Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 7, 2019

Comedian, movie star and film mogul Adam Sandler gave a rare interview to The New York Times Magazine on Sunday, and in many ways it is a close examination of Sandlers Jewishness. As its author, Jamie Lauren Kelles, explained, I grew up as a Jew in a not-very-Jewish place, and Sandlers work meant a lot to me.

* Sandler is a member of Hillcrest Country Club, the oldest Jewish country club in Los Angeles, a place where self-proclaimed Jewish big shots could unwind in semiassimilated fashion. Sandler offers a tour of the Jewish comedians and other role models whose photos line the walls.

* Sandlers upcoming film, Uncut Gems, is a serio-comic deep dive into the shtetl of the New York diamond district. Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a jeweler to the stars who earns his nut hawking diamond-studded novelties to rappers and pro ballers.

* Uncut Gems is the work of Josh and Benny Safdie, and the character of Ratner is partly based on the directors father a Sephardic Jewish emigrant from France and their fathers boss at a diamond business on West 47th Street.

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* The after-party for the movie premiere was held at Katzs Delicatessen on the Lower East Side.

* Kelles insists that, Nearly every Adam Sandler character is Jewish, though if you arent Jewish, you might not even notice. Growing up in Manchester, N.H., Sandler had a standard Jewish-American upbringing: Hebrew school, J.C.C. basketball, a bar mitzvah. His older daughters bat mitzvah was held at Hillcrest, with entertainment by Adam Levine of Maroon 5. Its more about tradition, Sandler says of his Jewish identity. Remembering history, making sure that you have pride.

* Bonus fact: Sandler, despite playing a man-child in many of his best-known comedies, is a family man: Movies shoot in summer, so he can bring his kids to set. During the year, the workday is arranged to allow him to drop them off at school and pick them up.

Read the rest here:

The Five Jewiest Things From That N.Y. Times Profile Of Adam Sandler - The Australian Jewish News

Category: Sephardic
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