Getting Jewy with the LEGEND Howie Mandel - Jewish Pride, Fighting Hate & the Meaning of “Tzedakah”

What does being Jewish look like for Howie Mandel? Every time I met a urinal. Looking down, can you be pro-Palestine without being anti-Israel? It's a great question. Ooh, with a J is a Jew, but great with a J Is a D. Dr. Em Haba. Yade. Welcome to a very special episode of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt. If you're watching this on YouTube or JBS. You might already notice I am not in my usual studio. I'll tell you why right after I tell you about an amazing event going down on February 3rd, hosted by the Jewish

Federation of Broward County. It's the ultimate night out where I'll be chatting live on stage with modern day maccabee and actress extraordinaire Debra Messing. Registration closes on January 28th and there are no walk-ins allowed, so go register [email protected]. Alright, so where am I today? I'm in Van Nuys, which if you know anything about Van Nuys, you know you better have a damn good reason to be in Van Nuys, which lucky for all of us, I most certainly do. My guest today whose own podcast studio we are in is an entertainment industry legend. His career like

the man himself. It's a little bit unusual zigzagging across mediums and interests. From standup comedy to animation, to iconic game shows, to eSports teams, to holoport devices, which is a long way of saying that like me, he's got a DHD. He's also got a deep connection to his Jewish identity and is a staunch supporter of Israel, though the most Jewish thing about him might be that he's cock perlman's distant cousin. America's got talent, but he sure as hell does too. Ladies and gentlemen, open that case and welcome Mr. Howie Mandell. Wow. Are they standing? The

audience for that? Yeah. I'm just waiting. Sit down. That's not necessary wherever they are, but, uh, em, ydi there. You haba. Yadim. But Yadim is children. Children. Yeah. Yeah. You know, like kids, like, and Ade means welcome. So welcome. So you have a, this is a kid show. I didn't realize. This is a kid. Kid. The, the, the, the colloquial kids you use guys. Children of God. Children of God. Perfect. Oh, that's what you're doing. Exactly. I didn't, I don't, I don't really speak Hebrew. I just, that that was the Oh, well there goes that

question. Okay. No, but I, I, I, you know, I went to Hebrew school. Oh yeah. Yeah. Did you, do you speak Hebrew? I, I like that. Was it not? Well, that was, yeah. So basically that's Hebrew off a teleprompter. And I, and I went to Jewish Day school all the way up through eighth grade, and I did. You really? And I did not come away with very good Hebrew linguistic skills, unfortunately. I know. Check it. I've heard check it the most. That's the most commonly used word, which I take is you're blessed. Yes, exactly right.

Because it was said to me and I got more blessings. Than any kid in my Hebrew school. I love that. What a, let's, let's just preserve that for you. So Howie, the, the list of outspoken Hollywood Jews is sadly quite short, but you are absolutely on there. Um, let's set the baseline here. How much is being Jewish apart of your day-to-day life? Like what does being Jewish look like for Howie Mandel right now? Every time I'm at a urinal looking down, I'll, I'll give you, I'll give you a little, uh, context for my Judaism. Um,

I'm, I'm not that observant of, of Judaism, but I am, uh, and I'm very, I'm proud to be a Jew. Mm-hmm. Um, I'm not, uh, a huge fan of organized religion. Sure. And, uh, institutions. But, um, growing up my, uh, quality time with my father was during the high holidays and going to Temple, and that's where I got to spend. We spent time together and we would walk to the temple. He was much more observant than me. When he passed away, he passed away really young and, you know. Out of respect for my father. Um,

I would say cut. I, I said Kaddish for a year. I had to work right? And I, I, at that time, and still I do it a lot, I was touring a lot, but at that time I was touring like 200 nights a year, 200 cities a year. So I had it written into my contract, right? That, um, they weren't allowed to start the show before sundown. When, when you're doing summer. Outdoor dates. That's a late, that's a late night. That's a late night. So they, because I had to do, uh, it's called av, which

is the, the, the blessings, the services before middle and before, and you have to have a minion, which is a group of 10 men. This was written into my contract. You know, a lot of people have riders where they want the green m, m, and Ms. Right. I just wanted nine other. Jewish guys, Jews who, so who, whose job is it to find the nine Jewish guys in like Des Moines, the promoter. He had like what were they doing? Was it like a they out a WA Were they, it was so funny. Rounding up up

people at the synagogue or a shuttle. I am so upset that I did not carry a camera or think, because that would've been, it's an amazing documentary of course, of the different places like. They couldn't find. So they would find, they'd go, is it good enough? Uh, we found somebody, we looked in the paper and we found a a, a Jew that had just died and they're sitting, Shiva, can you go to somebody's house? Can you go to someone else's shiva to say Kadish for your father, right at their Shiva? Well, you can, you'd say

