Famous Jewish-American comedian and actor Jerry Seinfeld was visibly moved to tears as he recounted his meaningful trip to Israel shortly after the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, on an episode of Bari Weiss' podcast "Honestly." His emotional recollection highlighted the profound impact the visit had on him in the aftermath of those tragic events.
We know @JerrySeinfeld as one of the funniest men on the planet.
But here he is, raw, unfiltered and pure emotion - breaking down in tears, talking to @bariweiss about Oct 7 massacre.pic.twitter.com/zuKO5nlqRN
— Arsen Ostrovsky 🎗️ (@Ostrov_A) May 28, 2024
When asked about his visit, Seinfeld described it as "the most powerful experience of my life," holding back tears. Weiss asked if he was thinking of anyone in particular, as the comedian, overcome with emotion, quietly nodded yes. Seinfeld openly expressed his solidarity with Israel and has also condemned and spoken out against acts of antisemitism, which led to unpleasant encounters with pro-Palestinian protesters calling him a "genocide supporter" and a "Nazi scum." Weiss pointed out that in the footage depicting the incident, Seinfeld is seen smiling and seems to handle it well, to which he responded "It's so silly. They want to express this sincere, intense rage, but a little off target. That's to me comedic." In another incident at Duke University, a large group of students exited the graduation ceremony before Seinfeld was scheduled to deliver the commencement speech.
Seinfeld also spoke about the importance of humor in life, saying that laughing "will get you through a lot of things." He believes this is why humor is "one of the greatest Jewish traditions" and "why there's so many Jewish comedians."
"We just want to make a face happy… with all their crap that they had to live with – they use their incredible brains to make each other laugh."
