong here.” “I don’t need to shrink.” It’s just being confident in who you are in a non-Jewish space, and that’s what I’ve tried to instill in them. 

I’m also parenting in a different world than the one I grew up in, where everything is much more out there and less subtle, and whereOctober 7 has changed so much for Jewish families. 

I had to explain antisemitism to my daughters at ages 9 and 8 after antisemitic graffiti appeared at their school. It felt shocking and wrong that they should have to understand those concepts so young.

On the flipside, I began living my Jewish life even more loudly, and of course that’s affected my girls, too. I only started wearing a Star of David regularly after October 7. It’s so important for me to show them that they don’t need to hide parts of themselves. Of course I never want them to put themselves in danger. But ultimately, what I fear more than antisemitism is internalized shame.

I never want my daughters calculating how Jewish is “too Jewish.” I want them to grow up knowing they already belong, just as they are. Not because the world is always kind, but because their sense of self is solid enough not to be dictated by other people’s comfort levels. I don’t want their Jewishness to be something that lives at home and gets tucked away outside it.

We can’t control the world our children grow up in. But we can shape the voice that lives inside their heads. And my greatest hope for my girls, as they grow up and start making their own way in the world, is for that voice to say, “This is who I am. And I don’t ever need to hide or shrink.” 

The post I Hope My Daughters Are Always This Proud of Their Judaism appeared first on Kveller.

In one of the many moving scenes in Netflix’s “Noah Kahan: Out of Body,” singer Noah Kahan sits with his dad, Josh, on the porch of his Nashville home. They each strum a guitar as they play the first song they ever played together (when Noah was just 9!): the 1970 hit “Father & Son” by Cat Stevens.

Here they are, two vulnerable Jewish men, trying to figure each other out.

Since they first played that song together, Noah Kahan has taken the country’s biggest stages, from Fenway Park to Madison Square Garden with his mega hits, “Stick Season,” “You’re Gonna Get Far” and the very Jewishly named “Call Your Mom” (his mom, author and artist Lauri Berkenkamp, is not Jewish). And Josh Kahan suffered a traumatic brain injury that might not make him able to play the song the way he used to when this father-son duo first did.

Still, it’s a gorgeous duet, heartrending and intimate.

Noah he gives his all on the porch of his Nashville home, flanked by a father who he says in the documentary he once feared he would lose. He shares his regrets about being annoyed and frustrated with him. “I feel like a lot of it is because I can’t figure out a way to let my dad be who he is,” Noah says in the documentary.

His father, whom listeners will recognize from his music, was the person from whom he inherited generational trauma and a propensity for mental illness. And also that “Jewish” nose he often jokes about. (“I got a nose job… They made it bigger,” he jokes in another scene.)

Kahan, 29, has never shied away from being Jewish. He’s called himself the Jewish Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi. He told Billboard: “Growing up half Jewish and having this face on me… it has kind of been a big part of my identity.” But he doesn’t talk about it in this documentary (though one can peep a Star of David doodled on his childhood desk in his home in Vermont). Still, the documentary is about a Jewish artist who gets especially vulnerable — in his music and on film — about mental health, about body dysphoria, about family, and that alone makes it worth a watch.

Kahan has compared himself to Larry David in the past, and has taken the stage with his Vermont “cousin” Bernie Sanders. He’s full of self-deprecation and derisive humor just like him on stage, but Kahan also brings with him a kind radical openness, which is what makes his music so healing, so important to its listeners. And just like his music, his openness in this documentary makes one feel so seen, feel a sense of healing — even if it isn’t necessary healing to him.

He knows his fans think that “because I’m able to say something painful, I can get through something painful.” But he says that in his years of therapy, he’s learned that in life “there is no happy ending or like full circle moment. It’s like waking up every day and trying.”

And yet the moment with his dad feels like one of those full-circle moments, still.

“Every parent wants to be a shameless bragging parent, but I’m just so happy for what Noah’s done,” Josh kvells to the the camera after their duet, before getting too overwhelmed with emotion to go on.

In response, Noah says: “I love you, Dad. I missed you.”

