Storyteller

By Debra Rich Gettleman

Yuval David is one of those “got it all” kind of people. He’s super handsome, outrageously talented, deeply thoughtful, and genuinely cares about other people and the world. He actually sounds too good to be true. But I sat down with him and learned that this prolific creative believes in boldly expressing his truth and vulnerability in the roles he takes on, the stories he tells, and the causes he passionately supports.

DEBRA RICH GETTLEMAN (DRG): Here’s the thing, you’re everything.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone who does more than you. I mean, actor, speaker, advocate, activist, Zionist, filmmaker…How do you do it all?

While I hoped that somewhat metaphorical question might be a nice conversation starter, it didn’t quite go according to plan.

YUVAL DAVID (YD): Why, is it confusing for you?

DRG: Excuse me?

YD: Is it confusing?

Like, who is this guy who does too much?

I was definitely taken aback by his question. He was sincerely searching for the meaning of my inquiry which I wasn’t at all used to. It made me uncomfortable. Unlike so many people these days, he was truly listening to what I was saying.

DRG: No. No. Not confusing at all, just in awe. And wondering, when did this start? Were you raised in a family of doers?

YD: Yes. My grandparents, my maternal grandparents are Holocaust survivors and well-known heroes of the war. And my mom and my aunts didn’t really have aunts and uncles. On my paternal side, my grandmother and all of her older siblings fled Poland right before the Nazis closed the borders. Her parents went back to Poland to take care of last affairs and had a very tragic story. She was a little girl raised by her siblings.

My paternal grandfather was second-generation Israeli. His family fled the pogroms of Russia.

I was raised with the understanding that my grandparents worked very hard and survived these travesties in order to afford me with this lifestyle. And my parents had their own challenges. So, I understood that my life isn’t only my own.

I am of my family and I’m of my people and I’m for my family and I’m for my people. So, I better make the most of it.

That also comes with its own burden because I thought I couldn’t complain about anything. If something bad happened to me, I just thought I couldn’t complain about it. I’ve survived terrorist incidents, I was raped as a teenager, I had so many near-death experiences because I’m also really into adventure sports. But I just never thought it was okay to complain about those things because nothing is as bad as the Holocaust. Quite a burden.

DRG: That’s a lot for a young person to bear.

YD: It is. Putting things in perspective is absolutely important and I never embrace the victimhood narrative. I embrace the resilience narrative. And that’s how I do everything I do. I’m resilient. I’m passionate. I am very ambitious. I just want to better myself. I want to better other people. I don’t believe in perfection, but I do believe in greatness.

DRG: Wow.

Do you ever feel splintered?

YD: Oh, I definitely feel splintered. And then I think, well, what do I do with those splinters?

Do I try to put some wood glue and re-use them? Do I sandpaper them and polish them down and smooth them out? Or do I allow the splinter to grow into an additional branch; into something new? Those are all calculated decisions. But I also like to be spontaneous and silly and go with the flow. I come from the improv world. I’ve always been into improv comedy and improv theatre, and improv dance.

It’s like being an athlete of life. You train. You have your personal trainers, your physical therapists, your coaches, and you exercise and work out. Then you practice and you practice, and you practice. Then you just do the thing and see what happens, and you make the most of it and that’s life.

DRG: I look at you. I read your press. I’m a follower and a fan.

But did you ever see this coming? Did you ever think you would represent a country to the world? I mean, is that daunting? Did you ever think you would have that kind of influence?

Yuval stopped for a moment. He looked at me with that same probing stare.

YD: How do you see me representing a country?

Again, I felt a pang of panic. Had I overstepped? I’m so used to people just talking about what they want to talk about rather than focusing on what information I’m attempting to gather. Having this smart, sensitive man actually listening to me for clarity, was unnerving. It forced me to really think.

DRG: I feel like you represent Israel to the US in many ways. As a performer, a filmmaker, a storyteller, a Zionist, a Justice Warrior, all of those things.

And I wonder if you feel that?

YD: Yes, and it’s something that I speak about in many of these talks that I give.

I’m invited as a keynote speaker and workshop leader and panelist.

I talk about how everybody is an activist, why everybody needs to see themselves as an advocate and understand that they are an advocate. Because you are an advocate for yourself, for your family, for your friends, and for your community.

Once you recognize that, you recognize that you now also advocate for those who are connected to that; your society, your state, your nation, your people, your peoplehood, your nationalities.

That also puts a greater level of responsibility on your life because you recognize that if you do something great, it’s not just a success for you, it’s a success for your people.

And if you do something not so great, that’s also a reflection on all of your people.

DRG: So everyone is connected, responsible for each other?

YD: Absolutely. I’m an inclusion activist who practices radical acceptance. Part of that means I must also help other people have a seat at the table, because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.

And we know that. We’ve been, as a Jewish people, we’ve been on the menu for thousands of years, and it doesn’t matter how many great things we do and how many people we aid in the civil rights and the social justice arenas, or how Israel is oftentimes the first nation, or one of the first nations, who goes to help in environmental and humanitarian crises around the world.

