Noam Weissman
Hey, everyone, welcome to Wondering Jews with Mijal and Noam.
Mijal Bitton
I’m Mijal
Noam Weissman
And I’m Noam, and this podcast is our way of trying to unpack those really big questions being asked today about Israel, about Judaism, and about the Jewish experience.
Noam Weissman
And today we have with us our good friend Michael Rapaport.
Mijal Bitton
Welcome. Great to have you.
Michael Rapaport
Thanks for having me. I appreciate a big fan of the podcast. I’ve never I’ve never even seen you. But I know your voice very well. Of course I know. No know. But you’re the real MVP. She’s the real that she’s the real MVP. To quote the great Kevin Durant.
Noam Weissman
Yeah, the real MVP. Yes. By the way you know the reference. He’s talking about his mother Kevin Rudd’s mother okay. The real MVP. Yes. That’s the that’s the context of that comment. Do you know how to even respond to said comment.
Mijal Bitton
But. Well yeah.
Michael Rapaport
Well you’re the MVP. You’re the.
Noam Weissman
MVP. Yes. Real MVP.
Michael Rapaport
Yes. But as opposed to him, I’m just saying he thinks he’s the MVP. You’re the real MVP. Got it got it got it.
Noam Weissman
And now you know.
Mijal Bitton
Now you know I do not. But I’m really excited to have you here.
Michael Rapaport
My thanks for having.
Mijal Bitton
Me on social very moved by your voice your strong Jewish pride your, your we’re going to have a good conversation.
Michael Rapaport
Let’s do it. Let’s do it.
Noam Weissman
I want to just say, like, just to Kevin’s for a second here, and you and I grab lunch together in South Florida. Yep. Months ago or last year. I don’t know what it was. It was a while ago. Okay, fine. And you were the. You were the king of Florida. That’s what I viewed it as. You were the king of the Jews.
Noam Weissman
That’s what you are. You were. I’m telling me how to.
Mijal Bitton
Step on the table.
Noam Weissman
Yeah. It was, I was mesmerized by what was happening. The amount of people that wanted to take pictures with you. Do you remember this?
Michael Rapaport
Of course, of course I remember meeting you. And, Yeah. I mean, you know, I’m flattered by all that. I never really would have imagined that I would have a voice or a meaningful voice in our community in the way that I realize that I do now. I take it, every greeting, every exchange, every picture, every hug, every tear that’s been shed is is is very meaningful to me.
Michael Rapaport
And, humbling and, you know, it’s it’s it’s all sort of part of this, mosaic, in my memory, in the last two and a half years or so. So, yeah, I, I never forget, I never forget it. I never forget it, and I never take it for granted.
Noam Weissman
It’s really special because I think people feel. I know you’re a funny guy. You got a good sense of humor. Yes. You got a lot.
Michael Rapaport
You got to have a good sense, you know? Especially now. Now more than ever.
Noam Weissman
Yeah, there’s a lot going on. But do you think that’s a part of the Jewish story of, like, how we deal with tragedy, difficulty, complicated history? Is that part of it.
Michael Rapaport
That 100% funny? No. Well, I mean, that’s not I don’t say why I’m so funny or even that I am funny, but I think as far as, you know, Jewish humor, it definitely I think all, great humor comes from some sort of pain or darkness,
Mijal Bitton
You know, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks used to write and speak a lot about humor as one of the strongest Jewish responses to history. And what’s got this really strong.
Noam Weissman
Like to like a response to me, catastrophe is.
Mijal Bitton
Yeah, he would he would write about laughter and Jewish humor and how he was like a religious response.
You know, Michael, you’ve shared with us a little bit about kind of like your experiences the last two and a half years feeling part of this community from from South Florida, the Upper East Side, thinking about Jews in Israel, Jewish humor. I’m just curious, especially as we’re talking about Passover. What was your Jewish family like growing up?
Mijal Bitton
What’s what was the Passover for you when you were a kid?
Michael Rapaport
Passover for me when I was a kid was extremely inconsistent. You know, I grew up in Manhattan to Jewish parents. My mother’s, from Long Island, the Five Towns, which is a very specific, different type of Jewish woman. This is not a, Jap. This is a jab. I call them Jewish American ball breakers. They’re not Jewish American princesses.
Michael Rapaport
And, but, you know, I Passover, you know, some of it was at my grandmother’s house when she was alive. But that was sort of the the the epicenter for it. If we’d go to my grandmother’s house. You know, when I was a kid, we would have a proper Passover. But, you know, my father, who’s also Jewish, who’s still with me, he’s still alive.
Michael Rapaport
My father’s 93, grew up in New York City. Obviously two Jewish parents.
But, you know, he’s single parent. My parents were divorced. And, and, you know, they for whatever reason, have to go down that rabbit hole we didn’t have, you know, Passover, I believe one.