Kad. If you know Kadish, it is for whoever's the morning, you know, you, you are doing it. So that's where you were gonna find the minion. And I'm sitting there and they always gimme a little bag of herring to carry back to. Theater or wherever I was, wherever I was going to play, but at the same time, you know, um, and a lot of times I would find the local temple or whatever to do it in, and the people who conducted the service would do teachings from the Talmud. And I got to learn and kind

of understand things that I did and in and interpret things that I had never thought of before and kind of. It really, um, kind of changed me and adhered me to, um, what I believe the, the true purity of our religion should be. Which is what, these are my interpretations. Yeah, so, so don't yell at me. No's. That's what Judi's all about is interpretation. Okay. So first of all, the, the first thing was Saka. Do you know what that is? Charity. Right. But that akah box, which was there, you know, uh, every night mm-hmm. Was

a box where you go up and you drop something in the box and nobody sees what you drop. And the purity of akah is to give to somebody in need without telling somebody Right. Who you are, what you've dropped in there, which is part of, is as much part of the giving. It's just as important to do it kind of anonymously. Yeah. Because. Which goes back to, with the first part, you know, the chosen people. I don't know that we are chosen. I think humanity is chosen and, and our teachings are, we are chosen to

make this world better. If you see somebody in your periphery that is in need or need somebody, you should outstretch your your hand and be there for somebody, whether they're Jewish or not Jewish. If somebody needs help, that's what we have been chosen to do. So not better than any other. Person who believes something totally different. By the same token, that's what charity is. Well, if you go to institutions, you know, you're sitting in the Goldman wing, right? Why am I in the Goldman wing? You know, why does your name have to be up there?

Uh, that kind of negates the reason for just being good, which I find in, in a lot of religions, you know, I don't know that I would say it negates it, but there's, you know, there's different levels of. The, the mitzvah of of Akah and it's the, the, no, I think it negates it. I really do. I think as soon, I mean, it tells us help whether there's a name on it or not. Well, I think the, the end result is help, but is I'm talking about the, the, uh, it negates akah. Akah is to

be charitable. For the only reason of being charitable to give, to help, to be there for someone, not because you want to be recognized, not because you want people to think you're a better person or you're rich or you have money. Right. Or you have. And I think that that's what a lot of the reasons are for the names on doors and benches and books. And so are, are you telling me that you're an incredible secret philanthropist? No, but I give nothing and don't tell anybody about it. Okay. Steal. Uh, and just to go back

to the chosen people thing, 'cause I think, you know, I think there, we've talked about this on the show before, that there's this sort of, uh, what I would say is a misconception that it means chosen as in like better than, uh, but, you know, we've talked about it. Me and other guests said it's, we're chosen for a responsibility. You know, I, I sort of. I described it as being chosen for latrine duty. I mean, it's like we are chosen to do all this stuff that to try to make the world better. And then as

you say. That's not specific to Judaism, to, to make the world better than you got here. Right. But Jews are given these, like, here's a thousand different ways that you're supposed to do it in each and every possible moment of human life. And it is your responsibility as a Jew, you have to do this stuff, but as a human being, regardless of Judaism or whatever the, the, the connotation of chosen is like. If you truly believe in God or a power greater than us, you were created and you were put here for a purpose. You

are chosen. What is your purpose? Everybody has a purpose. Yeah. There is a reason for everybody. So that is the word you know is chosen. Yeah. So it's not like I was chosen and you weren't, everybody was chosen, but what was I chosen for? Or what is my duty? And I believe life is a duty. Life isn't just an existence. There is. We all have a duty and we all have, and, and, and, and the duty is anything but self-serving and self-importance because whatever importance that you have given yourself or you believe that you are

building, or whatever notoriety you think, or whatever name you are putting on the wall or whatever, that is so fleeting. It is absolutely so fleeting and has no value. Your legacy is just to, uh, kind of share goodness and positivity. That's what your legacy is. And my legacy right now is just my children. Like people always ask people in our business. Mm-hmm. They'll go, how do you wanna be remembered? Well, number one, that's the dumbest question in the world because you're not gonna be remembered. I don't care how big a star you are, you're not

gonna be remembered. Some people get remembered. No. In, in show business. I remember Elvis. Yeah, but that's two, that's three genera. I, I, do you remember Mozart? Yeah. I'm, I'm saying there's exceptions to rule, but I don't know that's still in the blip of existence. Sure. I don't know. He's lasted longer than most, but, uh, like who was the, the biggest musician around 2000 years ago? Yes. I don't know. Right. You know. And, and you asked your great-grandfather's father, what was his first name? Do I know it? No, you don't. I don't think so. No,

you don't. And the point is that he was related to you and means more, more to your existence than Mozart does. Right. And the fact is that you don't remember him. So the point is just we are such a blip in the existence of humanity. Mm-hmm. And nothing is important, but now, not about what's going to happen now, and all you have to do as a Jew. That's what our teachings are. I don't know that that's always what the interpretation of our teachings are, but all you have to do is make sure that in this

moment. You are doing the best that you can do, and hopefully anybody that's coming in contact with you, hearing you in, in your geographical presence is doing better because you are there. Amen. And that's our job, and that's what we as humanity has been chosen to do. I'm not tribal. I don't like tribes or organization. What do you consider a family? Humanity. Your own nuclear family, your, your children. Oh, that's, there, there are people that I am closer to and I'm more responsible for that. You know, you have to, you can't do everything for everybody.

