Tiffany Haddish will celebrate a late Bat Mitzvah on a special television show • There will be Shabbat candles and loads of dancing • And what makes her most angry in the Jewish world?

(JTA) - This is going to be an exciting week for comedian Tiffany Haddish. On Tuesday, she will celebrate her 40th birthday, put on her new Black Mitzvah show on Netflix, and yes - she will also celebrate her Bat Mitzvah ceremony at a glittering party. Quite a bit for the successful American comedian who discovered that she was only Jewish in old age.

"For a long time I didn't know that there were black Jews. I didn't know anything about Judaism for a long time," Tiffany says in an interview with JTA.

"Black Mitzvah," her special on December 3, is one long Torah thing, telling the audience she's there to teach. She talks about what she has learned in her life - from her past with men, through her experiences as a child in a foster family, to a stand-up show on New Year's Eve that she never went through because of a terrible hangover. She also tells of her history with other religions - her mother belonged to the Jehovah's Witnesses (and she remembers fondly of their wonderful Batterscotch sweets), had a short stretch with Scientology (she left quickly because she hates bunk beds), and the Catholic religion didn't really do either. She got it (Mass waffles were not spicy; the wine turned out to be just grape juice).

And of course, she talks about Judaism.

As one might expect from a show called "Black Mitzvah," it opens at the height of every Mitzvah celebration celebration in the American Jewish community - Tiffany Haddish is carried to the stage on a chair led by four men, while singing "Let's Neglect." "It's one of my favorite songs, one of my favorite songs that is sung in Hebrew," says Haddish. "This song, and there's another one [and then she sings 'La Le La La La La La']." Yes, Tiffany the indifferent, sings the classic distinction tune and for a moment sounds like a cantor.

But let's go back to "Let's Neglect."

"I love this song because of what it says, it's 'let's celebrate, life, let's enforce, brothers, let's get together and enjoy life. That's the life we ​​got, so let's celebrate them together.' It's so powerful, I feel like it's just What I did all the time; I celebrated the life I got. I celebrated with the people who were in the audience, and with the viewers. And maybe it's not perfect - life is not perfect, I'm not perfect. But we need to celebrate the opportunities we have to live. , Celebration, we live. "

Black Mitzvah, Tiffany Haddish's new special // Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

The indifference may be new to the world of Jewish prayers, but Bar / Bat Mitzvah celebrations are no stranger to it. She first became acquainted with the Jewish community in 1996 when, at age 17, she began working as an operator (including dancing and directing) in the Bnei Mitzvah scene. She persevered in this work until 2009; She said she delighted the adolescents and their families in more than 500 Bar / Bat Mitzvah parties.

"I didn't know anything about Judaism for a long time," she explains. "When I entered this profession as an activist, I began to learn more and more about the Torah. I really connected with it. And when I met my father, it really spoke to me. It was like: That's what I am. I did the 23andMe genetic test, and she proved right." He told her father, an Eritrean Jew, for the first time when she was 27. He told her about Judaism and life in Eritrea, where Judaism was not recognized as a formal religion, and was present at her wedding and although their relationship was full of turmoil and upheaval - as she tells in her autobiographical book The Last Black Unicorn - In the end, Haddish found herself through her acquaintance with her heritage and history. After her father passed away in 2017, Haddish Larry Raising for the first time, in 2019 she received Eritrean citizenship.

Now that her Bat Mitzvah day is approaching, the indifferent memories of her most beloved of her work at Bat Mitzvah parties are floating and rising: the father and daughter dance.

"I wish my dad was still alive and I could dance with him. After all, at my wedding, I danced with him. But it was ... probably enough. I wait for them to be picked up on the chair; I'm excited about it. That's my favorite part."

Everything is already ready for the Bat Mitzvah party: Haddish will make an impressive entry, there will be a candle lighting ceremony, a montage of photos of her life, and "lots and lots of dancing." Her former colleagues - all the people she worked with at Bar / Bat Mitzvah parties - will be in attendance, as well as quite a few celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Billy Crystal and Sinbad. "We are all going to dance the soul like the good old days. We are much older so I don't know how much we will succeed in that, but we are totally going to dance the soul."