Michael Rapaport
I remember one at my father’s house, but he was just, you know, he was raising two sons. And my mother was raising two. You know, we were split time with them. Was is like Kramer versus Kramer, you know, movie Kramer first. Kramer. That’s what my that’s what my childhood was like. Was like that that two parents, you know, East Side, my mother.
Michael Rapaport
Whatever. But so, you know, Passover. The good memories were, you know, when we were at my grandmother’s house and, you know, making sense of it because Judaism as a practice, wasn’t, discussed, preached or even, and it certainly wasn’t a consistent in my mother’s home or my father’s home. But both my parents grew up with it around them.
Michael Rapaport
Why? They didn’t install it into my brother. You got to get them on the podcast and ask them. But yeah.
Noam Weissman
But Michael, you. Yeah. So your Jewish attorney, let’s talk about this. Yeah. Well, I’ll give it a little story. You and I were doing an event together in South Florida. Yes. It was like 3 or 4 p.m. and Michael goes to me and he says, Norm, for me or like, for your backstage, I’m like, what’s up? What you need?
Noam Weissman
He goes, you put on tefillin today. He says you remember this.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah. Yeah yeah.
Noam Weissman
When I’m feeling in the morning I guess what I do but am I, I was, I know I bring my phone with me anywhere, everywhere and I make sure people put it on their phone. So when did you start like that. Was you.
Mijal Bitton
Plus about.
Michael Rapaport
This. Yeah. Yeah yeah I love that I love yeah there’s.
Noam Weissman
I love that moment. My wife was there. She was, she was cracking up. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. But but you but like you mentioned, since you’re.
Mijal Bitton
From not celebrating.
Noam Weissman
You’re not exactly.
Mijal Bitton
To.
Noam Weissman
To offering me tefillin. Yeah.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, yes. Tefillin
In November of 2023, a Chabad kid who’s very, very passionate about to fill in his name is Yossi Farrow.
Michael Rapaport
He, reached out to me about wrapping tefillin, and, I said, yeah, I’ll do it. And I met with him, and he was very.
Noam Weissman
Was it your first time?
Michael Rapaport
No, it wasn’t my first time. It was my first. No, it wasn’t my first time. I had done it.
Noam Weissman
How long ago.
Michael Rapaport
With with this time I’m doing.
Noam Weissman
It. I’m saying between between justified or over, you know, a.
Michael Rapaport
Couple of years because I remember there was a couple of years before, two years, the year before, it was on the street, it was on the west side of it. And because it was these kids, they looked like, the Little Rascals. Sometimes I love, you know, and like, I’m like, how old are you? Like, I’m nine.
Michael Rapaport
He’s got, like, a full mustache and a beard. You know, I love, like, the whole style and the whole look. And, And I know I’m just like, you know, like their cat sometimes, like they’re counting numbers. But Yossi, when he did, he took his time. He was explaining to me was very meaningful. And the hostages had been, it already been taken, and I had.
Michael Rapaport
It’s already sort of, you know, sort of been, sort of, and I was, I was, activated, I was activated, and then he said, if we come back next week, we wrap again. I said, cool, we did it again. They we did another time. And then he said, if I get you to film, will you promise to wrap tefillin every day?
Michael Rapaport
I said yes, like two weeks later. Somehow, someway, they got me this beautiful bag into filling and and and since then I’ve done it every day. And one of the things that was so meaningful, about, that time and starting to fill in, is that I realized that, the hostages, and I think they had come home with something, but I realized that there were there were Jewish men that had, wrapped to fill in all the time, and they couldn’t wrap to fill in because they were being held hostage.
Michael Rapaport
And, and and that’s why I started, posting about it. Because I wanted to just share and, you know, like. And now every time I post, I say every time is a blessing and every time is a mitzvah. And the reason why at the time, I said every time was it was to me, it felt like a blessing to be able to do it as a Jewish man.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah.
Mijal Bitton
Let’s get back to Michael. You know, it’s interesting you’re saying that, one of the motivations for you was thinking of that the had the same. Yeah. As I was, like, walking here, and I was just thinking about Passover, and I realize that my customers so much of the intention, the thinking. I was there to defend the hostages.
Mijal Bitton
Yeah. Like literally we had like cards of hostages at our table. We would leave like a chair for them. I had like like Haggadah for Passover. Yeah. And, and I had this moment I was like, oh my gosh, what am I doing differently this year? I think that.
Michael Rapaport
We.
Mijal Bitton
Were able to celebrate Passover and freedom without this, this terrible anguish
And, and also, I mean, I’ve just been reflecting on how we think about freedom differently, like, we’ve just gone as a Jewish people through these years, roller coasters after October 7th. One of the things that I’m thinking about, and I’m curious to hear what people think is some of the testimonials that the latest round of, of fame especially brought up with them, when they spoke about, praying and captivity, about organizing each other in captivity.
