The L.A. Jewish Journal’s Hollywood Jew interviews American Idol sensation Adam Lambert, and asks the pressing Jewey questions:
JN: Speaking of your people, there are some things your Jewish fans are curious about. Are both of your parents Jewish?
AL: No, my mom is.
JN: The Rolling Stone article said you dropped out of Hebrew school at age 5.
AL: I think I was a little bit older than 5. Probably like 9.
JN: How were you able to sing those songs in Hebrew that everyone’s listened to over the Internet?
AL: Oh. All phonetic. I don’t speak Hebrew. I wasn’t bar mitzvahed, unfortunately.
JN: So did your family celebrate the holidays?
AL: We did celebrate Chanukah as opposed to Christmas. So we stayed true to our roots that way. And we celebrated Passover occasionally. I mean I hate to say it, but we were kind of Jewish by form. Lightly Jewish. Diet Jews. More of a heritage thing.
(True to his heritage, and to the spirit of tikkun olam, Adam has requested that his fans donate to charity rather than buying him gifts. For more on his campaign to help support arts and music in high-need public schools, go to DonorsChoose.org/Adam Lambert.)
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