A ‘Bang’ of a trip

Mayim Bialik of the hit series, ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ travels to Israel for a deeply personal 10-day visit.

By NOA AMOUYAL
Mayim Bialik (photo credit: REUTERS)
Mayim Bialik
(photo credit: REUTERS)
With the Golden Globe awards less than two weeks away, most Hollywood actresses invited to the ceremony are busy trying to find the perfect dress, diet and hairstyle for the glitzy bash. But Mayim Bialik, who is part of the ensemble cast of The Big Bang Theory (which is nominated for Best Comedy), is not your conventional Hollywood actress. Instead of spending her days trying a slew of glamorous frocks, Bialik kicked off the new year kicking back with her two sons, Miles, 9, and Frederick, 6, at Kibbutz Gezer in Israel.
“I woke to the sound of roosters and the smell of fresh cow dung, which is strangely comforting to me,” Bialik wrote in her blog post for the Jewish parenting site Kveller late last week.
It is that very down-to-earth mentality that governs Bialik’s visit. The recently divorced activist, who has traveled to the country several times before, came to introduce her small children to her extended Israeli family and immerse them in Israeli culture. In fact, a sense of family and belonging seems to be the overarching theme of her trip.
“There is nothing like feeling like you are on a plane or in a country with your extended family as there is in Israel,” she said of her experience flying on El Al and witnessing the entire plane burst into applause when it touched down at Ben Gurion International Airport.
Bialik was also touched by the profound sense of community and looking out for each other she has experienced during her time here. Of traveling with her children in public places, she said “there is a sense of responsibility for people here that you don’t find in other places the same way.”
Some of the planned activities during her trip include a visit to the Military Museum in Latrun, checking out Mini-Israel, a day trip to Tel Aviv-Yaffo and (as a devout vegan) savoring plenty helpings of humus.
Ironically, one aspect of Israel she plans to ignore is one characteristic that motivates most tourist to come here in the first place: politics and religion.
“I hate politics and I hate religion for so many reasons, and I don’t understand the government of Israel most of the time, or who runs the nation’s publicity campaign either for that matter,” she wrote.
Voluntarily skipping much of the pre-award season song and dance may make her an unconventional actress. But choosing to avoid politics and religion in Israel makes her a pretty unconventional tourist as well.