Mijal Bitton
They spoke about expressing gratitude in captivity, things like that. It just made me think that that freedom very often is a choice that you can. You can. I mean, God wouldn’t have a better to a physical freedom, right? But you can be, completely politically free and still be enslaved to your instincts, with your society. Or you can be in the towns in Gaza and behave like a free man.
Noam Weissman
Right. And light Hanukkah candles like we saw.
Mijal Bitton
Right there was there was so many things somebody like, they even observe Passover. Yeah. To find that the time, it’s like absolutely amazing.
Michael Rapaport
100%. I 100%. And you know, it’s it’s, you know, inspired that that part of it is inspiring. You know, I, I, you know, like, I, I haggle because you hear, you know, people’s stories and, you know, like, you know, what is a hero and what’s heroic and what’s circumstances it but it’s I think it’s like how you deal with it.
Michael Rapaport
But it’s certainly when you hear about the people’s testimonies in the stories, in the the crap that they went through in the horrors that they went through, it is keeps things in perspective.
You know, like, I really feel that way.
Noam Weissman
Like it was Passover. So you were saying when you were a kid. Yeah. Yeah. It really it sounds like your Passover experience is. What were the most memorable part of your childhood, necessarily? What are you doing now as an adult to Passover? Do you, like, have a favorite place you pick? Like are you like into like, I don’t know, I don’t know.
Michael Rapaport
Plague we.
Noam Weissman
Do have like, is there like, is there a thing that you guys is there a ceremony you do? Is there a ritual that you do as an adult that you try to pass it on to the next generation? Is there something that you’re doing that’s a unique experience?
Michael Rapaport
I wouldn’t I would be I’d be lying if I said, I have something that’s unique in that that’s steady. Because because of the last, you know, three years coming into concluding this Passover have been so, chaotic for me and where I’ve been. And you know, and, and, you know, being around, you know, with so, so many different people.
Michael Rapaport
So I would be I, you know, that’s a TBD. And I think.
Noam Weissman
Michael’s got some good customers.
Mijal Bitton
Thank you so much today.
Noam Weissman
What are your comments?
Mijal Bitton
If I didn’t have much better food in Passover, I just.
Noam Weissman
Want to pull you. You didn’t have to end the sentence with on Passover.
Mijal Bitton
Thank you. I appreciate it. I have no, but especially. Yes.
Noam Weissman
Specifically explain why.
Mijal Bitton
We. Yeah, because, well, really, you guys have to explain why. Hahahahahahahaha.
Michael Rapaport
That’s funny.
Mijal Bitton
Yeah, I know, there’s so, so the Bible and repeating tradition talks about hermits, how they translate.
Noam Weissman
Leaven.
Mijal Bitton
Like. Right.
Noam Weissman
So there’s like, everyone knows what 11 means.
Mijal Bitton
Yeah. Five different types of grain. Yes. Right. Right. If we consider Passover our specific rules around it. And then there’s this whole, this category of me out.
Noam Weissman
Legumes.
Mijal Bitton
Okay.
Noam Weissman
Right. Have you heard this before?
Michael Rapaport
Yes. You’ve heard of legumes? Yeah. Yes.
Noam Weissman
Like in your childhood?
Michael Rapaport
No, no, no, just.
Noam Weissman
Like my my cousin. Like like I was like.
Mijal Bitton
You don’t eat rice.
Noam Weissman
You could have gotten mixed in with other things without.
Mijal Bitton
Some other legumes. So you don’t eat, right?
Noam Weissman
We only legumes.
Mijal Bitton
I don’t we don’t eat legumes. Okay, okay.
Michael Rapaport
I’m no legumes.
Noam Weissman
Like those.
Mijal Bitton
So if you could really taste the difference between legumes.
Noam Weissman
So you have rice.
Mijal Bitton
Yes. Yeah. But again you have to explain it I think that.
Noam Weissman
The, the, the burden of proof on me.
Mijal Bitton
Is still on me. Because historically there were more contemporary reasons.
Noam Weissman
Like, I’m not in the business of defending the practice of not eating of legumes. I just not I’m not going to I’m not going to. I’m it’s not the hill. I’m going to value some.
Mijal Bitton
If you have this, some people on Passover, they really want to feel like they’re depriving themselves. Well because it mean with legumes like but it clean obsessively this and that. Like maybe they want to go the extra mile.
Noam Weissman
Well there’s a psychological it’s psychological.
Mijal Bitton
It’s I think they have the rug. You know, I do what I need to do.
Noam Weissman
You do the minimum.
Mijal Bitton
I do.
Noam Weissman
What’s the can I defend that perspective for a second? I’m not.
