The Problem with Me being Jewish

Peer-reviewed by Raven Schwam-Curtis

THE TEAM:

AUDIO EDITOR: Cory

STORYBOARDS:

Laddi

Belle

BACKGROUNDS + ASSETS:

Oskar

Clover

Nunu

ANIMATION:

Laddi

Delaney

Breeezy

Viral

Riah

GrunkleAnn

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mel

CHANNEL MANAGEMENT: David Seelos

#illymation

[matt-eits]

The fact that you got doxxed and threatened for your heritage is seriously messed up. You can't change where you come from. And you shouldn’t have to.

[supersyncspaz]

I'm not Jewish, but I have a lot of empathy. Being Black, I know that any kind of abuse for any group outside of the norm opens up abuse for everyone who is considered outside of the norm. We all need each other and to stand up for each other.

[itssharktime]

I'm not Jewish, but this is the kind of video we need during these times with anti-semitism on the rise.

[TzaddikMedia]

I'm Orthodox and just want to say shkoyach (more power to ya) on your journey. Much love and support - and you're an awesome animator by the way!

[OliverRafferty-regu]

My grandfather used to get bullied for being Jewish as a kid, so he became a lawyer specialising in keeping Australian Aboriginal Culture alive. He then became a Judge on the Federal Court to help more people. This just reminded me of him. Thank you for saying this.

[HannaSis]

As a Black Jewish woman, the type of discrimination I receive because I am not a European Jew is insane. Thanks for making this video :)

[funninesswithanna]

I grew up christian and have cousins who are jewish and one of them recently had a batmitzva and I love getting to learn and grow with new cultures. Stay amazing!

[EternalNova]

Someone: “your now Jewish your white with red hair”
Kyle (from South Park): am I a joke to you

[dreylenphoenix]

I'm a reform Jew, adopted from China and raised Jewish, and I've had these struggles all my life, so thank you making this video! I relate to a lot of points in this!!!

[thebrokencon]

1:18 I feel like this is such an important lesson. I’m Jewish too and I get so tired of people assuming everything and everyone is a monolith. I’ll never forget when I told my friends I was celebrating Passover and that was how they found out I was Jewish. Suddenly I was not me, I was just simply a Jew. It sucks.

[bioshockbrat]

As a Native American, it is so nice to have a name to the thing occurring among so many generations and cultures. I never had a name for the phenomenon where a person's family heritage isn't passed down. I've been struggling to reach through Google and pull it back out while feeling like it's minimized around me. We are hoping that classes encouraging those languages can help bridge the gap between the lost heritage and bring us closer to it. Thank you for this spotlight on other religions and cultures. It was ironically a Christian school that encouraged exploration or other cultures and religions. It was incredibly informative and eye-opening. Hopefully other schools can be this welcoming in the future :)

[BurriLuvsHistory]

All Palestinian & Jewish peopele should not be discriminated

[gingeremu]

my old roommate is jewish and for the year we lived together we celebrated every jewish holiday and I learned so much! it truly is a beautiful culture and religion with an insanely vast and rich history! If youve never celebrated any of the holidays I recommend finding someone who does and experiencing it!

[leahratto]

As a Jew raised in a reform and mixed religion household I totally understand the feeling, and I’m sorry for all you’ve been through. Thank you for making this ❤

[auggygobby]

I feel so seen, my great grandmother was Jewish and escaped Germany and then raised her children without religion out of fear, most grew up to be Christian when they married. My dad then raised us with the knowledge he knew and we’re ethnically and semi culturally Jewish, I worried I didn’t count because we’re not strict on traditions and my mom’s family isn’t religious at all, it’s really comforting seeing people grow up with similar experiences

[greystudios]

Your vids have definitely given me some motivation to start doing my own storytime content. Granted I'm not an animator, I'm a VTuber/music producer, but I'd love to branch out. I found out a while back that I had Cherokee ancestry all the way back to the Trail of Tears, and hearing you talk about your Jewish heritage makes me kinda want to give doing my own stories a shot. Great work, Illymation! :)

[Garanseho]

As an Orthodox Sephardi Jew, I'm so glad that this video exists. In a world where anti-semitism in normalized online and not given much attention, having influencers that millions of people watch spread awareness about the true horrors of anti-semitism is a huge step in the right direction. Thank you!

[PinkIcedTea]

It's so nice to see a storytime video about being Jewish! I was nodding along the whole time. Thank you for shining a light on our community.

[salamanderthenewt]

You posted on your tik tok about being Jewish one time and as I said then I'm really glad you're open about this there are so many Jewish creators and artists that people don't realize are Jewish it's really nice to see someone openly discussing it
Especially when they're not super religious or used to some of the only traditions people recognize

[Lillyd]

I am Orthodox Jew and I 100% agree with every point you made. Good luck learning more about your Jewish heritage! It’s so interesting(and sometimes messed up but whatever)!!