CJAD 800's Andrew Carter spoke to Rabbi Taylor Baruchel, who grew up in Montreal, about her experience as a consultant on Adam Sandler's new film 'You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.' Listen to the full interview below. The transcript follows.
Andrew Carter: Rabbi Taylor Baruchel spent a summer as a consultant on Adam Sandler's hit Netflix comedy— a coming-of-age story. The shoot was in Toronto. That's where she works at Holy Blossom Temple, where we reach her now. Good morning, Rabbi Baruchel.
Taylor Baruchel: Good morning.
Andrew Carter: We should say your brother is Jay Baruchel. You don't get nervous around movie stars, I guess.
Taylor Baruchel: I mean, nervous is probably not the right word. I essentially grew up on a film set hanging out with my brother. So, I think I'm maybe less impressed by it than some folks.
Andrew Carter: Were you an acting kid as well?
Taylor Baruchel: I was. I think I got my first gig at age seven. I was a full union member by nine. And then, by 20, I decided it wasn't quite for me.
Andrew Carter: Right, so you're used to a movie set anyway. So tell me how you got this job and what it entailed?
Taylor Baruchel: It's a bit of a wild ride. My husband and I were living in Atlanta for a number of years, where he was serving a congregation, and I was finishing rabbinical school. We moved back to Toronto in June of 2022. I was entering my last year of seminary studies, and literally the day we drove into the city, we crossed the border—it was a two-day drive up from Atlanta—I had an email in my inbox from Rabbi Steve Wernick, the senior rabbi at Beth Tzedec in Toronto. And that's the synagogue that they were filming at. And it was 'Hi, welcome to the city. Do you have an interest in a summer gig?'
I thought it was going to be a CBC documentary or something like that because there's a lot of secrecy around these things. And I was like, 'Yeah, sure.' They're looking for a young female rabbinic type. Specifically, they wanted a reformed Jewish take. [Wernick said] 'You sound like you'd be great. Would you like me to give your email to the producers?' And I said, 'Yeah, sure.' Next thing I know, I have a little nice chat—still don't know what's going on. Next thing we know, in my inbox is an NDA.
I was like, 'Whoa, wait a second, what's going on?' And so I sent the NDA to my brother to be like, is this normal? Is this a real thing? And he said, 'I sign them all the time, don't worry about it.' And then, as soon as I sent that, I got back a script, and it has the Adam Sandler, Happy Gilmore film thing on it. I went, 'Oh, this is a little bigger than I thought it would be.'
Andrew Carter: So tell me, you're there to make sure that everything related with the…
Taylor Baruchel: With the Jewish content. That the Jewish content was up to snuff, so that involved a few pieces before principal photography started. Before they started filming the movie, I was sent drafts of the script to read through to make notes and to kind of check the authenticity or accuracy. And they very much wanted it to be a love letter to the American Jewish experience, very much a reform synagogue. So I was making notes on that and saying, 'Oh, just to let you know, no rabbi would ever actually say this. We might be brought up on ethics charges. But I respect your vision.'
Andrew Carter: I haven't seen the movie yet, but I plan to. Is there the actual ceremony of the Bat Mitzvah?
Taylor Baruchel: There is a piece of it. I think it's an artistic rendering. But the lead character, Stacy, the protagonist, doesn't really want to be there at that moment in time because she's having a lot of inner struggle with some fights with her best friend. So she's kind of forced up there. But she does, in fact, read from the Torah. And it is accurate as she does that.
Andrew Carter: So, a Bar Mitzvah and a Bat Mitzvah. It's coming of age, basically, in the religion.
Taylor Baruchel: It is, yes. In our movement of Judaism, it's at 13. It's an egalitarian movement. It's like turning 18 and being able to vote. You have all the rights and responsibilities of full membership in the Jewish people.
Andrew Carter: So tell me about Adam Sandler. What was your relationship with Adam Sandler in this movie? Did you meet him?
Taylor Baruchel: I did have a moment one morning when we spoke quite a bit. He called me Rebbe (a rabbi or spiritual leader and teacher), which was very funny and made me feel somewhat uncomfortable [laughs.] But we chatted about a lot of things because he wanted to ask questions. Some of it was for the movie, some of it, I think, was for his curiosity as a Jew, which was fascinating.
One morning especially, I remember getting to set at the crack of dawn, about 5 a.m. We're having breakfast, and he walks over to me. He goes, 'Rebbe, I need to ask you, what's the difference between a yarmulke and a kippah?' Which is just a linguistic difference. But we then had a 35-minute conversation where I'm essentially explaining the etymology of these two words—one is a Yiddish word, one's a Hebrew word. And we're really talking the details about, like, what should they call it in the movie? And I said, 'Well, a kippah would be more accurate. I don't really know that many young Jews at this point who would call it a yarmulke.' And then he paused. He said, 'But yarmulke is a much funnier word.' And I said 'fair, fair. You do you, Mr. Sandler, you do you.'
Andrew Carter: So, did you ever let him know that your brother was Jay Baruchel?
Taylor Baruchel: I did. It came up eventually because they had worked together a number of years ago, so my brother actually said, 'Oh, you should say hi to him for me.' It was probably two weeks in, and I said, 'Just let you know, my brother says hi.' He says, 'Oh, who's your brother?' I said, 'Jay Baruchel.' He goes, 'No, you're kidding me? No way. He's a good kid.' I was like, 'That kid is over 40, but sure [laughs].'
Andrew Carter: Now, please tell me that Adam Sandler's a great guy because, I mean, he's done so well.
Taylor Baruchel: Total Mensch. There were so many background performers in this film. And they're all kids. And he took his time with absolutely every single one. If they wanted a selfie, if they wanted a fist bump. They want to talk—always did. Like really just a Mensch, a really good guy.
Andrew Carter: Isn't that great? So hey, thanks very much for your time. And let me be the first to wish you Shana Tova in advance.
Taylor Baruchel: Ah, thank you. Shana Tova to everyone out there who is celebrating and, you know, a year of sweetness to everyone else as well.