Mijal Bitton
Accusing.
Noam Weissman
You. I’m just I just on there for a second. Yeah. My defense is that do you clean obsessively? Zero.
Mijal Bitton
Okay.
Mijal Bitton
Okay.
Noam Weissman
But I still want to defend it. Okay. In the interest of defending that cannot go for a second. Go for it. My defense is that Passover represents the national liberation of the Jewish people.
Mijal Bitton
That’s how we celebrate.
Noam Weissman
Okay. And so it’s a far of the same side here. Right? And there is a very intense prohibition to have had that Levin be seeing or eating it on Passover and, and owning it. Exactly. And there’s a the, the consequence in Judaism for it is called spiritual excision meaning. Correct. That’s right. That’s like it’s a big deal to be excommunicated from the people.
Noam Weissman
So people who will not keep kosher at all during the year choose on Passover to say, I’m not having commit and I’m going to keep kosher for Passover. So there’s already this like, unique thing about Passover that that leads to a certain amount of like, all right, let’s take the series, I guess anxiety, but it’s part of identity number one.
Noam Weissman
And number two, it’s part of this, like, hey, I don’t want to mess with this sort of thing. So that’s where a lot of it comes from. Have we taken it too far? I’m going to say yes. I’m not going to like recap. Yeah, yeah I’ve seen.
Mijal Bitton
Like the foil paper. Yes yes.
Michael Rapaport
Yes.
Noam Weissman
So there’s there’s some of that tinfoil thing going on. Not not about oh maybe I don’t you know, I don’t think we have that in our house. Maybe we do. I should know the answer to this question. I don’t know the answer though. I don’t know. But I when I was a kid, I used to I think my mom and my dad who would like, tell us, I think they would just use this as an opportunity.
Noam Weissman
We would have our drawers and they were for like a few weeks before. But actually this is going to be a basketball reference. And Sundays I used to love it. Okay, let’s just look at it. Listen, an NBA on NBC on Sunday. So when MJ would be beat up on your like cute little Knicks in the mid 90s that.
Michael Rapaport
That that that that that that that that’s back now.
Noam Weissman
I love it. Okay.
Michael Rapaport
John Tesh.
Noam Weissman
I couldn’t stand cleaning for Passover on the Sundays unless I figured out a way to somehow clean in the kitchen because I could watch over the TV in the kitchen so I could watch NBA on NBC. But what? I had to go to my room and clean the drawers, I’m like, why am I cleaning drawers? I’m not eating anything here.
Noam Weissman
I promise I will not eat any crumbs from these drawers. So, you know, you are right and we don’t do that anymore. We’re done with that. I think my parents are done with that. Also. I think we went through a period of doing that, but.
Mijal Bitton
It’s so my dad’s, a rabbi. And I look up to him for a lot of guidance, and he’s always been the kind of rabbi that he’s strict with the law but doesn’t believe in going overboard. Right. And he doesn’t. He always said, like the a rabbi, the community leader needs to be careful with the people’s time and people’s money and not to.
Noam Weissman
Be like that.
Mijal Bitton
Ask them to do things that are unnecessary, but to educate them enough. They know the law. They’re not, God forbid, like, you know, violating a prohibition. But then so you know what? They always you know what you’re supposed to do and you don’t go crazy. That’s the way that I was raised, with Passover.
Noam Weissman
I like that, I like that we just contrast it the way we were raised and you’re like, yeah, that’s that’s the follow. And I’m like, my parents made me.
Michael Rapaport
Clean up and I’m like, my parents taught me shit.
Mijal Bitton
I like that, I like. Okay. So one of them, I it’s a, it’s a Sephardi custom. I grew up saying it in Spanish. And now in the last since I got married, we do it in Arabic. Which is that? Right at the beginning, you know, when you have, like, California. Right. Like around the beginning, when you were, like, opening the door.
Noam Weissman
This is the bread of affliction. Yes, yes. I was like, transcendent.
Mijal Bitton
Thank you.
Noam Weissman
By the way, it’s in Arabic, not in Hebrew.
Mijal Bitton
Okay. I’m sorry. Yes. Thank you. So I grew up there. We would go around and we would actually dress up. We would dress up as though we were leaving Egypt. This kind of follows like there’s a statement that Ashkenazi and Sephardi candidate have a different you. You guys have it. Every person has to see themselves as if they left Egypt.
Mijal Bitton
Those of us who follow the language, media rendition, you have to show yourself as if you.
Michael Rapaport
Are.
Mijal Bitton
Different psychologically. Anyways, we would literally get like pillowcases dressed up, but then we’re leaving Egypt and then we would go around and our parents would ask us three questions, which today we do in Arabic with our children, because my husband’s family’s from Egypt and Syria. And the questions are, do.
Noam Weissman
You understand it?
