In an exclusive interview, the man behind the Yaakov Levi account reveals the dark truth fuelling his viral videos and attempts to justify pretending to be from the Haredi community 🔎 Big Read by PatrickStrud
. His videos were like nothing ever seen on social media, on any platform: a man from the strictly orthodox Haredi Jewish community in Israel also living as an out and proud gay man.
Twitter user Schlomo Satt, who spoke out about the Yaakov Levi account, said: “It’s extremely not ok to co-opt the identity of people who have lived and struggled without making it clear that it’s an act. He claims to be a voice for others when all he’s doing is putting on an outfit, filming a video, then taking it off.” He added, “When I was a Haredi gay kid, I couldn’t just take off my peyos and my black hat. It was a constant struggle and I was reckoning with it 24/7.
We arranged a Zoom call to probe further. He enlisted a friend to translate when his English falters. His real name is Erez Oved. He’s 29 and an actor and comedian, who starred in the 2017 Israeli TV drama, among other shows. Raised in Jerusalem, he grew up around Haredi people, but now lives in Tel Aviv, Israel’s more secular capital, and the most LGBT-friendly city in the Middle East.
He says he received a comment recently, as an example, and reads it aloud: “You have to understand, it is impossible to be gay and ultra-orthodox without being abandoned from your family and community. As a religious gay guy who cannot make my voice heard, your art make[s] me proud and make[s] my heart smile so hard. I appreciate your will and your work.”
Oved adds that it isn’t just queer orthodox Jewish people contacting him, thanking him for inspiring them, but people from other religions. This alone, for him, justifies his reasons for doing it. “Utopia should always be shown so humanity will know where it should go to.”