On the fifth night of Hanukkah, Israeli actress and activist Noa Tishby was joined for candle lighting by author and CNN host Van Jones.
While he’s not Jewish, Jones highlighted the similarities between the Jewish community and Black community. “The cultural DNA of the Jewish community is about repairing the world. The cultural DNA for the Black community is justice for all. Not justice for some, justice for all. And when you put those two cultures together, you get this double helix of hope for humanity. It's what created American democracy. And throughout that whole last century, it was disproportionately Black folks and Jewish folks on the front lines deepening democracy defending democracy. We need each other. And the world needs us to be together.”
“When people attack the Jews, it's never about the Jews. As soon as somebody says, ‘It's the Jews,’ you know for sure they're up to something. Nobody's ever said, ‘It's the Jews’ and they did something good,” said Jones. “The first thing you know when people start attacking, blaming Jews, is there's some agenda afoot. Having a negative agenda and then trying to blame and attack Jews, it's not the oldest trick in the book. It's older than books.”
“The most remarkable thing is you kept being Jews the whole time. You kept believing in repairing the world. You kept believing in generosity. You kept believing in intellectual curiosity. You kept believing in sticking up for the underdog. You kept believing in sticking up for the stranger,” he added.
Jones’ appearance is part of a surprise star-studded celebration of the Jewish holiday, in which various celebrities join Tishby to light the menorah for all eight nights of Hanukkah.
On the first night of Hanukkah, Tishby was joined by Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow. She was joined by Mila Kunis for the lighting of the second candle. On the third night, actress and host Mayim Bialik made an appearance. Comedian, actress and television host Iliza Shlesinger joined Tishby for the fourth night of the holiday.