Mijal Bitton
Yeah. Also, like I mean, I actually like anyone mess it up. I brought it with me, in case you want to hear.
Noam Weissman
It, because I do.
Michael Rapaport
Pillow cases to carry things.
Mijal Bitton
Yeah, that I don’t do. My husband, someone doesn’t do that.
Michael Rapaport
But but that’s what was in the the pillow cases. What you okay.
Noam Weissman
We we how we took that safari tradition. We we might. Father. Mother.
Michael Rapaport
That’s a go bag. That’s called the go bag.
Noam Weissman
So what we do, we walk around with Moses behind our back, like, on our shoulders, and we walk around the table. That’s what we do. Like to follow the my mom Nadine way of life.
Mijal Bitton
So in Syria and Egyptian and other communities. But then he’s also they, they have they call it the Machado time, ritual. So they, they read certain verses from the Torah which says Machado or not, like you’re basically reviewing the verses of the scribe, the Jewish people leaving Egypt holding masses. Yeah. And then I’ll read it to you.
Mijal Bitton
Will we say to our children, my kids know it by heart because I grew up saying in Spanish. So everybody asked me when Jaya and which means in Arabic, where do you come from? And you have to answer Israel. No. Where do you come from? No.
Noam Weissman
No, Judah.
Mijal Bitton
No no no no no, you just left.
Noam Weissman
You do. Oh, no.
Mijal Bitton
Oh, where do you come from? I get to pick up,
Noam Weissman
Oh for one.
Michael Rapaport
And what’s it? Egypt. Egypt? Egypt. Okay, okay.
Noam Weissman
You don’t know. Okay.
Michael Rapaport
I was like, we’re not. I was like Manhattan. You listen, was I a good. What do you think? You’re you’re you’re your teacher. If you had to assess if I was a good student, what would be your. What would be your. The Mason teacher.
Noam Weissman
Fun learning with you, but I’m not sure. It would be easy to teach you that.
Mijal Bitton
That’s that’s a good education.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah, I would say not easy. Is probably an understatement.
Mijal Bitton
Like you would love this part because I got it. Because it’s fun.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, yes. Now I’d be a great student.
Noam Weissman
Okay. Oh, yeah.
Mijal Bitton
So, I mean.
Michael Rapaport
Well, I don’t know about that. I think the bad student stole my inner child is still the bad student, but I think I’d be a better student.
Mijal Bitton
Thing is about the Passover table. There’s there’s no,
Michael Rapaport
I don’t know about that.
Noam Weissman
Even you’re saying even.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah, it says that show.
Noam Weissman
Sides the four sons. So there’s there’s the wise one. There’s the evil one. Not. No, no Russia. I don’t know how to translate. So, Russia, Tom and Shannon daily show, those four of the four sons wise.
Mijal Bitton
I don’t, you know, I’m the one who kind of question. Yeah.
Noam Weissman
Which one are you?
Michael Rapaport
I’m again, I’m going to leave that for you to answer.
Noam Weissman
What do you what do you see in yourself?
Michael Rapaport
Oh, when I was a kid, I was nuts, nuts, nuts out of my mind. So I was the out of my mind. So that’s a yeah. That’s a yeah.
Mijal Bitton
That’s the center table. You will be like in charge of doing the play about the place.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, yes.
Mijal Bitton
You would be like God. Yes. I would just like throw stuff at.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, yes, yes. All of it.
Noam Weissman
Yeah that’s good. But we only got to part one of your.
Mijal Bitton
Arabic something lines. Right. So that’s where you come from. They say when it’s time la wind. Right.
Noam Weissman
Where are you going. You got this. We got.
Michael Rapaport
It.
Noam Weissman
Where we going? Where are you going? Come on.
Michael Rapaport
Israel. Yeah.
Mijal Bitton
Yeah. Oh, sorry.
Michael Rapaport
What is that? Oh, Jerusalem. Okay, okay. God. Yeah, okay, I didn’t I wasn’t for two.
Noam Weissman
Okay.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah, man.
Mijal Bitton
He’s just a what that what what are you carrying with you.
Michael Rapaport
But I got, I got I got a pillowcase full of things.
Noam Weissman
What’s up. Yeah. My daughter oh one for. Oh.
Mijal Bitton
So everybody goes around like my I have a nine year old and a six year old. They know this by heart. They hold their thing. They ask the question. They answer the question.
Noam Weissman
That’s great.
Michael Rapaport
I love it.
Noam Weissman
That’s great. Q and A back and forth, that’s the that’s the that I do Passover is the talk about education. It is the ultimate night of education. Is it. It is the no. It is the consecration of education in Judaism. That’s the Passover is it’s the night that you say to your children, to your spouse, to your partners, to yourself, even if especially if no one’s around you.
