Trisha Paytas called out by Holocaust survivor for Hanukkah TikTok series

6 December 2021, 16:53

Trisha Paytas celebrate Hanukkah with fiancé Moses Hacmon

By Jazmin Duribe

"Just because you're all of a sudden 'Jewish' doesn't mean you can blatantly disrespect someone's religion."

Trisha Paytas is receiving backlash for their Hanukkah series on TikTok, including from a Holocaust survivor.

Hanukkah, with is also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish festival that is celebrated in November or December. The festival reminds Jews of their fight for religious freedom against the Greeks thousands of years ago. To celebrate, Jewish people light one candle for each night of Hanukkah and some families give each other gifts or money.

Trisha, who is engaged to Israeli artist Moses Hacmon, has been documenting their Hanukkah celebrations on TikTok. In June 2021, the YouTuber revealed that they had been converting to Judaism "so my kids can grow up with Jewish culture and religion".

READ MORE: Trisha Paytas apologises for making an offensive comment about Jewish people to Ethan Klein

In the TikTok series, Trisha has been sharing the gifts they've been giving and receiving, dancing while Moses lights the menorah or hanukiah and reciting Hebrew prayers. However, one video in particular, titled "Me trying to seduce my Israeli husband", kicked off the backlash.

Jewish creators have been accusing Trisha of "appropriating" Jewish culture and being disrespectful. One comment read: "As a Jewish woman, you are disrespecting my religion. That's not okay with me or anyone else who is Jewish." Another read: "Just because you're all of a sudden 'Jewish' doesn't mean you can blatantly disrespect someone's religion."

In another video, Trisha recites a Hebrew prayer. In a duet video, a TikToker named Gideon (@thetrueadventures) who is a Holocaust survivor, reacts to Trisha's videos shaking his head in disbelief alongside the captions: "Why would someone disrespect Judiasm like this," and, "Pretending to be Jewish. WHY?"

What doesn't help matters is that in November Trisha visited a Hare Krishna temple for a YouTube video. Trisha jumping from religion to religion led some to say they were "collecting cultures like Pokémon cards".

Following the backlash, Trisha tweeted in response to the criticism. They said: "It really sucks those gatekeeping religions and beliefs. RELIGION. CAN. NOT. BE. APPROPRIATED. culture can. Relics can. Apparel can. But if someone is seeking multiple religions to find their truth and purpose…idk. Maybe just let them? God is for EVERYONE."

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