Educational Media Reviews Online

Circumcise Me profiles Orthodox Jewish standup comedian Yisrael Campbell, whose observational humor is typical in style of many contemporary comedians, but deals with his life as an Orthodox Jew and family man living in Jerusalem.

Campbell was born Christian Campbell in Philadelphia and raised in the Catholic faith. At sixteen, a habitual drug user and alcoholic, Campbell read Leon Uris’ novel Exodus (1958) and began studying Judaism. Influenced by the novel, he was fascinated by Israel and dreamed of living there, but expected to reject Judaism as he had Catholicism and continue his spiritual journey elsewhere. He shortly converted to Reform Judaism. Later Campbell converted again as a Conservative; he converted a third time to Orthodox Judaism in 2000.

In interviews and performance footage Campbell addresses his alcoholic youth, religious conversions, Jewish rituals and laws, Palestinian-Israeli violence in Jerusalem, becoming a father, and his hopes for his children. Low-key and soft-spoken offstage, Campbell tells of the Second Intifada that began shortly after his move to Jerusalem and close friends who were killed by a terrorist bomb; more boisterous in performance, he jokes about a “master bomb-maker” who is missing several limbs and describes negotiating over the number of armed security guards to have at his wedding. Campbell explains that he naturally turns pain into humor and has come to accept it as his way of dealing with grief. On and offstage he frequently points out absurdities in the religious traditions to which he remains faithful.

The film includes brief, good-natured comments from Campbell’s father on his son’s early interest in Judaism and eventual conversion. Much of the background music is from the Israeli band Hadag Nachash, known for its political and religious irreverence.

Circumcise Me illustrates one man’s personal experience of Orthodox Judaism while showing how religious traditions and everyday, modern sensibilities can coexist. Recommended for Jewish studies programs, it is interesting also for its demonstration of how Campbell’s comedic material is drawn from his daily experience.