“‘Noah Kahan: Out of Body” is now streaming on Netflix.

The post Netflix’s ‘Noah Kahan: Out of Body’ Is a Moving Portrait of a Young Jewish Star appeared first on Kveller.

I’m not going to lie — there’s nothing I adore more than listening to music in Hebrew, my native tongue.

Give me the Mizrahi music from Osher Cohen and Eden Ben Zaken, indie hits from Jane Bordeaux and Aya Zehavi Feiglin, sensitive singer-songwriters like Alma Gov and Noam Kleinstein, and the infectious Hebrew raps of Jimbo J and Teddy Neguse, who all remind me how beautiful the language I grew up speaking truly is.

Yet I also get pretty excited when Israeli stars create excellent English-language music, especially when it catches on with audiences outside of Israel. As they say in Yiddish — what’s better than schepping naches?

Here are six Israeli artists who’ve managed to create hits that resonate outside their home country.

Noga Erez

Israeli singer Noga Erez recently made history as the first Israeli female artist to take the Coachella stage, along with her toddler daughter (and a perhaps fake nosebleed). At the festival, she played two new songs from a yet unnamed album.

In the meantime, you can listen to her excellent 2024 “The Vandalist,” which features a duet with British star Robbie Williams, her 2021 album “KIDS,” which features the excellent “VIEWS,” and her breakout album “Off the Record,” with the song “Toy” that first got her noticed by the New York Times. You really can’t go wrong.

Temper City

Temper City, an alternative rock band from three Israeli music veterans, currently only has one single out — but what a history-making single it is. Thanks to “Self Aware,” a viral sensation on Instagram and TikTok, they became the first Israeli band to make it onto the American Billboard 100. Listen to this song at your own risk, because it is impossibly infectious.

Mergui

Artist Jonathan Mergui, who goes by the stage name Mergui, was very close to making it to the Eurovision stage — in the fifth season of “Rising Star to the Eurovision,” he earned second place behind Netta Barzilai, who would go on to be Israel’s fourth Eurovision winner in history. He also dated Noa Kirel, who represented Israel in the European song competition in 2023.

While both those awesome ladies are worth listening to, Mergui, too, has some pretty delightful English-language singles. In 2024, he performed on the “Today” show wearing a yellow ribbon for the hostages. The singer rubbed elbows with Elton John and incorporated his “Yellow Brick Road” into his song “Cry.” Last year, he released a great duet called “LIVING ROOM” with singer maryjo. And if you know someone going through a bad breakup (and who is OK with some explicit language, of course), be sure to send them his 2022 hit “Sucks To Know You (FU).”

Tair Haim

English is not enough for Tair Haim — the songs from her excellent 2025 album, “Maktub,” feature Yemenite, Hebrew and English. Haim first made waves around the world with her band A-WA, in which she and her two sisters made music influenced by their family’s Yemenite roots. Their songs became hits all over the world, even making waves in Yemen itself. In “Maktub,” Haim explores womanhood, motherhood and roots through an intimate and insanely catchy lens. Her single “YemeNight” remains one of my favorite songs of 2025.

Adam Ten and Asulin

Adam Ten, the Israeli DJ behind electronic music label Maccabi House, and Rotem Alajem Asulin, also known as J.Lamotta or simply Asulin, recently released an electropop remix of Asulin’s 2024 hit (a Japanese version of her Hebrew song “Ala’Lashon”). “Warawara” is almost fully in Japanese but has the Hebrew words like “stom ta’peh” — shut up.

Apple has already purchased its rights for some international ad campaigns, which, according to Mako, will air in over 100 countries this year.

Asulin has a long and storied musical career (even if she is just 35). The musician with Jewish Morrocan roots was born in Holon, studied briefly in New York and made her musical mark in Berlin, where she surprisingly formed a special connection with Japanese audiences, taking on the Japanese moniker Suzume and rapping in the language, while still releasing many excellent Hebrew singles.

And speaking of the Eurovision, I can’t help but mention how much I love her song “Dana International,” an ode to the Israeli diva who won the competition in 1998.

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