Yet, Israel still is held to this double standard, just like the Jewish people are, regarding so many things and we’re so easily criticized.

In your life, Debra, you also are a person who does a lot; as a writer, an actor, a reinvention specialist, a career coach. I see what you do. I’ve looked you up.

Now this is unheard of. He looked me up. He’s an award-winning actor, tv host, and filmmaker. I’m stunned.

Far left:Yuval David: Actor/ Host/Filmmaker.

Left: Yuval David speaks about Jewish advocacy and activism.

YD: You do a lot and you’ve probably experienced antisemitism. And I can say that with confidence because you’re a doer. And maybe I only know doers, but doers will experience antisemitism. Whether it’s an off-color comment, a joke at our expense, an actual verbal attack, or a physical attack, and we need to be prepared for that.

DRG: You’re absolutely right. I feel like people use stereotypes to limit other people’s power.

YD: Yes. And, because we’ve absorbed the narratives that other people have put upon us, we are limiting ourselves. We are a people who constantly get rebranded by other people. We can’t embrace the narratives of those who are against us. But we do it time and time again. And then sometimes because Jewish humor is what it is, it’s very self-deprecating. So, we’ll make a joke about ourselves because it’s easier.

Jewish humor comes from Jewish pain. Humor comes from recognizing the ups and the downs.

My grandmother was one of the most beautiful, good-hearted, kind, hopeful, optimistic, passionate people I’ve ever met. She would say that the Jewish people have always had the choice to cry and cry. But we, as a Jewish people, have had the brilliance to laugh and cry.

DRG: Let’s go back to those near-death experiences and adventure sports. What’s that about?

YD: Something that I do recognize with all the many things that I do is I’m a team player. I’m not into team sports, but I’m a team player. I’m an adventure sports enthusiast.

Skiing is my passion and I do like the crazy double black diamonds.

I go to surf and scuba dive and water ski and wakeboard.

I’m all into individual sports, but I’m a team player everywhere else.

Yes, with a lot of the things that I do, collaboration is key.

DRG: With your spirit of optimism and positivity, which is truly inspiring, do you get down? What gets you down?

Yuval’s reaction suggests that this time I might have made him feel slightly off kilter. He took a few beats before responding.

YD: Oh wow, I get down regularly. There are so many things in life that I find upsetting.

I’m a vulnerable, sensitive person. That’s where my strength and bravery and courage and my own wisdom come from, from being a sensitive, vulnerable person who is affected by my environment. It’s what I choose to do with that that allows me to be a doer. Saying, okay, here’s an issue. What am I going to do about it? Do I wait for somebody else? I’m also, because I’m both American and Israeli, I have the cultural traits of both people, and impatience is an issue I deal with.

DRG: How do you pull yourself out of it when you feel down?

YD: Well, if I hit a down spot, I meditate. I breathe. I listen to my body. I let myself cry. I let myself, you know, have the comfort food that I want and watch some mindless entertainment on one of the many streaming platforms.

Or I create. I’ve created web series. I even won an Emmy for one short, which I created because I had a need to combine improv comedy, improv acting, guerrilla theatre and uplifting other people.

Because when I’m down, I recognize that I can also be in service of and for others and that will both uplift me and uplift them at the same time. And it puts my downness in perspective because I’m doing something for somebody else.

DRG: So, what about upcoming films or projects? What do you want people to look for?

YD: So I have a television show that I’m not able to say too much about.

I can tell you that it’s going to be on FX and Hulu and it comes out at the end of the year.

And I’m an actor in that.

In addition to that, I have another web series which is coming out soon. We are in production with it. It is very exciting because it combines a lot of my passions within the acting, filmmaking, and advocacy space. In addition to that, I’m on the news as a news commentator regularly.

I can’t wait for these projects to come out because then people will be seeing a lot more of me. And hopefully, I will be inspiring other people to do their best, to be the cream that rises to the top.

DRG: That’s a very interesting way of putting it.

YD: There’s so much content out there. I want to create the best stuff, the greatest, the most compelling content that’s out there. And I try to help other people do that.

So I hope that the things that I’m doing, that are coming up soon will inspire other people to do the same and do it better.

We exchange pleasantries. I ask him to send me some personal photos for the article. Not something everyone else has. I don’t want a Hollywood picture of him on a set, or a formal shot of him speaking at some Jewish National Fund dinner, or Israeli Embassy meeting. I want something that shows who he really is.

YD: Oh. I’ve got these photos. No one uses them. They’re kind of goofy. But I Iove them.

He’s excitedly looking through his files of photos.

DRG: I love goofy. Please send them my way.

YD: They’re me. You, because of who you are and what you do, will enjoy them, but you’ll probably also understand why they’re never used.

He leaves me with that one final reminder. That in this interview, an interview all about him, he managed to pay attention to me. He made me feel valued. Like we were collaborating. “You, because of who you are and what you do, will enjoy them.”

Yuval David is a rare combination of genuine kindness, depth of spirit, strong ambition, and unrelenting optimism. He’s funny and real, intelligent and quirky, creative and outrageously talented. Keep your eyes open. You’ll be seeing a lot more of him.