Ashton Kutcher Schools Natalie Portman on Judaism

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Who knew he was so dedicated?
Ashton Kutcher reads the Torah every Saturday. That’s what Natalie Portman said of her co-star in the upcoming romantic comedy “No Strings Attached” during a recent interview.
Portman, who was born in Jerusalem, noted that Kutcher taught her more about Judaism that anyone else in her life.
“Ashton’s a very serious student of Kabbalah and Judaism,” Portman told USA Today. “He knows a lot.”
Despite being raised Roman Catholic, Kutcher took to Kabbalah after he met Demi Moore. The couple eventually married at Los Angeles’s Kabbalah center in 2005, and recently made headlines when they flew to Israel amid cheating rumors on Kutcher’s behalf.
In the interview, Portman noted that she was especially impressed by Kutcher’s knowledge of Hebrew, which he demonstrated in a wedding scene from the film.
Kutcher responded modestly, saying, “I’m a spiritualist, so I study a lot of different spirituality and try to understand it, and understand where people are coming from.”
Well put.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chief