97-Year-Old Actress and Baalat Teshuva: "Anyone Who Doesn't See the Return Is as Blind as a Bat"
Actress Batya Lancet, 97, a founding member of the Cameri Theater and one of the veteran baalei teshuva in the country, discusses her return to her roots, her selection for the Culture Minister's Award, and the global phenomenon of returning to faith.
- שירה דאבוש (כהן)
- פורסם ז' אדר א' התשע"ט

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An exceptional actress has been selected to feature among the 21 artists who will receive the Culture Minister's Award for veteran artists named after Arik Einstein - actress Batya Lancet, 97, a founding member of the Cameri Theater and one of the country's veteran baalei teshuva.
"I myself was surprised to hear about the award," Lancet says in an interview with Yaakov Bar-On from 'Maariv'. "Why did they suddenly remember me? After all, I haven't acted for 40 years."
Reflecting on her return to the embrace of Judaism, while giving up her career, Lancet recalls: "My path to religion was very slow. I came to it from a distance of communist ideals with a spirit of equality, even though I was never truly communist. I was in dilemmas following the Holocaust, until during a stay in Paris, I found enlightenment through lectures on Judaism I heard from Rabbi Yehuda Leon Ashkenazi, known as 'Manitou'. When he made aliyah to Jerusalem, I followed him to the Jewish Quarter in the Old City, and from there, over 30 years ago, I arrived in Tiberias."
In her concluding remarks, Lancet also addressed the widespread phenomenon today, where many artists from various fields are also returning to their roots - becoming baalei teshuva. "Anyone who does not see the expansion of the phenomenon of those returning home is like a blind person who does not see reality."
"This is a massive, worldwide occurrence. The Western world is currently in a state of bankruptcy. As our rabbi says: Western man reached the moon in terms of technological development, but in terms of moral development, we reached the Holocaust and Hiroshima," she concludes.