Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a Passover gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
Fast Forward

Tiffany Haddish shares her Jewish rituals: Shabbat dinners and hanging out with her rabbi

(JTA) — Tiffany Haddish has been open about how she connected with her Jewish roots later in life, especially in interviews leading up to her 2019 standup special “Black Mitzvah.”

But the comedian-turned-movie-star hadn’t yet said publicly how she incorporates Jewish practice into her daily life — if at all — until an interview she gave to Time that was published Friday.

Since her star-studded bat mitzvah tied to the standup special, she spends “at least 30 minutes every single day to reading and learning. I have Shabbat dinners on Fridays. I hang out with my rabbi. I’m always asking questions.”

“I’m getting emotional, but I think the things I’ve been through in life, I wouldn’t have been able to get through without my loyalty to God,” she added.

Haddish also lamented that she didn’t have a bat mitzvah and a connection to Judaism in her younger years.

I wish I had done it [had a bat mitzvah] when I was a teenager. That was a tumultuous time in my life. I was [in foster care]. I was moved around. All these adults were paid to be in my presence. Which, it’s actually kind of messed up even now, as a successful adult, people are paid to be in my presence.

Anyway, I wish I had a rabbi to talk to then, and a mama and daddy to make me go to Hebrew class. I remember when I was that little 12-, 13-year-old girl feeling excited to go to school because it was the only thing that was normal and the place I felt safest.

Haddish will appear alongside fellow Jewish actors Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Ben Schwartz and Dave Franco in her next film ‘The Afterparty,” which premiers on Apple TV+ on Jan. 28.


The post Tiffany Haddish shares her Jewish rituals: Shabbat dinners and hanging out with her rabbi appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.