Israeli actress and activist Noa Tishby is continuing her series in which she lights Hanukkah candles each night with a different celebrity.
On Wednesday, Tishby lit the fourth candle with host, producer, and writer Andy Cohen.
Asked by Tishby what is important to him to give to his children in the context of Jewish upbringing, Cohen said, “I want them to have a Jewish identity and know that they're Jewish, which they do. And every year it gets deeper. My son is six and a half, and he started Hebrew school this year. He just learned how to draw a Jewish star. It's one of the things that has warmed my heart the very most, seeing him understand who he is.”
Cohen said that being Jewish to him is “about tradition and family”, adding, “Hanukkah is beautiful and I love that my kids now…last year was the first year that we really did it in a big way and they understood.”
On the importance of Jewish people being proud of their identity, Cohen said, “We're living in an unprecedented time…such hate that is emerging and that is starting to be embraced by the mainstream. And it's terrifying. And so it makes me want to speak more. It's why I said yes to sitting with you right now. I mean, if you had asked me five years ago, I would have maybe thought, why is this important? But I think we all need to be proud of who we are and our heritage, show people that we're here.”
Tishby lit the third candle of Hanukkah with writer, actress and producer Erin Foster, who converted to Judaism in 2019. She lit the second candle of Hanukkah with Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. On the first night of Hanukkah, she lit candles with American singer and songwriter P!nk.