Her mother will be there, too, which is no small matter. After surviving an almost fatal accident when Haddish was 8 years old, she was diagnosed with a mental problem and was admitted to the institution. "I took her out of this mental institution. That's one of the achievements I'm most proud of: I took her out of the mental institution, bought her a home, arranged for her the right treatment she needed, and slowly saw her come back to be my mother I remember," says Haddish. The mother's hospitalization brought the indifferent and her siblings to foster families, and eventually they were transferred to their grandmother. By the age of 18, the grandmother had removed her from the house, and Hadish became homeless.

Tiffany Haddish in Black Mitzvah // Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

After all these difficulties in life, a Bat Mitzvah ceremony is certainly not the biggest obstacle to success in her life, but Haddish says that the preparations were not simple, especially reading the Torah in Hebrew. "I can say the words," she says, but it's still not easy to read, "to learn the alphabet, to learn the left and right teeth, the Gimel, the meme."

And what else was difficult?

"How you sing. First of all, I'm really pleased I have to sing, that's the best part, right? I'm so excited. But learning how it goes [sings] - that! Good God. Ya-Allah. She died on it. I died on it. "

"The main thing I hope to take with me [from Bat Mitzvah] is that you can inspire my friends to maybe study Torah. To inspire my friends, you know, to dig a little deeper into their background and history, and to build a community and create a discourse."

Haddish hopes her exposure to her journey to understand her legacy will encourage others to do the same.

"Sometimes I feel that a lot of African-Americans have been banished from their history. A lot of us don't know the roots. We don't know what our roots story is, because we took it. And that's what the Torah speaks for, I think it's really powerful," explains Haddish. "I think more people should go and understand who they really are. Find out what your lineage, who you are, study it and learn from it. I learned a lot; I studied Torah, I learned Hebrew. I am so excited about the opportunity to open my eyes to Torah and Judaism."

Like many non-white Jews, Haddish also encountered a lot of racism and discrimination in its community.

"I was in some 500 bar mitzvah, and I'm tired of people telling me to go to the kitchen. No, hell with you, I'm supposed to be here," jokes Haddish at Black Mitzvah. The audience laughs, but that line broke my heart. When I asked her about her - if her relationship with the Jewish community changed at all, if she felt more desirable in Jewish spaces - Haddish replied, "Well, it depends on which synagogue you come in, honey. Depends on where you stand. Depending on the age of the people. Some of these people "They come from times when everyone was supposed to be apart. They come from racial segregation."

Haddish continues, "I have no problem saying: This is where I am supposed to be."

Her confidence should come as no surprise: Haddish is a proud black Jewish woman. She was one of the first black comedians to serve as hosts on Saturday Night Live and won the Emmy Award for her episode. She starred in Girls Trip and Keanu. She donated her voice to Toca in the beloved animation program Tuca & Bertie. And no less important - she is a Beyonce friend. And yes, she still has to deal with racism from the Jewish community, but she is not the one to accept it in silence. Adish has no problem speaking for herself, and even using Jewish values ​​to protect her position.

"It's sad, and it's completely against what the Torah teaches," she says, referring to racism. "The more I know, the more I do: 'No no, Ms. Goodelberg, let me show you something! Here's right here in Genesis written ...' It's so funny that some of them don't even know the Torah! But they're like," I'm a devout Jew. Oh, really? Know what's written in the book of things? Maybe I'll read some of the mitzvot there really quickly ... "

When I came up with this idea as a theme for my special show, "Haddish continues," I was trying to find a way to tell my truth, my experiences in life, and maybe open my eyes to the fact that African-American culture has nothing to say, 'Okay, now you're officially Woman, "or" you're officially a man. " There is no ceremony. There is no maturation test. I remember having this discussion with friends. One of the guys from the neighborhood told me, "You know, I've been in jail some three times, I'm a man." Go to jail - I don't think it makes you a man. Knowing who you are, knowing where you came from, is what makes you an adult. And being able to tell your story to others. That's what I love about Judaism, because it's all about telling the stories and asking and learning from each other. "