Jurassic Park actor, Jeff Goldblum, is known for many things, the biggest being his acting career but he’s also appreciated for his pretty hilarious, whacky personality. It’s known to many that he’s a religious guy, but what is the religion that he follows?
Jeff Goldblum is Jewish. He was born to Jewish parents who were of Russian and Austrian Jewish heritage and he followed the religion growing up.
Read more below about the events that Goldblum’s distant ancestors endured back in the 1900s and how his second cousin died a hero fighting the Nazis for the Soviet army.
Dominant Religions that Plague the World
The world is plagued by at least 12 different religions, some of which are unbeknownst to many. Some of the most prominent faiths in the world include: Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam while other less well-known religions are: Baha’i, Zoroastrianism, Confucianism, Shinto and Taoism.
Religion has factored into humanity throughout history and dates back to prehistoric times. Over the years, the number of non religious people has increased. From a research article published by Pew Research in 2018, it is suggested that younger individuals are likely to be less religious than their elders for a variety of reasons with an increased number of years in education factoring into this trend.
Religious Insight
According to a Gallup poll, in 1955, three years following Jeff Goldblum’s birth, 4% of Americans were Jewish with that figure halving by 1972 and remaining constant since. The most prominent religious affiliation throughout American history was Protestant, with this faith remaining dominant throughout time.
If you’re a fan of Goldblum, you’ll know that sometimes he digs himself into some pretty deep holes that he can struggle to get out of once he’s under. Most of the time, he probably doesn’t mean things maliciously, it’s usually harmless. However, Goldblum caused a public scandal after comments he made on the show ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race.’
Appearing on the show with Jackie Cox, Goldblum sparked fury when he allegedly suggested that Islam is anti-woman and anti-homosexual. His question: “Is there something in this religion that is anti-homosexuality? And anti-woman?” While this can be perceived as insensitive, perhaps Goldblum was genuinely curious and wasn’t set on causing offence, and an article by the National Geographic explains that Goldblum is in “a cycle of appetised curiosity”.
Finding Goldblum’s Roots
Jeff Goldblum was born just 14 years after the horrifying events of The Holocaust, which inevitably altered people’s views towards Jews and those with Jewish identities causing Jewish individuals to face an awful lot of hate and prejudice in the years after.
Prior to 2020, at the age of 67, Goldblum still didn’t know his true roots. But that was soon to change…
By the end of January 2020, Goldblum had appeared on an episode of ‘Finding Your Roots’ where he uncovered more about his maternal and paternal ancestors, including his maternal great-grandfather Abraham Temeles and paternal great-great-grandfather Zelik. According to Washington Jewish Week, “In the early 1900s, Temeles left his hometown of Zloczow in the Austro-Hungarian empire because of the rampant anti-Semitism.”
Goldblum additionally had a second cousin who died after fighting against the Nazis in the Soviet army.
Even before The Holocaust, people have held overly negative views towards Jews. But did the beloved actor and musician, Jeff Goldblum fall victim to anti-semitism? While it’s not clear if he was specifically targeted for being Jewish, Goldblum confessed to The Guardian that he sometimes felt like an outsider looking in, but he remembers the times where he felt joy.
“Even as I felt moments of awkwardness or outsiderness, I also had moments when I felt the seeds of what I feel now – a happy part of something large. I felt that early on, as I walked by myself in the woods near our house. I remember overflowing with joy.”