Mila Kunis opened up about her journey with Judaism in a new video, revealing that as a child she was told to never talk about her faith.
For the second night of Hanukkah, Kunis joined the author Noa Tishby for the activist’s #BringOnTheLight campaign, which is dedicated to showing the world Jewish joy that has lasted for thousands of years and spreading the message of Jewish resilience.
Kunis, who has been married to actor Ashton Kutcher for almost 10 years, was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Los Angeles when she was just eight years old.
Now, in a new interview with Tishby, Kunis gave more insight into her upbringing and why she was taught to hide her Judaism, while explaining that she grew up not celebrating religious holidays.
“I always knew I was Jewish, but I was told never to talk about it,” Kunis confessed.
When Tishby asked why that was the case, Kunis explained that she believed it was because she was “in a country that didn’t allow religion.”
“I was raised culturally Jewish, so for me it’s a culture, and since I had children, my children identify a lot with the religious aspect,” the Family Guy actress explained.
Kunis shared that she and Kutcher’s two children, daughter Wyatt Isabelle, 10, and son Dimitri Portwood, eight, celebrate Shabbat and the holidays.
Mila Kunis opens up about her journey with Judaism in a new video, revealing that growing up, she was told to never talk about her faith.
For the second night of Hanukkah, Kunis teamed up with author Noa Tishby for the activist’s #BringOnTheLight campaign.
“I fell in love with my religion because he explained it to me,” Kunis said of her husband, Ashton Kutcher.
The That 70’s Show star also gave a sweet nod to her husband while speaking to Tishby, explaining that she was proud of his Judaism when she met him.
Kutcher himself is not Jewish, but the family raises their children as such, and Kunis has said that he is part of the faith “by choice.”
“I fell in love with my religion because he explained it to me,” Kunis gushed.
When Kunis lit the menorah for the second night of Hanukkah, Kunis had to get a little help from her husband.
He made a quick cameo, while she called him on the phone because she wanted to make sure he was lighting the candles in the right order.
Kunis and Tishby got into a pickle while debating whether the candles should be lit from left to right or right to left.
‘Hey babe, quick question, when you light the menorah, do you light it from right to left or left to right?’ Kunis asked Kutcher, after dialing him from her iPhone.
‘It’s from right to left, darling’, Dude, Where’s my car? the actor said while putting it on speaker.
Kutcher himself is not Jewish, but the family raises their children as such, and she has said that he is part of the faith “by choice.”
Kunis shared that she and Kutcher’s two children, daughter Wyatt Isabelle, 10, and son Dimitri Portwood, eight, celebrate Shabbat and the holiday.
“You load from right to left, you start with the center candle and then you light them from left to right,” he explained.
In the end, though, Kunis and Tishby agreed that the most important thing is to keep the tradition alive.
“Thankfully, no one judges, because the most important thing is to just light the candles and embrace the tradition,” Tishby said.
“Mila’s evolution as a Jewish woman is a story many can relate to, and I am thrilled to have her voice as part of the #BringOnTheLight Hanukkah project,” the author of Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew continued.
Kunis’ video with Tishby comes as her husband continues to hide from the public eye.
Weeks after Diddy’s arrest, a source exclusively told DailyMail.com that Kutcher “regretted” his friendship with the rapper and felt “betrayed” by him.
“Ashton absolutely regrets his friendship with Diddy considering what happened,” the source said. “You feel lied to, betrayed, taken for granted and manipulated.”
Since Kutcher’s other former friend and co-star, Danny Masterson, was convicted of rape in 2023, the source said Kutcher no longer trusts Kunis to anyone outside of his family.
When Kunis lit the menorah for the second night of Hanukkah, Kunis had to get a little help from her husband.
He feels the same way about Danny Masterson. Now he trusts no one except his wife Mila (Kunis). He is going to maintain his family circle,’ they added.
DailyMail.com’s source also said that Kutcher feared how the Diddy investigation would “play out,” suspecting that the rapper “would have no problem lying to authorities and throwing out some of his famous friends’ names if it meant that I could get him out of jail.” .’
The source continued, “Diddy could say anything, do anything or turn on anyone right now.”
“Everyone close to Diddy fears the possibility that Diddy will make up false accusations to clear his own name.”
However, a source told TMZ that federal investigators were not looking into Kutcher.