Mm-hmm. So, in the hierarchy of whatever your life is, you can choose how you want to give your time and your, uh, consideration to my nuclear family comes first. Yeah. If I have anything left after that, you know, it's, it, it, I, you can only spread yourself so thin, you know, and do so much and maintain a healthy content life. Yeah. How has your connection to being Jewish shifted, if at all, since October 7th and the aftermath? I don't know that it is, uh. Shifted. You know, I, I think that there isn't a Jew alive

that doesn't understand, um, who we are and what we face and what we're up against. October 7th is like a horror movie. We are a, uh, a moving target constantly. What do you mean? Jews, you know, have always been since, mm-hmm. The beginning of time. Yeah. But you know, it's, it's more of a study in humanity, you know, and humanity needs, um, a target. You know, it's, it's really interesting. I, I, I always said, you know, my, uh, my in-laws and family members are Holocaust survivors, and I have always questioned sometimes getting in trouble for

this question. I said, I understand Hitler. I do understand Hitler, I do understand not condoning. Right. I'm, I'm saying I understand that somebody can be a psychopath and, uh, deranged and maniacal. Mm-hmm. What I didn't understand, and I'm starting to understand as I get older, is how do you get a whole nation or the, all these people to follow? Yeah. A psychopath, you know? And that was always my question, right? So I always go, I, I, because, so, so when you start, when you're in a, in a room with a Holocaust survivor and you go,

listen, I understand Hitler. They what? You know, I'm not condoning. Right? I wish he never existed. He didn't deserve to exist. Stark raving evil. We, I got that. That's, that's clear. What's, it's the neighbors. What with the, the puzzle to me is how do you get so many people, everybody, everybody educated. Mela doctors. Yeah. And to do these things to point out where a child is hiding and, and, and be a party to all this. How does that happen? And what I realize when you think about that, and it brings me back to uh, the

seventh, is hatred is a, um, is a drug that everybody. It really is, you know, we look for a reason to hate, to be afraid of to worry about. You think that's natural? I think it's because kids don't hate, unless they're taught to, they don't hate, uh, it turns into hate. So if you, do you have children? I have three like you. Okay. Okay. So if you look at your babies, and hopefully my babies, like a lot of them are here, are are good people, but, but. When if you put a baby beside another baby

and one baby is eating a cookie and the other baby wants the cookie, the baby doesn't even open its mouth. The baby just takes the cookie, right? If the baby doesn't wanna take the, give you the cookie or take the cookie, then without any hesitation, the other baby will just. Smash in the head. Right. So that's violence. Mm-hmm. That's because I want what you have. Sure. Right? Mm-hmm. And if somebody else has something that you want or is perceived to be better, then you, it's, I don't know if the word is hate, but it's a

negativity. That baby will cry because he has a cookie and you don't. So I think that's the, the purest form of the beginning of whatever it is. Just like the perceived view of Jews have something that they don't have and it's perceived, you know, Jews don't have all the money. Of course not. Jews don't have all the power. Jews are such a minute part, but it's a very powerful kind of fake. News. Yeah, that conspiracy theory. The conspiracy theory, but that's, people love conspiracy theories because they love to go, okay, so what do people want?

They want to have stuff. And when you don't have stuff like the people living, you know, under the rule of Hamas, when you don't have stuff. I think, you know, this is a planned by a larger community than just Hamas. Oh, sure. Because, because the Palestinian people are in dire need of food and government and care, and they've never been brought into their own, you know, they, they, it, it, so this terrorist organization, which is. Ruling them and needs to keep them oppressed. Yeah. And you keep them oppressed and then that becomes your weapon because

you go, oh, you're oppressed. You know why you're oppressed. Those guys, right, those guys. And even in our own country, you know, you know the division between a Republican and a Democrat, you know, no. 99% of people aren't happy. And it's because of the Republicans or it's because of the Democrats? Mm-hmm. Or it's because I'm in a fixed economy. It's always so they, the Jews have be, become a great, uh, scapegoat. Were the OG scapegoat, you know, October 7th for a, a blip. We had people who were astonished and on our side right. And feeling

a little bit of compassion. Some people for like a day or two, for a day or two. And then they used, and I think that was the plan. You know, and that's why they recorded things and just because they wanted us to see so that we would, there'd be no, no question about a, a big retaliation. They needed a big retaliation to carry out the mission that they wanted to complete. And the mission they wanted to complete was to destroy Israel. To destroy and, and to. Continue the hate of Israel because like we were just

saying about people being remembered, I'm talking about the world. Yeah. Doesn't remember October 7th. They've, they continue to remember every day after that. Right. So, you know, the, it's kind of like when you, they lobb three missiles into Israel. Right. And we retaliate with one and God forbid, an innocent child. Gets injured or hurt, they'll parade that the world sees that they don't see what happened in Israel. Right. So all of a sudden everybody's against Israel. Yeah. By the same token, I think it was the next day, I think it was October 8th, um, the

big thing on the news after all the stuff of October 8th was there was a retaliation. And we hit a hospital and as it turned out, it wasn't even, uh, do you know what I'm talking about? Yes. That it wasn't October 8th, but it was soon after. It was within days. Yeah. It was close after. And it wasn't even an Israeli rocket and it was less people than they said. It wasn't the building. It was a parking lot, but, and but it wasn't, it wasn't it Wasn was a misfired Islamic jihad rocket. Right. You know

