Instagram sensation Zach Margs releases film about feeling isolated at Chanukah
Four years after his Covid loneliness video went viral, the comedian gets serious about a subject close to his heart
Louisa Walters is Features Editor at the Jewish News and specialises in food and travel writing
Zach Margs (@zachmargs) is well known for his hilarious Israeli role play videos on social media, but today he is getting serious to raise awareness of just how isolating this time of year can be for Jews.
A brand new video to set to the tune of Lily Allen’s emotive Somewhere Only We Know depicts a Jewish man in the office feeling isolated from his colleagues as they enjoy Christmas celebrations, and then filled with joy when they take the trouble to learn about Chanukah and find a way to celebrate it with him.
During the pandemic in 2020 Zach created a video in the style of a John Lewis Christmas advert about at an elderly woman having to celebrate the festival alone because of the Covid isolation. She was a widow facing heartbreaking loneliness until her grandchildren bought her a laptop so she could Zoom her family on Christmas Day.
Zach says: “It touched a lot of hearts, and it really resonated with people. The aim was to make sure that people don’t feel isolated at Christmas.”
The video went viral and now that Zach is very involved in the Jewish scene on social media, he wanted to do something similar, with a message for Jewish people around this time of year.
“My first job was at a non-Jewish firm, and we would have big Christmas parties every year. There was a tree in the office, and pigs in blankets being handed round and I had to explain to everyone that I can’t eat them because I’m kosher. It was a similar story at university. So I know that Christmas can feel a little isolating for Jews in the diaspora. It feels like the world is celebrating something you’re not a part of. No-one ever said to me, ‘What’s Chanukah? What do you eat at this time of year?’
“It’s not about feeling sorry for ourselves – I just wanted to raise a little bit of awareness for Jewish people at a time when antisemitism is higher than ever. Jews around the world are feeling particularly isolated at the moment and that non-Jews don’t like us. What I’m trying to show is that there actually are many non-Jewish people who are our friends and our allies, who do support us and want to help and want to know about Judaism – you don’t need to be feel embarrassed or ashamed about being Jewish.
“And on the flip side, it is also a call to action to non-Jewish people who aren’t aware of how much antisemitism there is and how isolating it feels to be Jewish right now. These small little actions of asking someone about Chanukah or saying Happy Chanukah can go a long way.”
Zach wrote and directed the film, and hired professional actors, an editor and videographer Gal Alkalay. It was was filmed in north London over two days last week. He hit on the idea of everyone wearing Chanukah jumpers but “obviously I didn’t have eight Chanukah jumpers! I posted on social media asking, ‘does anyone have one?’ And I instantly had loads of people messaging saying come over to borrow mine. I was driving all around London! Everyone was so excited to help. Everyone was so involved.”
Follow Zach on @zachmargs
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