28 | MARCH 31 • 2022

U

nless you’ve been hibernating for
the past couple of years, you’ve
probably heard of TikTok. It’s a
social networking app that features short
videos and has taken the world by storm.
Today, you can watch the latest dance craze
or see teens doing pranks and stunts. You
can also watch actual video footage of the
Russian invasion of Ukraine shot on cell
phones along with stay-at-home dads tell-
ing their favorite jokes and highlights of
the latest sporting events.
The Chinese-owned TikTok only allows
the upload of short (15 seconds to three
minutes) videos and has gained in popu-
larity since the demise of similar apps like

Vine and Musical.ly (another Chinese-
owned app that merged with TikTok). It
became the first non-Facebook mobile app
to reach 3 billion downloads globally this
past summer.
Like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram,
Jewish content is readily available on the
TikTok platform. The app has given rise to
a new crop of Jewish personalities who are
profiting from creating popular content for
the Jewish community (as well as Jewish
content for non-Jews, too). A recent NBC
News article interviewed several Jewish
creators on the TikTok app who said they
feel they have been subjected to a type of
censorship, with the app regularly flagging

and removing their content. Additionally,
there have been many antisemitic slurs in
the comment section of videos upload-
ed by these Jewish content creators.
Nevertheless, these new Jewish internet
celebrities have persevered and continue to
churn out videos that go viral, even edu-
cating people about Judaism and dispelling
myths along the way.
So, who are these Jewish TikTok content
providers?

CRAZY BROTHERS-IN-LAW
(@JEWCRAZY)
Tommer and Yossi are brothers-in-law
who must have looked at the typical dance
memes on TikTok and determined that they
could do those with a Jewish flavor. This
duo has half a million followers, 10 million
likes, and make money selling JewCrazy-
branded merchandise.
In one of their most popular videos, the
two men appear to be getting into a fight
with a gangster who tells them to come
back to the alley strapped. Instead of return-
ing strapped with guns, they reappear wear-
ing the leather straps of their tefillin.
Tommer and Yossi regularly answer
questions from commenters in a cynical
manner, but ultimately educate the public
about what it means to be observant Jews.
Many of the comments on their videos
bring up millennia-old stereotypes about
Jewish people (e.g., do Jews have horns, do
Jews control the banks, etc.), but @JewCrazy
responds to these misguided commenters

JewCrazy

RABBI JASON MILLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Challah Prince
Jewish
TikTok

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JEWS IN THE DIGITAL AGE