Avishai Ben Haim Recounts Emotional Lesson From His Father

News 14 commentator Avishai Ben Haim recently shared an emotional memory about his late father in an interview on Ben Ben Baruch’s podcast, saying it brought him to tears. Ben Haim said his parents did not raise him around the “Mizrahi issue” in childhood, and that after immigrating to Israel they even gave up the traditional liturgy of their community in what they saw as a way to strengthen Jewish unity.

He said his father, whom he described as his “beloved soul” and who died recently, spoke to him about the ethnic issue only once in his life. Ben Haim recalled that as a teenager he was sure of his own intellect and told his father he did not need a matriculation certificate, saying he would be “autodidactic like Yaron London.”

According to Ben Haim, his father insisted on formal education. He quoted him as saying, “Avishai, if you do not have a matriculation certificate, you will not be autodidactic like Yaron London, you will be just another Moroccan without a matriculation certificate.” Ben Haim said the main message he absorbed at home was “unity and love of Israel.”

The video drew more than 150,000 views online, and viewers responded with praise and emotion. Comments called his words “strong,” “moving,” and said they could see the pain of losing his father.