what's amazing to me? I am in show business like you. Yeah. And every publicist that you've ever met is a Jew. We, we were supposed to be the masters of pr. We seem to be so, so bad in Israel because it seems like, well, Israel doesn't care about pr. You know, we might have some good PR in the States, but Israel, they don't care. They, they don't invest in it at all. They put no money. But, you know, PR is a, PR is a big thing that they need to, I mean, even Hitler was dropping

leaflets, you know, there, he had a lot of leaflets. He had a lot of prop. He was the propaganda king. Yeah, but everybody, we're getting crushed by propaganda. Anybody. Propaganda is how we live. Mm-hmm. Propaganda is what social media is. I'll tell you the, the Israeli mentality is like that stuff doesn't affect them internally. Like to them it's like, well, as long as we are strong and like doing what we need to do, who cares what they're saying on social media in America. But they clearly underestimated the power of that, and they've not put any

investment into it, but they must see that they're not getting the support that they could get with the right pr. They, I think there's like a, a level of arrogance of. You know, well, we're, we don't need X, Y, Z, and like we are doing what's right, and like, they'll see the truth. As long as we do what's right, people will get it. I mean, it's obviously, it's not working. No, but I mean, I know, I know from firsthand conversations like they, there's no budget for it. Like they, they literally just don't invest in it

as a, as a government. Since October 7th, you've put your name on a couple of letters, like these public letters, uh, you know, clapping back at stuff or in support of things you've posted for the hostages. All all kinds of that stuff. Do you feel a sense of responsibility as a, as a public facing Jew to get out there and say stuff? No, I don't feel a responsibility. I'm just as a human being. If you see something that you think is wrong in the world, whether it's wrong. Something was done wrong to Israel. Something is

wrong at a, uh, uh, a film festival, you know, when a movie's not being shown mm-hmm. Because of whatever the content is, then Yeah. And, and I know about it and it's brought in front of me. I, I'm just, I just want to be honest. I, and everybody that I wanna be, uh. Friends with and everybody that I'm related to, I want you to do the right thing. I just want to do the right thing. I just always want to do the right thing. I don't always do the right thing, but I want to, I

try to do the right thing. That's the only reason I'm not on a campaign. I'm not, I'm not political. I'm not even, you know, I, I, I wouldn't put myself in any category. There's been things that have crossed my, in, in front of me that they want me to sign on and I go like, I don't, I don't know about this, but you know, the things that I've signed are things that I either am aware of, I feel like I have enough of education about. I feel it's not propaganda. I just want to do good

things for everybody. I wanna do as many good things for anything non-Jew related, as Jew related. I don't think in those terms. I only think about myself if something that I believe is being done wrong to any group, any people at any time, anywhere in the world, and I can do something about it or help. I want to help. And I, I have no, there's one side and that's humanity. Would you say then, like you, do you feel, I want, I don't wanna put this delicately, but like, do you feel no allegiance as a Jew

to the Jews to specifically speak out on that? Like the same way that like you're, maybe you wouldn't speak out about. Something happening in Nigeria because that's not your thing. Even though it's wrong. If I knew more about, and I know there's shit going on in Nigeria, if I knew more about it, I would feel as obligated to talk about that as I do about things that I think that are un. Fair and wrong, uh, toward Jews, Israel, and, uh, I'm probably more apt to talk about Israel and because that's who I am and that's

what I know. Mm-hmm. And that's what I, and I have family that, you know, my wife's, uh, uh, family lives in Haifa, you know, so I know more about that. I'm not versed in what's going on in Nigeria, but I know there's like a genocide going on there. Yeah. And, uh, um. As against that. Sure. As I am against, I think it's October, I think it seventh I think it can be and Right. I mean, it's like, well, that's what it is. Yeah. But nobody, nobody has offered, offered, or it's not me. Nobody has offered

me anything to sign on to about Nigeria. Right. They probably come to me. I think the reason I'm on this podcast is because I'm a Jew. Mm-hmm. But, and, and, uh, Nigerian now hasn't offered me a spot on their podcast. We got, we'll, we'll, we'll send them a letter. Okay. Imagine owning a fully furnished $1.2 million apartment in Jerusalem. Beautifully designed, move in ready and complete with a large porch and suka. It's the perfect spot for your next visit to Israel. Or maybe even if you've been thinking about Macon Alliyah. That's what the dream raffle

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Stevens. But have you heard that Prince subscriptions to Spere are free? That's right. You can receive four beautiful issues a year right in your mailbox at home, each on a theme of importance to the Jewish community, such as activism, diversity, faith, or Zionism at no charge, and requiring no credit card info. Like every episode of this show, every issue of Spire explores important questions at the intersection of Jewish and American culture and politics, and features, contributions from amazing writers, many of whom have appeared on this show, including Sarah Hurwitz, Noah tpi, Dara Horn, rabbi David

