Boaz Bismuth: A Personal Journey Through Faith and Family

Boaz Bismuth, editor of 'Israel Hayom,' has always had a sense of Jewish pride. However, it was his wife’s journey through conversion that truly deepened his faith. 'The foundation was there, and someone just came and watered it,' he shares in an interview with Yair Sherki and Gideon D. from 'Channel 7.' His wife was the driving force behind the decision to convert. Despite it being a lengthy and challenging process, it was worth every moment. 'I remember we were sitting in a restaurant one evening, and when my wife got the call to appear before the conversion committee, she just burst into tears of joy,' he recalls. 'The moment she recited the *Shema Yisrael* and joined the Jewish people, and when my son David was born Jewish, I reached such heights, realizing my smallness beside it all. It was truly a peak moment.' Though he grew up in a traditional family, with a grandfather who was a rabbi in Ashdod, Bismuth’s spiritual journey was a bit different. 'Unlike others, like Tsevi Yehzkelli whom I respect greatly, who returned to faith, I speak like this without necessarily wearing a *kippah*. It's an expression of my traditional roots. I always wore a *kippah* and refrained from watching TV on Shabbat. I sometimes waver, but the core is always there.' In this core, there are practices he performs without question. Regular visits to the synagogues of the three religious communities he engages with in northern Tel Aviv are one such practice. 'It’s a part of me,' he says. 'Every Shabbat, I'm at a synagogue. Friday, you relax with friends and then head home. But going to synagogue has become automatic for me. My son wears a *tallit katan*.' He proudly shares that his sons attend a Haredi Jewish school. 'My child walks around northern Tel Aviv with a *tallit katan*, and people are amazed. I'm not trying to pretend to be someone I’m not. I believe in my way. Chabad calls me "the ambassador of Chabad in the secular world." In a sense, I am the secular ambassador in the ultra-Orthodox world and find myself bridging all realms.' When asked about choosing Haredi education, Bismuth explains that it's high quality and close to home, though he doesn't rule out other options later. 'But it’s great that he’s getting this foundation. Consider my wife's mother, whom I greatly appreciate. The distance between her and Judaism was like the distance from me to penguin history in Antarctica. She doesn't understand or care. Yet when she helps my wife, I hear her saying, "Vanessa, the boy forgot his *tallit katan*." *Baruch Hashem*, I smile at Hashem and our home. Here’s someone who once thought this all was crazy, a cult, and now the mother is chasing after him with the *tallit* proudly. Truly, there's something captivating and astonishing about Judaism,' he concludes.