Soccer superstar David Beckham has joined the ranks of Jewish celebrities who are open and proud of their Jewish heritage, and Britain's Jewish community couldn't be happier.
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On Monday, David Beckham addressed an audience of hundreds in the sanctuary of St Johns Wood synagogue in London, where he talked about his career, as well as his Jewish heritage. During the conversation on stage with producer Ben Winston, the former Manchester United star said: "I am part of the Jewish community and I am proud to say it."
The event was a fundraiser hosted by JW3, a Jewish community center, for a Jewish education fellowship.
Speaking about how his mother’s father, Joseph, was Jewish, he said: ‘My grandfather always made sure we would keep up with certain traditions. We went to bar mitzvahs and weddings and I would wear a kippah. Every Saturday morning, I used to go to see my grandfather – you’d walk in the house to my grandmother preparing chicken soup and matza balls and latkes. We always kept to those traditions; it was always about the family coming together and spending time together."
Beckham also recited the blessing over bread, the hamotzi recited at the Shabbat table, to the appreciation of the audience and Winston, who participated in the event that also marked the launch of the fellowship for Jewish educators in the name of Lira Winston – his other and wife of acclaimed fertility pioneer Lord Robert Winston.
Beckham has over time become more public about his Judaism and the place it holds in his family's life. He and his wife Victoria's oldest son, Brooklyn, married Jewish American actress Nicola Peltz in April 2021, in a ceremony that incorporated many Jewish traditions, including a ketuba, a huppa and breaking a glass. Brooklyn has since had a star of David tattooed on his hand in honor of his wife's Jewish heritage.
David has a tattoo in Hebrew letters that reads “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine,” from the Song of Solomon. He and Victoria got them on their sixth wedding anniversary; hers has since been removed.