Wpe, chef Michael Solomonov, and many others. Subscribe [email protected] slash being Jewish. Completely free of charge. That's spi. S-A-P-I-R journal.org/being Jewish. Or click the link in the episode notes of whoever you're getting this pod. How many times have you been to Israel? I've only been once, but my wife has been just the one time. My wife has been many times. I've only been once. To Israel, how it was beautiful. Yeah, it was nice. Did you visit the family in Haifa? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I didn't know they came to, uh, we were in Tel Aviv and then

they came with us to Jerusalem and uh, I didn't go to Haifa. Mm. I have not been to Haifa. Me neither. I've never been. I want to go. I've never been. Where do you go? Tel Aviv? Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Mossad, Mossada, the Dead Sea. There was a clip that went viral from your show, uh, about a year ago with or Shafi, uh, where you're talking about antisemitism being real and on the rise, and he said it's not, and he said, he did say that wasn't real. He said it was like overblown, basically. Like I don't

agree with him. I didn't agree with him. Do you, how do you feel now? Do you still did it? Did it, like, did it give you anything to think about? You thought he was. You know what this is, because I actually thought you were both kind of right. You were more right than he was. Okay, thanks. But I, but I think it's both. 'cause I think obviously it's real, especially now, I think, I wonder it'd be a different conversation after, you know, Bondi Beach if you'd have the same kind of thing to say. But he

would say, I probably, I can't speak for uh, Ari, but he would probably have the same argument because he is talking about his. Personal experience. Right. You know, and that, but that's the part that I sort of agreed with, like in my day-to-day life walking around. If I didn't look at my phone, if I didn't watch the news, if I didn't open my computer, it would be great. And like I, I keep that mentality a lot and that's something that I tell to people. It's like, your life is okay. Like, don't freak out. There is

so social media induced hysteria and these cognitive biases that like, because you're seeing it. Recently or, or a couple times. You think that's happening a billion times? It's not, but it kind of is. I'll tell you why. Because I think most people are ignorant. And I'm not talking about Ari, I'm talking just generally. Most people are ignorant. Mm-hmm. And if you, if you are on Bondi Beach, and it's obviously a Bar Mitzvah where you know it's a Jewish thing that you make us talking about Hanukkah celebration. Oh, Hanukkah. Or a Hanukkah celebration. It's obviously a

Jewish. You, you've made your Ari isn't walking around with a kippah on, right? Or, or sits him hanging out of his shirt. And I would imagine if you went over, we're in LA now, but if you went over to the Fairfax district and you ask any of those people, which is a much more Hasidic area. Yeah. If you ask those people outside of Fairfax, when they go someplace, if they encounter cat calls and things like that, uh, I think. They do. I, I believe they do. I believe that, you know, uh, in, in Jewish cemetery

stones are getting it in this country, right? Uh, I think that you and I walking down the street and living our everyday life, it doesn't really scream Jew. You know, we probably, I mean, I, I rock, uh, I rock this everywhere. Yeah. But look at how you look, how, how you had that uncover. Well, because it's, because I got the Henley kind of buttons. It doesn't matter. Hanging and people don't look closely. That's a small thing. I'm just saying that. People who are Yeah. More visibly Jewish are obviously right. Bigger, right. It's just like, you

know, I've friends, black friends who they're targeted, they're, oh, yeah. You know, but it's, it's harder to, I mean, when you're black, you're black, yeah. You're a, a Jew. Unless you're flies open, you're not marked, you know? And, uh, the average person like you and me, I don't think that people, uh. The first thing that comes to mind when they go to a Howie Mandel show is not Jew. Mm-hmm. Though I mention it. I'm proud of it. Yeah. There may be some people who figured that. I remember like the first time I did, I did

a show in the eighties called St. Elsewhere. Sure. And, and it was the first time I was on a, like a big network show. Yeah. That was big at the time. That's where Denzel Washington came out. I know. And, uh, they set up a thing where they flew us, uh, to affiliates, to the, all the different states and the affiliates to, I don't know what it was. Maybe it was a press junket or something like that. I went to Atlanta's the first time, and, and I remember like there the whole, we were with a cast

and I remember somebody coming up to me, I was like taken aback. Uh, but somebody came up to me at, at the party and went, oh, you're the, my name wasn't known. My name was known as Standup Comic, but not, people didn't even know that I was the same guy putting the glove on the head that was on this NBC drama. And, uh, he came up to me and he goes, oh, you play the Jew. I just thought so an interesting, um, comment. Yeah. I don't know if that's positive. I don't think when you're referred

to as a Jew from someone else, I don't think it's ever in a positive context ever. It's weird, right? It's like it's No, no one else really has that icky connotation at times with just. The thing that they are like, nobody's gonna go, are you a Jew? And you go, yeah. And they go, those are the people I love the most. And some, some people, unless it's another Jew, but it's a, or you know, like, um, evangelical Christian, maybe. Okay. You know, but I'm just saying even, even the way it's the, the, the tone that

it's always Yeah. I've a, I'm one of my good friends who I'm now thinking of like, he's Jewish and he like. Like, he'd rather be called Jewish than Jew. 'cause he feels it's like there's something negative in it 'cause of the way other people use it. Jew. Jew. But you can't even say it without a, like an icky face. Right. Jew. It makes you Jew. Oh, there you go. Well, you're a good actor. Yeah, thank you. But, but, uh, Jew, it makes you like, Hmm. Ooh. It's too close to, Ooh. Maybe that's what it is.

