Jewish American actress, comedian, writer, and television producer Roseanne Barr announced this week that she would visit Israel in January and has been invited to address the Knesset.
According to Walla, Barr was invited by the Knesset Deputy Speaker MK Hilik Bar (Zionist Union). They are probably not related.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is reportedly sponsoring Barr’s trip, and has stated that “bringing an incredibly proud Jewish woman like Rosanne to Israel will be a great boost to its citizens.”
Barr said that she was looking to “further my own knowledge of Jewish and Israeli history” and prepared to speak out “against the insidious and anti-Semitic BDS movement.”
Roseanne Barr, 66, was the oldest of four children born in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Helen and Hershel Barr (Borisofsky), both Jewish – her father’s family immigrated from Russia, her mother’s from Austria-Hungary and Lithuania. Her Jewish upbringing was influenced by her devoutly Orthodox Jewish maternal grandmother. Barr’s parents kept their Jewish identity secret from their neighbors and became involved in the Mormon Church. Barr once said, “Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning I was a Jew; Sunday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday afternoon we were Mormons.”