Noam Weissman
You just say to yourself, you have a conversation with yourself, mean it’s a it’s a back and forth dialog. It’s Q&A to get you thinking, not just get you thinking, to get you remembering. Remembering something that you and I weren’t even there for. Like Michael said, the whole concept is if you act in a certain way, yeah, then you’ll start internalizing it.
Noam Weissman
So this is this. This night has so much like sincerity to it.
Mijal Bitton
And it’s super sensorial.
Noam Weissman
It’s it’s oral. Exactly.
Mijal Bitton
Like if you don’t just do it fast, like you could just like, yeah, even smell and feel and seeing it’s.
Michael Rapaport
I love that.
Mijal Bitton
But you mentioned before something that was I thought was really powerful. When you were speaking about your grandmother.
Michael Rapaport
Yes.
Mijal Bitton
Like Passover, like, I love Jewish schools, Jewish institutions, all of that. But I really believe that Judaism is is passed in, in the family. Yeah. And just to hear you speak about your grandmother and just say, like my grandma told me what a proper Passover was.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, she did, she did.
Mijal Bitton
I’ll say, by the way, if you want, there’s, there’s a Persian Jewish custom that I’ll be honest, I don’t know why they do this on Passover, but it’s really fun.
Mijal Bitton
What is it you want to. Have you heard of what? Persian. Just. I have a Persian Jewish family, doing the. Yeah, I know you know, the Sunday the. You know, like when you say,
Michael Rapaport
Yes.
Mijal Bitton
Yeah, it would have been enough. Okay. Persian Jews get very intense about this. They literally prepare scallions.
Noam Weissman
Yes. You have you heard? Yes, yes. We take all of these customs. I do this, you know, my parents, my parents are real educators. That’s really what they are. They they take.
Mijal Bitton
You beat each other. I don’t,
Noam Weissman
I’m not to the point of pain.
Mijal Bitton
So in my family, friends houses, it gets very.
Noam Weissman
It gets it gets violent.
Mijal Bitton
In a good way. And a good, like everyone’s expecting it.
Noam Weissman
You know? Okay.
Mijal Bitton
And you basically like recreating the lashes of Egypt. But that’s. I know for me, it’s Passover I want to be thinking about.
Noam Weissman
But that’s a that’s a beautiful idea to to even if you and I and your Sephardic.
Michael Rapaport
And my Sephardic.
Noam Weissman
So so we’re not. Yes. Yes. So be maybe that’s a nice thing to do to take on Persian Jewish customs. This. Oh, that’s Passover, this Passover. Guys just get to know me. Hahaha. But did you take something on to take something on like that? That could be nice to just to have a touch, to connect to our there’s there’s a tremendous.
Noam Weissman
I just.
Mijal Bitton
Bring some testimonials from people in.
Noam Weissman
Iran. That’s a great idea. That’s a great idea. I think we should do something like that. That’s that’s.
Michael Rapaport
A good idea.
Noam Weissman
That these are things that we should do.
Noam Weissman
Okay. Last question about you being a little rascal as a child.
Michael Rapaport
Yes.
Noam Weissman
Tell me about the afikomen. The idea about to have, you know. Okay. Oh, this is good teacher teaching me. I’ll do it. What’s that? I in.
Mijal Bitton
The. Okay, so at the beginning, when you, when you have the initial sort of the beginning. So you, you break off a piece and you save it to be the last portion of next that that’s going to be eaten at the end of the day.
Michael Rapaport
Okay? Okay.
Mijal Bitton
I’m part of, and there is a ritual obligation to eat it in its entirety at the end. So, like, you know what you’re saying. So, like, you’re not supposed to finish the sentence. So it’s like after you have all the and you eat the meal, right, then you have to eat at the end, right?
Noam Weissman
So it should be the taste that you end the entire evening with that you go to.
Mijal Bitton
Not delicious dessert.
Michael Rapaport
You well right Macha.
Noam Weissman
You eat the dessert and then.
Michael Rapaport
You do that, right? You,
Mijal Bitton
I mean, it’s lovely. It’s that I love it, I love it. Just kidding. But but part of what became a custom is that we use the common not only in the ritual way, but as an incentive to keep kids up. So. So what do we do?
Noam Weissman
Because it’s all about the kids, right?
Mijal Bitton
It’s all about the kids. But. And by the way.
Noam Weissman
If you have kids, if you have kids, by the way, you should too. It’s not everyone’s got like different communities and everything.
Mijal Bitton
But if you have kids, you should try to make the Seder as engaging as possible. Yeah. So we want to keep them awake because it’s really at the beginning. We have it. I have no idea. It’s the father has to do exactly this.
Noam Weissman
We do. I’m interested to hear there are two different ways we do it.
Mijal Bitton
Right. So in my in my family house, we the grown ups. And I think sometimes the kids do it.
