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Actress Emmanuelle Chriqui Talks About Jewish Pride, Growing Up in Modern Orthodox Family
Emmanuelle Chriqui attending the Creative Coalition Celebrate Election Night with a Star-Studded Dinner & Watch Party Held in Beverly Hills, California, Nov. 6, 2024. Photo: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images via Reuters Connect
Jewish actress Emmanuelle Chriqui opened up in a podcast interview on Tuesday about being raised in a Modern Orthodox household in Canada, being proud to be Jewish and how pro-Israel activists in Hollywood inspire her.
Chriqui, 49, was born to Moroccan Jewish immigrants in Montreal, Canada. Her late mother, Liliane, was born in Casablanca, while her late father, Albert, was born in Rabat and moved to Casablanca as a child. Growing up herself in Canada, Chriqui kept kosher at home and celebrated Shabbat every week with her family.
“I was raised in a small town outside of Toronto and we were two Jewish families but I lived in, I would consider, a Modern Orthodox home,” the former “Entourage” star told Jewish comedian Elon Gold during a guest appearance on his podcast “Stars of David with Elon Gold.”
“We did Shabbat dinner every Friday [and] Shabbat lunch Saturday. Dad went to temple,” she said. “All our biggest fights were [about] going out on Friday night. And my mom was an extraordinary cook. In Canada in the winter time, I would race home from school [on Fridays] so I could plug in the water, light the candles, cuz I’d be the first one home, turn the oven on low, all the things. We had milk and meat separate at home.”
The “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” star added that she still lights Shabbat candles every week in her home. She also noted that her favorite Jewish holiday is Rosh Hashanah. Explaining why, she said: “I love new beginnings; renewal. I love the symbolism, the food, [and] as much as I dread that it means Yom Kippur is around the corner, I love this time and I love how I feel after Yom Kippur.” She said in a previous interview that she includes a clause in her acting contracts, stating that she will not work on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.
Chriqui has been an avid supporter of Israel for many years. After the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel last year, she expressed solidarity with Israel and its right to defend itself against Hamas. She signed an open letter condemning the US-designated terrorist organization, has advocated for the release of the hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and shared posts on social media about the need to bring the hostages home. She has also supported efforts to counteract boycotts of Israel, including efforts to have Israel banned from the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest. Since 2020, Chriqui has been in a relationship with American actor Sam Trammell, who in early 2024 condemned antisemitism.
“Obviously this past year has been incredibly confronting on so many levels and things have come up that I’ve never lived through before,” Chriqui said during her podcast interview this week, referring to the global experiencing a rise in antisemitism since the Oct. 7 attack. She also said she thinks the “silver lining” of this past year has been seeing how Jews in Hollywood are embracing their Judaism in different ways than perhaps before the Oct. 7 massacre.
“Like in my 20-plus years of being in Los Angeles, it’s never been like this. Like I can’t keep up with the invitations,” she said. “It’s never been that way. Jews, fellow Jews that were like Jew-ish, suddenly it means something different. And I think that’s the thing – being Jewish in this moment has taken on a different meaning.”
She said “very much so,” Jews are starting to express pride and unity in their Jewish heritage that she has not seen before. She also told Gold that Jewish friends and pro-Israel advocates in the Hollywood community inspire her, including Hen Mazzig, Noa Tishby, Mandana Dayani and Montana Tucker. “I’m very inspired by all of them,” she explained.
Chriqui was also asked about the backlash that some Jewish celebrities receive for not speaking out publicly either enough or at all in support of Israel.
“In the beginning, I think the sentiment was that we felt so alone so who are the Jews who have millions of followers that can affect change,” she said in response. “But it’s also about releasing expectations; releasing judgments. What I might do works for me, might not work for you. And I think really we need to be more tolerate with each other, especially within the community. That’s something that breaks my heart a little bit.”
“I think that speaking out against antisemitism on my platform, for me, is about standing tall in who I am. So it’s much less about what happened but really embracing who we are,” she noted.
The post Actress Emmanuelle Chriqui Talks About Jewish Pride, Growing Up in Modern Orthodox Family first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘With or Without Russia’s Help’: Iran Pledges to Block South Caucasus Route Opened Up By Peace Deal
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. Photo: Kevin Lamarque via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – Iran will block the establishment of a US-backed transit corridor in the South Caucasus region with or without Moscow’s help, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader was quoted as saying on Saturday by the Iran International website, one day after the historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
“Mr. Trump thinks the Caucasus is a piece of real estate he can lease for 99 years,” Ali Akbar Velayati said of the so-called Zangezur corridor, the establishment of which is stipulated in the peace deal unveiled on Friday by US President Donald Trump. The White House said the transit route would facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
“This passage will not become a gateway for Trump’s mercenaries — it will become their graveyard,” the Khamenei advisor added.
Baku and Yerevan have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting or forcing almost all of the territory’s 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
Yet that painful history was put to the side on Friday at the White House, as Trump oversaw a signing ceremony, flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The peace deal with Azerbaijan—a pro-Western ally of Israel—is expected to pull Armenia out of the Russian and Iranian sphere of influence and could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighboring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran.
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UK Police Arrest 150 at Protest for Banned Palestine Action Group
People holding signs sit during a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government’s proscription of “Palestine Action” under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
London’s Metropolitan Police said on Saturday it had arrested 150 people at a protest against Britain’s decision to ban the group Palestine Action, adding it was making further arrests.
Officers made arrests after crowds, waving placards expressing support for the group, gathered in Parliament Square, the force said on X.
Protesters, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, chanted “shame on you” and “hands off Gaza,” and held signs such as “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” video taken by Reuters at the scene showed.
In July, British lawmakers banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest against Britain’s support for Israel.
The ban makes it a crime to be a member of the group, carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, last week won a bid to bring a legal challenge against the ban.
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‘No Leniency’: Iran Announces Arrest of 20 ‘Zionist Agents’
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi addresses a special session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, June 20, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
i24 News – Iranian authorities have in recent months arrested 20 people charged with being “Israeli Mossad operatives,” the judiciary said, adding that the Islamic regime will mete out the harshest punishments.
“The judiciary will show no leniency toward spies and agents of the Zionist regime, and with firm rulings, will make an example of them all,” spokesperson Asghar Jahangiri told Iranian media. However, it is understood that an unspecified number of detainees were released, apparently after the charges against them could not be substantiated.
The Islamic Republic was left reeling by a devastating 12-day war with Israel earlier in the summer that left a significant proportion of its military arsenal in ruins and dealt a serious setback to its uranium enrichment program. The fallout included an uptick in executions of Iranians convicted of spying for Israel, with at least eight death sentences carried out in recent months. Hit with international sanctions, the country is in dire economic straights, with frequent energy outages and skyrocketing unemployment.
In recent weeks Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi affirmed that Tehran cannot give up on its nuclear enrichment program even as it was severely damaged during the war.
“It is stopped because, yes, damages are serious and severe. But obviously we cannot give up of enrichment because it is an achievement of our own scientists. And now, more than that, it is a question of national pride,” the official told Fox News.