Noa Tishby: Showing the World It’s Cool to Be Jewish

You may recognize Noa Tishby from her many characters on Israeli television and/or watched her popular HBO series, “In Treatment,” where she was an executive producer. But her favorite role now is as a tireless activist/social media influencer, advocating for Jewish people whenever she can.

“The most meaningful part of my job is showing the world what being Jewish is all about,” she told Aish.com. “We’re such a small community, and there are so many misconceptions about us. But I aim to share our beautiful rituals, traditions, and values in a way that feels open and welcoming. Different cultures and religions can feel unfamiliar, even intimidating, but I’m here to show that Judaism is vibrant, meaningful, and cool.”

Tishby served as Israel’s first-ever Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization. She is also a two-time New York Times best-selling author, publishing “Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth,” in 2021, and “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew,” co-authored with Emmanuel Acho, in 2024.

Her latest initiative is #BringOnTheLight, an informative, eight-night Jewish video series, lighting Hanukkah candles with celebrity actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, (for night one); Mila Kunis (night two); Mayim Bialik (night three); comedian Iliza Shlesinger (night four); political analyst Van Jones (night five) and Cindy Crawford (night six).

“We need to show the world that it’s cool to be Jewish as we celebrate the customs we’ve carried on for thousands of years,” Tishby asserted. “Hanukkah is the perfect holiday to bring on the light, literally. From lighting candles to eating fried foods to spinning dreidels, these eight nights are all about being together with family and friends, and laughing and singing and dancing.”

Once Tishby and her team came up with the idea for the campaign, they started brainstorming who their “dream” guests would be.

“With every ‘yes,’ the momentum grew. What stood out most was how genuinely excited everyone was to be part of it. The conversations felt natural, the topics flowed effortlessly, and it was so meaningful to hear each guest share their personal connection to Jewish culture. It became more than just a project; it felt like a celebration of identity and tradition.”

With every video posted, viewers learned fascinating tidbits, among them:

– Paltrow talked about how she “always felt an incredible pull” to her Jewish family. “I still do. And just the traditions and the warmth and the unconditional love, and the food, and the yelling, and the family and community. I’m so close to everybody on that side of my family. We’re all kind of interwoven and so important to each other and just show up for each other again and again and again.”

–Ukrainian-born Kunis and her family had to keep her religion a secret. "I always knew I was Jewish, but I was told to never talk about it. I think because I was in a country that didn't allow for religion," she told Tishby. "I was raised culturally Jewish, so for me, it's a culture. And as I had kids, and my kids very much identify with the religion aspect of it, I’m like 'okay, I guess we'll do Shabbas, and we'll do the candles.' There's so much beautiful tradition in it."

–Bialik acknowledged how challenging a year this has been. “The world is still a very unstable place for the Jewish people, and I think this year, we’ve seen more evidence of the need for unity. There are so many incredible things about being Jewish, there’s so many joyful things, there’s so many things worth celebrating that are part of our birthright. It’s a sense of belonging, even if you don’t know where you belong.”

–Tishby was deeply touched by Jones’ comments during his video. “There’s not enough darkness in the whole universe to black out the light from a single candle.” @VanJones68 joins me to light his first-ever Hanukkah candle. We talked about the powerful bond between the Black and Jewish communities and the importance of showing up for one another. Invite a friend—Jewish or not—to light candles with you tonight.”

She also encouraged followers to put a menorah in their bios during Hanukkah.

 

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“It’s important that we carry on these traditions and retell the story of Hanukkah and Jewish resilience every year, and that includes publicly and proudly displaying your menorah whether that’s in your living room window or on social media,” she added.

Tishby also recently founded Eighteen, a nonprofit institute to combat antisemitism.

“We founded Eighteen in 2024 to empower Jews and allies to be proud advocates of Israel, the Jewish community and Western values. Its mission is to fight antisemitism, defend Israel and inspire Jewish pride. Through media, events and education, Eighteen amplifies what it means to be a loud and proud Jew and Zionist.”

You can watch all of Tishby’s videos at https://www.youtube.com/@noatishby.