Noam Weissman
Well that’s. Yeah, that’s by us.
Mijal Bitton
The parents hide it.
Noam Weissman
Do you know about this? The parents hide. So we had by the way, this is great. This is great. I love this.
Mijal Bitton
Man. And then the kids, they’re supposed to wait till the end, but of course.
Michael Rapaport
Right, right.
Mijal Bitton
But the whole idea is that they. You have to keep them. By the end, they have to find their second. And again, different families do this.
Michael Rapaport
And then all you’re cleaning out the out the window because they’ve torn the place up trying to find it.
Mijal Bitton
Right. And then there’s this. We do like a big prize for whoever finds it.
Noam Weissman
And it could be competitive.
Michael Rapaport
Got it, got it.
Noam Weissman
Wait, wait. Only one of the kids gets it. Come on. I don’t buy that. Yes. Really? Yes. It’s that.
Michael Rapaport
How are you going to teach these kids at this point? You know, to certain. But there’s only one on. If you come in.
Noam Weissman
And there’s no.
Michael Rapaport
Party, there’s no participation trophies in afikomens. There’s one piece of matzo, that’s it.
Noam Weissman
One person gets the prize.
Michael Rapaport
Next year, you focus. Yeah, that’s your focus.
Noam Weissman
What are they not like? Are they not like, creating, like little ones?
Mijal Bitton
Yeah, I found it was a kid, I guess, dealing with cousins. Like I still remember that. Yeah, that was amazing. I felt like.
Noam Weissman
You really grabbed it. You’re like, I got it.
Mijal Bitton
It took so long. It was like hours of looking for it.
Noam Weissman
I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m so soft as a parent when I hear this story, okay? Because, well, we do you feel judged? Yeah. You’re like, oh.
Michael Rapaport
No, I like it. I like it better off. Say, you’re so better off. I’m so sorry. I was so off to to. My kids are older too, but I was soft as a parent too. I get it.
Noam Weissman
So what I do is I was raised.
Michael Rapaport
It’s different. It’s Ashkenazi.
Noam Weissman
Yes.
Michael Rapaport
It’s different.
Noam Weissman
So I was just like I would have my kids are like running around looking for it. Were by the way, I’m just thought.
Mijal Bitton
You had it. It’s not them because sometimes it’s some family.
Noam Weissman
I don’t want to be bothered to look for something.
Michael Rapaport
Especially where they hide it.
Noam Weissman
Yeah, but could be anywhere.
Michael Rapaport
Anything could happen.
Noam Weissman
It’s not. Not for me.
Michael Rapaport
No.
Noam Weissman
Yeah. I need to sit here. I don’t want to walk around looking for mother, but for the kids, they should. They should busy themselves with looking for this matter. But I’m so soft because what I do.
Mijal Bitton
Is I like most people of.
Noam Weissman
You know, I just say it’s important for you, for you to have teamwork. And all of you are in this together. Are you ready? Yeah.
Mijal Bitton
We got it. Like, And what is that?
Michael Rapaport
I get it, I get it, I get it.
Noam Weissman
You know, and then and then and then probably somewhere it gets worse. If they can’t find it within like 25 minutes, we give them hints.
Michael Rapaport
Hotter, hotter, colder. Calling Marco Polo, I see I be going.
Noam Weissman
So now you know that I. If you call me, you got to do it.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, I got to do with it. Okay. Yes yes yes I.
Noam Weissman
Don’t don’t look for it. Make you hide it and then make them look for it, whoever the them is in.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, 100%.
Noam Weissman
But you’re not. You can’t be bothered to be looking for matter.
Michael Rapaport
I know my back. It’s. It’s something. It could hurt something.
Mijal Bitton
Good hiding spots.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, yes.
Mijal Bitton
If you hide it with other matter.
Noam Weissman
Of that you. You’re like a schema. I’m not a schema. You’re a martyr.
Mijal Bitton
So you have to do it now, whether you know what the command is, because you have to eat it, right.
Michael Rapaport
You got to find it. You can’t forget where you put it.
Mijal Bitton
Oh, if you did other adults in name the game and they like that be fun.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah.
Mijal Bitton
Like you have to do it. You have to do it.
Noam Weissman
Okay. That’s great. All right. So here’s my last question for you. Go ahead. Here’s our last question. You’ve had a fascinating career. You’ve been you know, you’ve been in Hollywood. You are in Hollywood. You’ve been on, on on, friends. Yes. Been on reality TV shows. You were just caught eating food awkwardly. Yes. And, traders, do you do that on purpose, by the way?
Michael Rapaport
No.
Noam Weissman
You were. What were you do? I’ve had lunch with you before. You ate like a human being when I had lunch.
Michael Rapaport
That’s what I was trying to tell you. When you’re when you’re in Scotland and, you weren’t. There was no one in the room. That’s the thing. The camera was very far away.
