Adam Sandler is one of the biggest names in Hollywood. From his Netflix deal reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars to his critically acclaimed performances in films like Spanglish and Uncut Gems, Sandler is one of the most bankable names in the industry.
Sandler is one of Hollywood's biggest Jewish names. Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York. in 1966 to Jewish parents Judy (née Levine) and Stanley. Both sides of his family are descended from Russian Jews, who immigrated to the US before the war.
Sandler grew up being one of the only Jewish children in his school in New Hampshire and has spoken of the antisemitic abuse he faced during his childhood. In a 2015 interview with Jewish radio host Howard Stern, Sandler said he faced "pick up a penny kinda sh*t" and that his parents told him: “When you hear an anti-Semitic thing, the move is to punch somebody.”
The Jewish actor had a typically Jewish American upbringing, playing basketball at his local JCC, going to Hebrew school and having a bar mitzvah in his parent's basement.
Sandler was a member of BBYO in his youth, before attending NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where he graduated in 1988.
In the same interview, he also told Stern: “I’m not crazy religious…but I’m proud of being a Jew and that’s what I am.”
Judaism has been a recurring theme in many of his acting and comedy roles. Nearly 30 years ago, he wrote and performed The Hannukah Song on the American late-night comedy show Saturday Night Live, introducing it by saying: “When I was a kid, this time of year always made me feel a little left out, because there were so many Christmas songs and all us Jewish kids was the song ‘Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel.’ So I wrote a new song for Jewish kids to sing,”
And he didn't stop there. In the last decades, Sandler's wide range of Jewish roles have included Danny Meyerowitz in the incredibly Jewish, Baumbach-directed The Meyerowitz Stories, Israeli action hero The Zohan in You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and the fraught Howard Ratner in the Safdie Brothers' Uncut Gems. He also wrote and starred in Chanukah film Eight Crazy Nights about a Jewish man in New Hampshire, who discovers the joy of the festival of lights.
But despite having played the full spectrum of Jews from New York kvetchers to Israeli tough-guys, Adam Sandler confessed last year that he'd never been to Israel.
In an interview with the American Association of Retired People's magazine, Sandler said that visiting Israel was on his bucket list: “Well, I haven’t been to Israel and I’m the Zohan, for God’s sake. I’m excited to get there.”
Despite him never having been to the Holy Land, Sandler is on record as being a big defender of the State of Israel, telling Howard Stern that he "f**king loved" when Stern took shots at Roger Waters Israel boycott, adding: "I’m disgusted that they single out Israel. All those nice Israeli people are getting a ‘f**k you’ from Roger Waters."
In his personal life too, Sandler also espouses Jewish values. His wife Jackie, who stars alongside his daughters in his new film You Are So Not Invited To My Bat Mitzvah, converted to Judaism for him before their marriage in 2003 and the couple celebrated 20 years together earlier this year.
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Sandler's two daughters Sadie and Sunny are both being raised Jewish and at Sadie's Bat Mitzvah in 2019, Jewish pop star Adam Levine fromMaroon 5 performed for guests.
And his latest film focuses on his fictional daughter's bat mitzvah with director, Sammi Cohen saying while it is a very Jewish film, “It has something for everyone,”
“As much as kids will see themselves in this, adults will too. It gives us insight into this very Jewish coming-of-age experience but speaks to broader themes about what it means to be a kid today."
She added: “The heart of the movie is this platonic love story between these two best friends, and there's something so universal in that experience.
"But what's really unique and exciting for me is you get to kind of fold in these Jewish lessons and Jewish experiences.
"This idea of doing a mitzvah, doing good for others, forgiveness, making mistakes, not doing things perfectly, but moving through that together.
“There's a very Jewish side to all of this that makes Jewish kids feel seen and celebrated.”
