celebrity jews
arts&life

40 August 1 • 2019
jn

RUNDOWN ON THE 
JEWISH
DEMS SEEKING NOMINATION
Two candidates are “just plain 
Jewish:” Vermont Sen. 
Bernie Sanders, 77, and 
author/lecturer Marianne 
Williamson, 67. Her 
father changed the family 
name “Vishnevetsky” to 
Williamson. Marianne was 
raised a Conservative Jew 
and does mention being 
Jewish in public speeches. 
Her Detroit ties include living 
in Birmingham and Grosse 
Pointe and, for many years, 
serving as spiritual leader 
of the Church of Today in 
Warren (now Renaissance 
Unity Church in Ferndale). 
Colorado Sen. Michael 
Bennett, 54, is the son 
of a Protestant father 
(with Mayflower pas-
senger ancestry) and a 
Jewish mother. His moth-
er, Susanne, was only a 
baby when she and her 
parents were imprisoned 
in the Warsaw Ghetto. 
Susanne was smuggled 
out of Poland. Susanne’
s 
mother found refuge in a 
Catholic convent and her 
father managed to survive 
the labor camps. Bennett’
s 
mother’
s family, who came 
to the States in 1950, were 
never observant Jews. The 
senator’
s father identified 
as a Christian but was not 
churchgoing. Bennett was 
raised with exposure to 
both his heritages, but not 
really in any faith. He says 
he believes in God, but he is 
not a practicing “anything.”
New York Sen. Kirsten 
Gillibrand has a Jewish 
great-grandfather (her pater-
nal grandmother’
s father) 
who was raised Catholic, as 
was Sen. Gillibrand.
 
JEWISH TIES
California Sen. Kamala 
Harris is married to Jewish businessman 
Douglas Emhoff, 54. The senator’
s 
mother was from India and a Hindu. Her 
father was from Jamaica and a Baptist. 

She was exposed to both faiths. Harris 
and Emhoff wed in a civil ceremony in 
2014. In her recent memoir, Harris notes 
that at the close of her wedding ceremo-
ny, “… in keeping with our respective 
Indian and Jewish heritage, I put a flower 
garland around Doug’
s neck, and he 
stomped on a glass.” It was 
the first marriage for Harris 
and the second for Emhoff. 
He has two children by his 
previous marriage. 
Former Vice President Joe 
Biden, a Catholic, has three 
Jewish ties by marriage: (1) 
His late son, Beau Biden, 
married Hallie Olivere, 
now 44, in 2002, and they 
remained married until his 
death in 2015. The couple 
had two children, now 
teenagers. Olivere’
s mother 
is Jewish, her father isn’
t. 
There is no reporting on 
whether Hallie was raised 
Jewish or the religious 
nature (if any) of her wed-
ding to Beau, or what faith, 
if any, Hallie and Beau’
s 
children are being raised in; 
(2) Biden’
s daughter, Ashley, 
is married to Dr. Howard 
Krein, 52, a Jewish ear, 
nose and throat doctor. They 
wed in 2012. A Catholic 
priest presided, with a rabbi 
“assisting.” They don’
t have 
children; and (3) Hunter 
Biden, the son of the former 
veep, wed Melissa Cohen, 
32, in May. The couple only 
knew each other a month 
before the wedding. Born 
and raised in South Africa, 
Cohen reportedly comes 
from an observant Jewish 
family. She was formerly 
married to a Los Angeles 
Jewish businessman. She’
s 
also posted a video of a 
desecrated Parisian Jewish 
cemetery with comments 
showing her anguish. No 
word if the wedding was 
secular or religious. The 
groom, however, got a “sha-
lom” tattoo, which matches 
one his wife has.

SURPRISE
The father of Attorney General William 
Barr was born Jewish but converted to 
Catholicism. Barr’
s mother was Catholic, 
and he was raised a Catholic. ■

NATE BLOOM

COLUMNIST

Bernie Sanders

Marianne Williamson

Michael Bennet

Joe Biden

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