Arts & Entertainment

Making Laughter Matter

Circumcise Me an autobiographical chronicle of one man's journey from
Catholicism to Judaism, with three circumcisions along the way
— is a very funny, and a very spiritual, theater piece.

—

Karen Couf Cohen
Special to the Jewish News

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Israel Campbell, 47, star of the
autobiographical Off-Broadway
hit Circumcise Me, has had a
rollercoaster life. After getting sober —
giving up alcohol and drugs at the tender
age of 16 — he began to listen to the
inner voice urging him on to make life
matter.
Catholic-born, Christopher Campbell
chose to become a Jew named Yisrael;
but choosing "the Chosen" was no small
feat. Campbell let that inner voice be his
guide on a spiritual journey that began
in a small suburb near Philadelphia and
ended in Jerusalem, with stops along
the way in Florida, Los Angeles and New
York. He spent years seriously study-
ing Judaism while attending Circle in
the Square drama school in New York
City and plying his trade as an actor. "I
started doing standup as a way of having
more control," he says. "Suddenly, I didn't
have to wait to be cast in something. I
just needed to write a joke and find a
place to tell it?'
Now, traveling frequently from Israel
to the U.S. and England to perform
Circumcise Me, he's working on turn-
ing his show into a book. He's also busy
helping to raise four children, ages 6 and
under, with his wife Avital.
Here, the Jewish News asks Yisrael
Campbell about his journey.

Jewish News: What triggered your
transformation from Catholic to Jew?
YC: I was always infatuated by Jews
and Israel and began to study Judaism
to help me understand why. I thought
once I got the "Jewish thing" out of my
system, I could move on to my true
spiritual path. The opposite happened: I
became more infatuated. When signing
up for a class on Jews and Christianity
at a Reform synagogue, I noticed there
were two rates: member and nonmem-
ber. I asked if a non-Jew could become a
member; why should I pay retail? A rabbi
I consulted told me, "If you really want
to learn Judaism, why don't you convert?"
So I did.

IN: How does a Catholic kid
from Philly end up wearing tefil-
lin?
YC: After converting to Reform
Judaism, I realized I wanted to do
more ritually and put on tefillin.
No one at the Reform synagogue
practiced the tradition so I
looked into the Conservative
movement. Another conver-
sion. Then I wanted to learn
Hebrew so I could study
the original texts. I trav-
eled to Jerusalem, where
the Orthodox tradition
helped me make sense
of my life. I studied at
the Pardes Institute
of Jewish Studies, a
nondenominational
yeshivah. My teacher
became my wife (in
his personal life, the
comedian uses their
hypenated name,
Campbell-Hochstein).

IN: Three circum-
cisions? One isn't
enough?
YC: Normally yes,
but not for me. I
had one when I was
born, which was not
religious, which was
acceptable to my
Reform rabbi. But
the mikveh
lady said,
"No way.
That was a
medical procedure, and this is a reli-
gious covenant!" That's Judaism, isn't it?
Rabbi says, "No." Mikveh lady says, "Yes."
Before the third one, I told my Orthodox
rabbi, "Alright, I'll do it over, but just so
you know: this is not a religious cov-
enant. It's a fetish?'

IN: How was Circumcise Me born?
YC: In Jerusalem, I was asked to talk
for 15 minutes to a conversion class.
I ended up speaking for over an hour.

"I wasn't really

religious," says

Yisrael Campbell

about his pre-

conversion life.

"But I was Catholic

enough to know I

named a sandwich after me and wanted
to do a publicity piece with me taking a
bite of the sandwich. Of course, the res-
taurant isn't kosher so it wasn't possible.
The promotion people tried to get me to
fake it. Instead they found a kosher deli
and named a sandwich after me that I
could eat.

was going to hell."

Someone
in the class
suggested
my story
would make
an excellent
comedy show.
Eventually, my
story morphed
into an hour of
standup. In New
York, I met Cory
Kahaney, a talented
comedian who saw
my work and sug-
gested I do it Off
Broadway, with an
amazing producer
named Eva Price.
She introduced me
to Sam Gold, who
took the show
from a rambling
hour of comedy to
a finished theatrical
piece. We got it to Off
Broadway, set to run for six
weeks. It ran for eight months
— with four extensions.

IN: What are the challenges of
an Orthodox actor performing Off
Broadway?
YC: We never had a Friday night
show or a Saturday matinee because of
Shabbat. Winter months we were OK, but
by mid-May our Saturday night show
started at 10 p.m. To keep the crowd
entertained until Shabbat was over, we
brought out a woman who sang Yiddish
songs. It was hard on my non-observant
Jewish producers. The Carnegie deli

IN: Did you ever play to an audience
that didn't get you?
YC: I did an event at a sushi martini
bar/restaurant in Atlanta, and the audi-
ence didn't get my humor. How can you
laugh at Jewish humor if you don't know
the terminology? I use Hebrew in my
jokes — and believe me, I'm not fluent.
While I was learning Hebrew, I was walk-
ing with my friend and we came upon
a woman screaming at her poodle in
Hebrew. The dog was practically nodding
in understanding. I looked at my friend
and said, "That dog knows more Hebrew
than I do."

Karen Couf Cohen is a writer and a public

relations professional based in Franklin.

Congregation Shaarey Zedek
Sisterhood presents Yisrael
Campbell in Circumcise Me 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct.16, at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek, 27375 Bell Road,
in Southfield. For tickets ($36), call
the synagogue at (248) 357-5544,
ext. 48, or go to http://Detroit.
planitjewish.com .

Can't make Congregation Shaarey
Zedek's Oct.16 presentation of
Circumcise Me? Yisrael Campbell
returns with his one-man show for
performances presented by JET
and co-sponsored by the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan
Detroit 9 p.m. Saturday, May 7, and
5 p.m. Sunday, May 8, at Marion and
David Handelman Hall, located in the
JCC in West Bloomfield. For tickets,
call (248) 788- 2900 or go to
www.jettheatre.org .

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