They put a J on. Ooh. Maybe we should change our title. Hebrews. Hebrews or kind of cool sounding d drs. Like they take great instead of, Ooh, take great. Like, Ooh, with a J is a Jew, but great with a J is a dra. You're the dra. Are you a d Dr. I was gonna say like J Israelis, but that doesn't work. Ooh, sticky. So. You are Canadian. I didn't know if you knew that, but you're Canadian. Thank you. How are you paying attention to sort of what's going on for the Jewish community in Canada

at all? No. No. Do you guys still have family there? I do. I should pay attention. It's not great. No. The, I know that in Toronto there's been uh, uh. They've told me it's bad. Yeah. Like my, my Canadian audience is having a real hell of a time. They really are over the last two years. Yeah. Definitely worse than here for sure. In Toronto and Montreal. Yeah. Specifically. Yeah. Um, yes. So the, unlike. Ari. Mm-hmm. You know, they, my family members had told me it's bad there, and there's marches there and it's, it's, it's a,

I mean, it's, it's even worse like for a New York Jew than it's from an La Jew in LA we drive around, you know, where is it bad in New York? Well, in New York, like on any given day, you could be walking down the street and there's a giant. pro-Palestine, like loud protest in your face when like you're just trying to go to get a coffee or something, but can you be, can you be pro-Palestine without being anti-Israel? So, it's a great question. So technically the answer is of course, yes. And people who are

genuinely like, what does that even mean, pro-Palestine? Right? That, I think that's sort of the, the question if you mean it in terms of. I'm someone who believes Palestinian people deserve sovereignty and dignity and human rights. Then like we're all, so many of us are pro-Palestine, like I'm pro-Palestine. You're pro-Palestine. Right, right. Most good-hearted people are Right, but the movement like this, what they call the pro-Palestine movement is generally. An anti-Israel movement. Yes. That calls itself a pro-Palestine movement. Yes. And most of these marches and demonstrations that you see, they're not people saying, you know,

we would like dignity and, uh, you know, side by side safety and peace for all peoples of the region. They're saying from the river to the sea, get rid of the Jews. They're saying, you know, uh, they're committing a genocide. All these libels, I mean all this terrible stuff. They're, they're going in front of synagogues and, and demonstrating. It's not a no, you're right. A genuine sort of peace mo. You know the fact that there were demonstrations on October 8th before Israel had even retaliated there were anti-Israel or pro-Palestine demonstrations sort of tells you everything

you need to know. They probably weren't the good people. The people out on October 8th. Oh, I, I know, I wouldn't say so. Every, every tribe, every group is infiltrated and they are the loudest by kind of a negative connotation. I think it's, in this case, it's the opposite. I think that the, the genesis of this movement and the reason it exists is negative and it pulls in people who aren't aware of that, who are well intentioned, but sort of get swept up in what is very. Intentionally meant to be a, a hate movement against

Jews, but they don't know that because it's hidden under this veil of social justice, of fighting oppression, of doing the right thing. But it's all based on libels and, you know, masquerading as righteousness. Right. I'm not a demonstrator. No, I've never, I've never gone to a protest of any kind. I don't like crowds. Yeah. Well, yeah. Me neither. No. Unless I'm on the stage and they're down there. Right. Exactly. I, I personally, I just, I know there are other ways I can be more effective than showing You're doing it crap. Exactly. You know this, so

we do. Okay. So Hollywood, let's talk about Hollywood a little bit. You've been in business a long time. Mm-hmm. How, if at all, has the landscape changed for Jews since you started? I don't know that it has, you know, it's really funny 'cause there is that conspiracy that. You know, it's run by the Jews. Mm-hmm. In fact, when, um, you know, it's kind of run by corporations now, which are not necessarily Jewish grounded in Right. Judaism. Right, right. Um, but you know, they were the Warner Brothers. Yeah. It is based in fact, Jews are Father

Jews did. Yeah. Jews did start Hollywood. I mean, it was a Jewish industry. Yeah. So I know where it comes from. I mean, what I'll always say is that like many of the Jews who are quote unquote running or involved in Hollywood are very disconnected from their Judaism. They're not doing anything on behalf of Jewish people. They might as well not. Be Jews for the, for the purposes of that conspiracy. It's, but for the longest time, and I still think it exists. I'm not, I'm just doing my own thing now. Yeah. So I don't know.

Mm-hmm. There is a connotation of, uh, somebody seeming or being too jewy Oh yeah. To, uh, to sell to a mass audience that doesn't really sell to a mass audience. And so it's been. Kind of a, uh, it wasn't a positive to be Jewy, right? Yeah, absolutely. I, I don't know that that's changed, and I don't know that, that I'm saying it hasn't. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, it's not an asset, but if you, I mean, now that you mention it, you know, Howie Mande is one of the more Jewish JY Entertainmenty names out there. But

if you look at what I'm doing, it's kind of independent of the industry. Oh, it wasn't in the eighties. Then it wasn't even mentioned and it was, I, I, in the eighties, I created my own stuff rather than getting hired, say elsewhere. Well, that, but, but, but, but my bigger in your, all your standup shows. My bigger notoriety came from, uh, you know, standup and, uh, cartoons and voiceovers and things like that, that I was creating and producing. But having come from standup. I'm in total control of how that audience is perceiving me. When the

