Members of Temple Shaaray Tefila in upstate Bedford were surprised on Wednesday when Michael Douglas turned up to deliver an “inspirational, very moving” 20-minute speech in front of 1,000 for Yom Kippur.
Douglas explained he’s reconnecting to Judaism and was invited to speak by Rabbi David Greenberg. The “Fatal Attraction” star was joined by Welsh wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, their son, Dylan — who had his bar mitzvah at the temple — and daughter Carys, who’s studying for her bat mitzvah.
A source reports that Douglas spoke about how his grandfather was a Jewish immigrant and his screen-icon dad, Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch), experienced anti-Semitic comments in Hollywood firsthand, since many were not aware of the star’s Jewish roots.
Much of Douglas’ speech was about inclusion, our source said. After Dylan became interested in Judaism through friends and began studying, Douglas said he became reconnected himself. He recounted that while he was aware his dad was Jewish, his mom, Diana, was not. (To those who follow tradition, to be identified as Jewish requires having a Jewish mother.) But Douglas has become part of a movement to connect others to the faith, and he was even given the prestigious Genesis Prize by the prime minister of Israel earlier this month.A rep for Douglas said: “He does love the faith and the culture, and he thinks the number of Jews is declining because so many are assimilating and marrying non-Jews, him included.” And, “If you turn your back on these people because your mother was not Jewish, you’re going to lose people . . . He’s passionate about inclusion.”
Douglas even showed the crowd he has a Jewish sense of humor, joking he’d hoped his film “Ant-Man” would perform well at the box office because he’s in the midst of party planning for his daughter’s bat mitzvah. The movie made $178 million, which ain’t chopped liver!
Douglas left 30 minutes before the service ended for security reasons, our source said.
