Israeli actress and activist Noa Tishby concluded her special series for Hanukkah, in which she lights candles with a different celebrity each night.
On the eighth and final night of Hanukkah, Tishby lit candles with comedian and actress Amy Schumer.
Recalling how she celebrated Hanukkah growing up, Schumer said, “I loved Hanukkah, I was always really excited about it” but also recalled how her family went bankrupt when she was about 12 years old, so she would not normally get a large gift for the holiday.
She recalled attending a demonstration in New York on October 8, the day after Hamas’s murderous attack on Israel.
“When I stood up and spoke my mind after October 7th, I didn't think I was going to be such a minority. It's like there were like three of us who opened our mouths, and I am also grateful for the clarity that it's brought, and knowing who my true friends are, knowing who the true people who feel like everyone should be equal. It shouldn't be except Jews, and it feels like everybody is fighting for everybody's rights except for Jewish people. And so, every time we gather or we take a moment with our family, every time we light the candles, I feel like we've won.”
Discussing Jewish humor, Schumer said her family grew up going to the so-called “Borscht Belt” in the Catskills in upstate New York, which is known as the birthplace of modern stand-up comedy.
“The biggest scene was up there. I'm descended from what now would be Ukraine. The Catskills can be very beautiful and mountainous, because there's a conservation institute for Borscht Belt comedy. There's a picture of my grandparents going to see comedy up there,” she said.
When Tishby asked whether comedy has an ability to allow us to overcome trauma, Schumer replied in the affirmative and added, “That's totally how I wound up being a funny person. I had a rough childhood. I would make my family laugh, I'm the middle child, and that's how I would try to defuse the situation. But when things are their absolute worst is when my family is the funniest. Just when we hit rock bottom is when we can laugh the hardest. And that's how we've survived, and I think that's not unique to me, I think that's a Jewish characteristic, is comedy.”
On the seventh night of Hanukkah, Tishby visited television writer and producer Phil Rosenthal, the creator, writer, and executive producer of the popular sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, at his new diner in Los Angeles, which was named after his parents, Max and Helen.
Tishby lit the sixth candle of Hanukkah with Italian-French singer, songwriter and fashion model Carla Bruni.
On Thursday, Tishby lit the fifth candle of Hanukkah with actress Julie Bowen, who is not Jewish but described herself as being “totally fascinated” with Jewish culture, stemming from the fact that her father’s business partner was Jewish.
Tishby lit the fourth candle of Hanukkah with host, producer, and writer Andy Cohen. She lit the third candle of Hanukkah with writer, actress and producer Erin Foster, who converted to Judaism in 2019.
Tishby 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.