show starts, when it ends, how it's going, I'd like to control, it's immediate, it's energetic, it's fun. I don't wanna say, hi, how you doing? And then cut and then go to your trailer and they're gonna get it from another angle. And then three hours later, I, I still do right? People ask me to do little parts, but it's not, it's not a career that I wanted to, at a certain point, I turned down a lot of stuff. Until they stopped asking me to come, but I, I'm, I'm happy. I'm happy to be, I know

you don't think it's exciting, but I'm happy to be in a warehouse in Van Nuys. Is Well, warehouse is exciting. This is my happy place. It looks and feels like a happy place. My kids come and work here. It's awesome. People are creative here. Yeah, there's people doing different things that I don't even understand, and whether that's technology, whether that's gaming, whether that's acting and doing a scene from a movie or whether that, I just like to be around people who are creative. Who think outside of a box who don't. I'm not really good with

corporations. You know, I had a, I worked for corporations, for studios and things like that, and I felt like I was trying to throw a party at my parents' house. I mean, you're like Mr. NBC, I love NBC. They've given me my biggest breaks for over 40 years now. That's amazing. Everything I've done has been on, well, a lot of what I've done. I've, I've done things on other networks too, but I love them. I owe them. I'm still with them. Yeah. And hopefully they'll continue to keep me. I I, I wouldn't worry about that

part. I always worry about it. Do you? Yeah. I don't think you're in this way. What's 21 seasons of a GT? You gotta know this. You always figure whatever you're doing is the last, this is it. And some point they're gonna and they, there is a point. Well, somebody will come. Wait, it's not gonna go for 70 years. Right. That's why I try to really live in the now. Right. Because if I don't live in the now, I'm getting fired tomorrow. Right. Right. You wait till they see this and they go, you're a Jew, you're

out. Oh, you hit it so well all this time. Okay. Speaking of you're a Jew, there's something I talk about a lot on the show and on social media, and this is the concept of going full Jew. And what I mean by that is we all as a minority in this majority country, and we are not the majority, we have this inner voice where sometimes there'll be something. That jewy that we wanna do, that we wanna lean into, but the voice is like, nah, that's too jewy or too other, or people will think that's weird

or lame. Um, what could you do or have you ever wanted to do or ever thought about doing that you could lean into to be, to go more full Jew? I, I don't think like that, you know, the, the, the, the, um, I think the, the biggest, uh, issue with anybody's. Life productivity, success is thinking. Thinking is not good for any human being. I think that we are an amazing species, humanity. Mm-hmm. Uh, where our impulse and instinct is right. I never want to go, coulda, shoulda, woulda. So there's been incredibly jewy moments and I'll

lean into those jewy moments. I, I'm very proud of who I am and how I act and how I was brought up and how I think I'm very proud to, to talk about it, but I won't, I'm giving more thought to this answer than I would be about being jewy. Or not being jewy or trying to cover my Jewishness or leaning into my Jewishness. I understand. You know, I'm, I'm in my seventies now, so I understand. Um. How, uh, nature versus nurture, the nurturing of being coddled in a Jewish family has shaped how I respond

and act in certain situations. And because I'm a comedian, I sometimes see the, I always see the humor in it. So sometimes when those are, when those happen. I will lean into it and maybe just getting you getting as a sales t you know, using guilt, which we're really, really good at. It is a thing. It's a thing. It's a superpower. Yeah. Do you have pets? I do. I have two dogs. Okay. So they will tell you when you are going to buy a breed, you know, this breed. Is a very active breed. This breed

is a very loyal breed. It's good with children. It's a good, you know, we are a breed of humanity. That is a traditionally that there's no, we're not all the same, but traditionally that has a certain kind of. Vibe and way of, uh, if you want to generalize, but that's enough. That's kind of, there's, there's a culture. It There's a culture. Yeah. I grew up very differently than you probably, you grew up in New York. I grew up in here in la. You grew up in la mm-hmm. But you grew up in a very different

world than I grew up. I'm from Toronto and middle class, but I think we have so much in common because of that culture, that Jewish culture. Mm-hmm. And it's very easy to, uh, lean into that and have fun with it and enjoy it and, uh. We're like the schmear on the bagel. You know, we're the schmear and the bagel. We are the schmear and the bagel. And in a meeting you couldn't be the schmear and the bagel, and in the selling and in the you. Look, it's making me, I'm leaning into doingness. Okay, so now

we've arrived at the segment of the show. Five deep Questions. If you want to check these out, you need to be part of our subscriber community, the Keila, which you can join on our website. Otherwise, we will see you. After the flip. Alright, we are basically out of time. I'm gonna rush to the end of this 'cause I gotta have one final thing. Okay? So I'm gonna jump to the end. We're gonna play a little game. Your podcast is called Howie Mandel does stuff right? This is Howie Mandel does Jewish stuff. Okay? So let's find

out what kind of Jewish stuff you do. Alright? Do you ever go to Temple? Yeah. Rarely. When? When would you go? If you would go other people's bar mitzvahs. There you go. You know, weddings. I haven't gone on the high holidays lately, but other people's. There you go. Nice. Bam. You know, some Hebrew, uh, do you ever host Shabbat? Mm, I've had people over on a Friday night. But it's not necessarily Shabbat. No, I don't light a candle. Oh, you gotta get Shabbat going. There's so you can go more full Jew. Get a Shabbat on

