Sacha Baron Cohen: “I am proud of my Jewish identity and there are certain things I do and customs I keep”.
Sacha Baron Cohen is a famous comedian and actor from England. Throughout his ongoing successful career, he has created many comical characters that went on to have movies and television shows, such as Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Amiral General Aladeen (the dictator). He is famous for his creative and colorful comical identities which interact with the unsuspecting world.
At the age of 18, Cohen joined the HaBonim Dror Olami Zionist youth movement and he soon began pursuing his passion for acting in several HaBonim theatrical productions. After joining HaBonim Dror Olami, he came to Israel in 1989 and spent a year volunteering with his friends from the Zionist youth movement in Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra. Cohen’s adopting parents in the Kibbutz stated: “he (Cohen) was nice, tall, handsome and polite as you would expect from a mannered Englishman… From what we can recall he didn’t joke around and he didn’t particularly make us laugh. Later, a friend of ours from England told us he became famous. Who would’ve thought that back in the day.” A woman who worked at the registration of Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra at the time spoke of Cohen, commenting: “he stood out in the group because of his Hebrew and his humor. I didn’t know he was going to be a star back then. Now we get phone calls from all over the world to learn more details about him.”
While Cohen does not live in Israel at the moment, he commented regarding his faith and love for Israel: “I am proud of my Jewish identity and there are certain things I do and customs I keep”. His time as a Chanich at HaBonim Dror Olami might seem to be far in the past, however, we’re sure he’ll never forget the experiences and the good times with us in Israel and abroad, and he’ll always be a respected and loved alumni.