The Light by Which Amir Moyal Shines: An Interview with the Witty Creator

Is there a childhood story that stays with you?

"There are many, but one in particular accompanies me, despite not being proud of it – it's a story that recurs at many points in my life. I sought financial independence for as long as I can remember. Around age 7, I had a good friend named Ilan. One day, I went to his house, and he told me his mother gave him a 5 shekel allowance. I wanted that money to buy candy, and I told him that if he gave me that money, I would make him a camp. He agreed and gave me the money.

"Later, when I went home, I felt a heavy burden for taking money for something I couldn't deliver. Luckily, his mother caught up with me and asked that I return the money. To this day, I'm very hesitant to take money for any work I'm unsure I can perform to add real value."

A Jewish point you personally connect to??

"It may be trivial, but the day of rest. As someone who lives online and needs to constantly react to current affairs, this 'forced' disconnection from all means of communication is crucial for me. The rest and family time are sacred, and I genuinely find it hard to understand how those who don't observe Shabbat survive this world without it."

Judaism for you is?
"If the human body has bones, muscles above them, and skin above them, I feel that Judaism for me is the foundation of the spiritual world. It's the core. It's the light by which I illuminate when entering a dark and unfamiliar room. It's my culture. Sometimes, I have complex relationships with it, but always with respect and awe."

Your favorite holiday??
"Yom Kippur is my Restart button. All year long, all applications run simultaneously, draining the battery, creating confusion, and Yom Kippur is the shut down and reboot. It's something that's been with me since a very young age. The white, the melodies, the rituals, the purity – it's like bleach you pour into the sink after a year of use. It whitens and disinfects."

Tell us a little about your new book.
"The book 'Thinking Out Loud' is a collection of over 200 posts from the 7 years I've been writing on social media, with most of the ideas accompanied by wonderful illustrations by Nadav Nachmani. The book features sharp, positive, and clean humor, with a lot of love for the Hebrew language. Baruch Hashem, the reactions I receive are good, and the book truly crosses ages, genders, sectors, and communities."

What makes you happiest and most excited in your performances?

"If a show went well and people laughed a lot, I experience joy and excitement during the performance. Many times, the excitement is after someone goes out of their way to send you a message about how much they enjoyed it. At my last show, I discovered that three bereaved families came, each for their own reasons, and it deeply moved me to know that I was a form of therapy and escape for them for an hour and a half."

Where and how do you see a connection between humor and Judaism?
"It is well-known that Rava would start his lesson with a 'miles of joke,' as it opens the heart due to joy. And of course, like any enjoyment in this world, there is a mitzvah to enjoy within the correct boundaries. Just as it's allowed to eat, but not meat and milk together, not at specific times, not all meats, etc. – humor is allowed and encouraged, but without gossip, without vulgarity, without humiliation and belittlement. I strive to apply that in performances, social media, and of course, in the book."

What are your dreams?
"I would like to write a successful series that makes the general public accessible to the humor of the community I come from. I believe it will happen, be'ezrat Hashem. I also have a foundation for a children's and youth film, and I would very much like it to be produced and filmed. Besides that, I want to continue to influence the discourse, make it cleaner and more positive, to bring joy and enlightenment. I'm a big believer in Rabbi Kook's famous saying that pure tzaddikim do not complain about the darkness, they simply add light."

An interesting meeting or conversation you once had?
"A few years ago, when I attended a management course, we had an interesting workshop. They gave everyone a very long questionnaire to fill out, and in the end, we had to sum up the points. The workshop moderator went over each of the characteristics the points created, then ranked us into categories like the spiritual person, the pragmatic person, the creative person, etc., listing advantages and disadvantages of each.

"I was labeled as the creative person, and I wondered what disadvantage there could be in creativity. She said something that I feel exists in me and many creative people I meet – a person who is too creative gets bored quickly. They have good, original ideas, they get excited about them, and like a sparkler – it shines very brightly but also goes out very quickly, and then they seek the next thrill in the next project. Since then, I try to maintain the enthusiasm artificially, and it's difficult."

Professionally, are you where you imagined you would be??
"My 'secret' is that I never imagined where I would be. I never wrote to succeed or to reach the comedy stage, TV show appearances, or to be interviewed, etc. I wrote because I have a strong need to write. To express what spins inside me. All else are blessed side effects.

"I believe that anyone who writes not for the sake of writing, but to reach a certain status through writing – something is flawed in their writing. It's not genuine. Comparatively, it's like a person who studies Torah not for its own sake but as a tool to dig with."

Where do you see yourself in ten years??
"Currently, I divide my time not devoted to family and rest such that 80% goes to my work in high-tech and 20% to writing and performances. I would like to change the balance and would be happy to reverse it, but not entirely. I don't want my livelihood to depend on my hobby because it would remove all the enjoyable aspects of it.

"It's important for me to preserve my 'gray' work, which allows me in many ways to choose the projects I engage in, so the financial consideration is pushed down and does not become a central factor."

Amir Moyal presents Word Games:

A lesson you've learned in your life??
"Baruch Hashem, I've learned many. I will mention that it's advisable not to rush to judgment. Many times in my life I've encountered situations where I judged or others judged too quickly, without delving deeper or waiting, and the reality turned out to be the opposite. This is important in children's education, professional decisions, and in a marital relationship with a spouse. In general, depth is something I'm greatly missing in many people. Unfortunately, we've gotten used to seeing everything flat and shallow, and any bit of depth distances many people."

What is your favorite prayer?
"I love spontaneous prayers to the Creator of the World before shows. Sometimes I feel like a surfer, needing to catch the wave when it's small to be on it when it's big, and in many performances – if I pray before the wave arrives, I feel the prayer is technical and sometimes hollow.

"The wisdom is to capture those moments when you suddenly realize the size of the crowd, or the number of possible mishaps, or a challenging figure in the audience, and your heart suddenly skips a beat – and there I say a chapter of Tehillim and offer a short prayer that everything will succeed and bring satisfaction above and below."