Sarah Silverman, the iconic Jewish comedian, finally received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“I’m so grateful for receiving this thing — a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, holy shit,” Silverman said at the ceremony. “I have two of three of my amazing sisters here, they’re plotzing.” She then paused, adding, “Although I just learned that plotzing is like, negative. What is it? Kvelling! They’re kvelling! It makes me feel so loved.”
And then she talked about being next to Mr. Rogers’s star.
“I can’t believe it, I’m next to my hero, Mr. Rogers, who taught me that I’m the only one in the whole world qualified to be me, and that I deserve love, just only the way I am. And now I literally get to be his neighbor forever, which I have to think is maybe bittersweet for him.”
Silverman ended her acceptance speech by calling out the recent rise in anti-Semitism.
“You know, in a scary time when anti-Semitic crime is up 57% since 2016, it’s not lost on me how lucky I am to be given a star and not have to sew it on my clothes,” Silverman said, referring to the stars yellow Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust. “I’m not sure if that’s gallows humor, or it’s funny cause it’s true humor.”
While the audience began to laugh, there’s truly nothing funny about that statement. Silverman is deeply aware of how close our generation is to the Holocaust, and what the rise in anti-Semitism means. She is one of the most outspoken Jewish celebrities — and for that, we are beyond grateful.
We love you, Sarah.
