EXCLUSIVE | Tiffany Haddish went ahead with 'Black Mitzvah' as she wanted to honor her Jewish heritage
On December 3rd, 2019, actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish's Netflix special, titled 'Black Mitzvah' came out. But besides the day being Haddish's 40th birthday, there was another reason for Haddish to celebrate — she had her bat mitzvah.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) recently caught up with Tiffany Haddish at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Cirque Du Soleil's 'Volta' at Dodger Stadium about her experience celebrating her bat mitzvah.
Haddish's bat mitzvah featured many celebrities in attendance, including Billy Crystal, Barbara Streisand and Chelsea Handler. Comedian Sarah Silverman's sister, Rabbi Susan Silverman, was the officiant at Haddish's religious ceremony, while Billy Crystal, Haddish's co-star in the upcoming comedy film, 'Here Today', recited blessings over the Torah.
'Here Today' was written and directed by Billy Crystal and will star Haddish, Louisa Krause, Penn Badgley and Laura Benanti. The crew started filming in October 2019. Haddish said that she got advice from Crystal on the set, but that the "best moment is when he came to my bat mitzvah."
Haddish said it was an honor to do the religious ceremony and added "it was a lot of work," saying that "Hebrew is not easy".
Haddish learned about her Jewish roots later in life when she reconnected with her father, an Eritrean-born Jew. Haddish said she wanted to have the ceremony, "because, in the African American community, there's not a ceremony or something that says, 'Hey, you're an adult now, you're grown up, you can go on to life, you learn these skills. And the family's got your back.' We don't really have anything like that. That was kind of stripped of us."
Haddish also said she did a DNA test and researched her lineage. She said, "When I did the research, I realized this is a part of me and it's something I've always been attracted to. So I went ahead and accomplished something. I'm a grown woman now."