Noam Weissman
The food was the place.
Michael Rapaport
Who doesn’t shovel food when they’re trying to chase around real Housewives in Scotland? Everybody shovels food. So it’s like, not okay, fair. But it was national. It was like an international incident. Right? Crazy.
Noam Weissman
Yeah. Okay. So you had food, so you had a reality TV shows. You’ve been you’ve become this like, I want to say Jewish advocate and activist.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah, yeah.
Noam Weissman
And and now.
Mijal Bitton
You have a show.
Noam Weissman
Yes. And you are. Now you get to work for Chabad now also. So therefore, according to Tucker Carlson, you’re behind.
Michael Rapaport
Yes, yes, yes, yes yes. Okay.
Noam Weissman
So.
Noam Weissman
I’ve also heard and now it’s like a time for me I don’t know if you’re on this also Michael you are running. You plan to run for mayor.
Michael Rapaport
No. The campaign has started. It started already? Yes.
Mijal Bitton
I thought it was a joke when I first.
Michael Rapaport
No, no. It’s it.
Noam Weissman
You feel like that’s insulting? Is that insulting?
Michael Rapaport
Not. Do I feel like it’s insulting? No, I, I met and I, I would expect I would think if you if you.
Noam Weissman
If you did come first announcing who’s running for president. I think a lot of people were like, well, I thought.
Mijal Bitton
It was a good,
Michael Rapaport
A bit a tongue. Yeah. I mean, to be totally honest, when I mentioned it wasn’t a bit, it was sort of an impulsive reaction to Zohran the moron. And and, you know.
Noam Weissman
Danny.
Michael Rapaport
When I become mayor of New York, I will thank him. I will thank him because he he has inspired, me and this campaign because I want to do and, be, 500 more a genuine, 500 more of percent more genuine and honest, and actually, mean what I say and say what I mean, and and not hem and haw, for the people I want to be the most.
Michael Rapaport
My goal is to be the most transparent politician in the history of politics. So when I screw up and rest assure I will screw up, I will acknowledge it. When things don’t get done that I try to get done, I will acknowledge it. And I feel like that, will be the biggest strength that I have. I won’t be the most eloquent.
Michael Rapaport
I’m always won’t be the most patient. I won’t be the most a lot of things. But I know that my heart and my intentions and my, will be in the right place. And I’ll have great people around me, and the press conferences are going to be lit. The press conferences are going to be crazy.
Noam Weissman
What are your intentions? Like, what do you want for the city of New York?
Michael Rapaport
I want people to feel that.
Noam Weissman
Without, like, saying what you what you don’t like. I want.
Michael Rapaport
I want people, I want people to when they say the greatest city owners. I want them to truly believe it. I want people to feel safe. I want them to feel proud. I want people to feel, hopeful and optimistic. You know, from the from the, the deepest, deepest part of Staten Island to the tippy, tippy top of the Bronx and all the five boroughs.
Michael Rapaport
That’s what I truly, truly want. All the all the, stereotypical things about affordability, and all that stuff. Obviously, that’s the intention, but but at the, at the, at the gist of it, at the heart of it is to make people in New York City feel comfortable, proud and optimistic about living here.
You want to get into the camp because. What do you want? To want a job? Oh.
Noam Weissman
You’re looking for a gig.
Michael Rapaport
You’re looking for a job.
Noam Weissman
I give it up for it. I can’t, you know, I can. I mean, I can help, however, I’m. We’re not. We’re not very. I’m blessed. Are you. Are you. You’re more politically minded than I am. Right? Or a little bit. Yeah. Yeah.
Mijal Bitton
So you can do so much for the job.
Michael Rapaport
All right. Just let me know. Let me know. Anybody out there? Anybody good? I need a social media, czar. I definitely want to get it.
Noam Weissman
I think Nate wants, you know.
Michael Rapaport
I’m going to have somebody. I’m going to have a definitely. We’re going to have, like, a basketball, training, stuff because we’re going to get kids, off that pickleball court. We want New York City to, to breed, great basketball players again in the streets of New York. And the list goes on and on. I would just go to a lot of different, unorthodox things, and there’s going to be a lot of orthodox things that are straight forward.
Michael Rapaport
And I know you’re like, is this.
Noam Weissman
Do you want for Christmas? Of course. You remember the course.
Michael Rapaport
Yeah. Okay. Come on.
Noam Weissman
Michael, thank you so much for joining and for coming on the show and being on.
Michael Rapaport
Thank you.
Noam Weissman
Here I wonder Jews and wondering together with us.
Mijal Bitton
And wishing you and everybody who’s listening I have a.
Noam Weissman
Have happy.
Michael Rapaport
Happy Passover.
Noam Weissman
It’s great. Rock on.