Actor and comedian Amy Schumer identifies strongly with being Jewish. Her “relationship to Judaism is clearly woven into her humor, beginning with her bat mitzvah, which she saw as her opportunity to make her ‘stage debut.’ Her big break didn’t turn out exactly as she planned when her voice cracked as she chanted from the Torah. The congregation burst out in laughter and Schumer was hooked….While Schumer grew up identifying as Jewish, she only discovered how deep her Jewish roots go when she appeared on the PBS show, Finding Your Roots, turning emotional upon learning of her paternal ancestors who left the Ukraine in 1912. She also shared her struggles with antisemitism as a child, being taunted and called ‘Amy Jew-mer,’ experiences that shaped her life and her humor….[But] Schumer’s Jewish comedy has not been without controversy. She was widely criticized for a less-than-reverent take on the Holocaust and social media comments on antisemitic symbols….” (From The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women for the Jewish Women’s Archive)
Schumer’s father was born Jewish, and her mother converted to Judaism before their marriage. They raised both Amy and her sister Jewish. Amy’s father is the second cousin of New York Senator Chuck Schumer.
In 2017, Amy adopted a dog which she named Tatiana Maslany, after the actress of the same name. Amy calls her dog Tati.
