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There are several famous people who are openly proud of their Jewish heritage, such as Steven Spielberg, Adam Sandler, David Schwimmer, Billy Joel, Natalie Portman, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Barbra Streisand to name just a few.

Add another incredibly good-looking and famous face in there, because – although you might have already known this – David Beckham just proudly announced being a part of the Jewish community at a public event on Monday.

It seems to be big news – even Jewish News, Jerusalem Post, The Jewish Chronicles, and The Times of Israel have made a fuss about it.

For a fundraising event hosted by JW3, a Jewish community centre for a Jewish education fellowship, Beckham addressed an excited crowd at St Johns Wood synagogue where he fondly discussed his cultural heritage.

The crowd of almost 600 people were treated to him saying “Hamotzi,” the Hebrew blessing over bread, among other things:

“I am part of the Jewish community and I am proud to say it,” said Beckham, whose grandfather was Jewish.

“My grandfather always made sure we would keep up with certain traditions,” he said. “We went to bar mitzvahs and weddings and I would wear a kippah. Every Saturday morning, I used to go to see my grandfather – you’d walk in the house to my grandmother preparing chicken soup and matzah balls and latkes. We always kept to those traditions; it was always about the family coming together and spending time together.”

Beckham was interviewed by television producer Ben Winston, son of the late Lira Winston, a Jewish nonprofit leader and educator after whom the fellowship is named:

 

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This is nice and all but where was he when Kanye was spewing antisemitic nonsense late last year? It’s not up to him alone, but he could have Bent it like Beckham and given Ye a good old yeet.

This is not the first time that David has openly discussed his Jewish background. In 2016, during a public interview, also at the JW3 centre, Beckham was asked if he saw himself as Jewish in any way, answering that his grandfather was Jewish, “That was on my mother’s side, so yes, I do see myself …” before being interrupted and continuing, per Al Bawaba:

“I was never brought up Jewish, but like I said, my grandfather was, and every time we went to synagogue I was part of that,” Beckham said.

He also has a Hebrew tattoo reading “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” a quotation from the Hebrew religious text Song of Songs. His wife Victoria Beckham had the same one, but had it removed in 2015. The couple also sent their son Cruz to a Jewish preschool in Los Angeles.

Last year, their other son Brooklyn married Jewish American heiress and actress Nicola Peltz in a Jewish ceremony, which included a huppah, the breaking of a glass and the signing of a ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract.

So yeah, Judaism is a major part of the Beckham’s family life.

[sources:jpost]