this year. It's like the greatest thing on in the world. I should, it's all about being present and like closing everything else out and just being with the people. I have told a non-Jewish person in my house on a Friday night or even a Saturday. Is there any way you could turn on the light for me? Right. There you go. But it wasn't a Shabbat thing. They were just close to the switch. Okay. We'll we'll count it. Yeah. Um, do you ever fast on Yom Kippur? I used to, yeah. I don't anymore. I don't fast

anymore. I should, I do between meals. Yeah, but not the whole, no. Do you fast? On Yo Kippur? I did. Yeah. Yeah. Everything in Judaism is, is around eating or not eating. Many, many things. Um, do you celebrate Shavuot? No. Do you know what Shavuot is? Uh, I, I just think that it's somebody yelling, shout out with a speech impediment. Perfect. Do you ever lead a Seder? Maybe the first two questions. Nice. I have, yes. Oh, we did a Seder once. And I had it catered and I hired a, um, a Motown acapella, uh, foursome

to do the four questions. It was the most beautiful thing. It was like the Temptations just to do the one song. You had them come in? Yeah. Was there, is there another song? There's a bunch of songs. You could do 'em, Passover. Okay. Get 'em. Do Nu Ya. You love Cloud Gaia. You know that one? What? What about me says you would love, Haga does 'cause it. It goes through all these different like animals and there's a stick and a dog and a cat and a thing. And at least what my family does, a lot

of families do, is you do like a sound effect for each one of them. So you'd be like voiceover through the, through the song. You never did that? Yeah. I like getting up and washing the hands every time. Yeah, there you go. You get to do it twice on Passover. Yeah, but I would just sit at the table with Purell. Do you ever see a famous Jew on TV and say to your kids, that's one of ours. More than that is seeing something on the news where somebody's done something bad and the name sounds dewy.

Yeah. And I go, I've adopted, he's gotta be adopted. Do you ever wear a kipa? I did, but I look like Friar Tuck and, uh, I, I, I, it just looks like a bad to it. I do. I just, I just did something for the LAPD. Do I? I don't think I have it here, but they gave me, they gave me a, a kipa with a badge. Why, so I have that? Yeah. An LAPD badge. Why did they give you a kipa? I think because they thought that's what I would like. You just, they just

gave me, didn't they gave me, it's that navy, uh, velvet kipa with our baby. He's a Jewish guy. He probably wants this. Yeah. They said, do you want a hat? And I went, okay. And gave thinking. I, I was gonna get a hat. I gotta kipa from the LAPD. That's very sweet. Thank you. Yeah, that's it. Shout out to the L lap D Do you own a Tali? Of course. Oh, hell yeah. Okay. And last I ask this of all my guests and I think I know the answer for you. Challah, do you rip it

or do you slice it? I just take it so you rip it. Oh, you want, can I tell you a quick challah thing? Hit me? Yeah. Uh, so they asked me to do a, uh, benefit for Holocaust survivors at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Amazing. It was amazing. And I said yes, and I would go on This guy here, rich, he's standing there. Rich was Shout out to Rich, the producer? Yeah. Who isn't Jewish. He went the other place. He's not Jewish. So he, he, uh, comes up to my room. I'm preparing, I'm gonna go do

a show, a little standup. And the money, he is going to go for Holocaust survivors. Amazing. And he comes up like angry and he says to me, they put on an opening act. And they didn't tell me because he, he'll do, he'll front all the shows, you know, we need this kind of mic, we need this. Sure, we need, so, uh, he comes and he goes, they put on an opening act and they didn't tell me. And it's horrible. It's a horrible act. Nobody's responding. Nobody. Everybody's just staring. And I go, what is it? He

goes, I think it's a singer. They put on a singer and they didn't tell us. And I go down with him and it was the rabbi doing azi and cutting the hala before the night. Aw. And he thought, rich thought that was the opening act. That's very sweet. Yeah, it wasn't. So do you rip it or do delic it? I, I've never touched, I like, it's always, I think I eat ripped pieces. I'm surprised. I thought you for sure were gonna be a slicer. No, my used because you're not trying to My used my mom

Get your hands in there. Yeah. But your mom would rip a piece and pass a piece and when you rip and pass, right. And then when you have the, the, the, uh, minions, when I was going in mm-hmm. Doing that whole thing, they'd have the bread of all ripped. Pieces. Somebody pre rip somebody pre ripping. Okay, pre ripp Howie, we didn't have time to discuss your ho deportation devices or your eSports team. You co-own with T-Pain. But at least I got to say that insane sentence proto hologram. There you go. Proto hologram. Boom. Thank you

for your candor, for, for inviting me into your place and for using your voice. Even, you know, when you, you don't think you're even doing anything, it means something to folks. So I appreciate that and, um. It's really needed. So thank you. Thank you buddy for having me. Thanks. And uh, that's all I got folks. We'll see you back here for the next zany episode of being Jewish with me, Jonah Platt. Bye Yade. Nice.