Yisrael Campbell
Yisrael Campbell (born Christopher Campbell) is a Philadelphia-born Israeli comedian.[1][2][3][4]
Campbell, who is of Irish and Italian descent, grew up Catholic in a Philadelphia suburb.[5] One of his aunts is a Catholic nun. A typical Campbell joke is that his aunt is a nun, "which of course makes Jesus my uncle, allowing for easier parking in Jerusalem." Campbell converted to Judaism with a Reform rabbi, and says that a "spiritual hunger" led him to have a second conversion with a Conservative rabbi. On a four-month visit to Israel in 2000 he decided to have a third conversion and live as an Orthodox Jew.[6]
Campbell and his wife Avital, a Talmud teacher, have four children, including twins, and live in Jerusalem.[6]
The Guardian wrote that "As far as we know, Lenny Bruce never had sex with an Orthodox Jew, but if he had – he would have produced Yisrael Campbell."[7]
In 2006 Campbell appeared with the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour.
Campbell is the subject of a 2008 documentary film, Circumcise Me.
References
- Gold, Daniel M. "How Yisrael Campbell Became Jewish, Again and Again".
- . Jewish Exponent http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/15381/
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missing title (help). Retrieved November 10, 2013. - "United Kingdom > National". Epoch Times. February 6, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
- "JPost". Fr.jpost.com. Archived from the original on July 6, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
- BWW News Desk (November 16, 2009). "Judy Gold to Join CIRCUMCISE ME's Yisrael Campbell for Talkback Series "FINAL CUT" 11/19". Broadway World. Retrieved November 16, 2009.
- So this Catholic goes to Israel... and other jokes from the Holy Land, The Globe and Mail, Michael Posner, May 5, 2008
- "Wildly Emotional – In a very quiet way," The Guardian, December 17, 2007.