Yisrael Campbell (; born Christopher Campbell) is a

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-born Israeli comedian.

Biography

Campbell, who is of Irish and Italian descent, grew up

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in a Philadelphia suburb. One of his aunts is a

Catholic nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

. 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 Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

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 Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...

.So this Catholic goes to Israel... and other jokes from the Holy Land, ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', Michael Posner, May 5, 2008 Campbell and his wife Avital, an Orthodox rabbi, have four children, including twins, and live in Jerusalem. Campbell and his wife both attended The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' wrote that "As far as we know,

Lenny Bruce Leonard Alfred Schneider (October 13, 1925 – August 3, 1966), better known by his stage name Lenny Bruce, was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and satirist. He was renowned for his open, free-wheeling, and critical style of come ...

never had sex with an Orthodox Jew, but if he had – he would have produced Yisrael Campbell.""Wildly Emotional – In a very quiet way," ''The Guardian'', December 17, 2007. In 2006, Campbell appeared with the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour. Campbell is the subject of a 2008 documentary film, ''

Circumcise Me ''Circumcise Me'' is a 2008 biographical film about the American-born Israeli comedian Yisrael Campbell. It was produced by Matthew Kalman, foreign news correspondent in Jerusalem for ''USA Today'', Canada's ''Globe & Mail'' and other newspape ...

''.

References

External links

Official website
* https://www.pardes.org.il/ Living people 20th-century converts to Judaism American emigrants to Israel American former Christians American Orthodox Jews American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent American stand-up comedians Converts to Judaism from Roman Catholicism Converts to Reform Judaism Converts to Conservative Judaism Converts to Orthodox Judaism Israeli male comedians Israeli Orthodox Jews Israeli people of Irish descent Israeli people of Italian descent Israeli stand-up comedians Jewish Israeli comedians Comedians from Philadelphia Year of birth missing (living people) Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish comedians Jewish American comedians 21st-century Israeli comedians 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews {{US-comedian-stub