Have a Happy Hanukkah with These Eight Jewish Beauties

Natalie Portman is not only Jewish, but the only one on this list actually born in Jerusalem.  Her parents married in Israel and returned to the states when Natalie was three-years-old.  Portman maintains dual citizenship between the United States and Israel, saying that though she loves the States, she feels at home in Jerusalem.  Aside from her obvious hotness, this Oscar-winning actress’ intellegence just adds to her beauty, being a Harvard graduate, speaks Hebrew, and has studied French, Japanese, German, and Arabic.  But the hottest thing she’s ever done?  Natalie’s Rap.

Former Blossom star Mayim Bialik, like Natalie Portman, makes this list for not only her beauty, but her brains.  First, it’s easy to forget that Mayim is a very beautiful woman because her role as Amy Farrah Fowler on Big Bang Theory, a socially awkward scientist whose wardrobe looks like it was left over from Golden Girls.  And second, Bialik is as smart as they come, earning her PhD in neuroscience and degrees in Hewbew and Jewish studies.  Raised in Reform Judiasm, Bialik is very active in her faith, appearing in videos promoting her alma matter’s Jewish groups and explaining the Jewish faith to her younger viewers.

Scarlett Johansson comes from Danish Father and a New York Jewish Mother, saying she celebrates a bit of both Christmas and Hanukkah, but considers herself Jewish.  As if her picture here isn’t enough to cement her claim to be a beauty, she’s been Esquire’s “Sexiest Woman Alive” twice and Playboy’s “Sexiest Celebrity”.  And of course there’s her infamous leaked photos (NSFW Link).

Born in former Soviet Ukraine, Mila Kunis was raised Jewish by her parents as much as possible because religion was suppressed in the Soviet Union.  At the age of seven, Kunis’ family left the USSR due to the anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union.  Kunis first gained attention at the age of 14 when she appeared on That 70s Show, a role that would definitely expand and gain more attention as her sex appeal developed the older she got.  Now she balances her movie career with her voice work as Meg on Family Guy.  And her love scene with Natalie Portman in Black Swan was hot enough to make us forgive and forget that she’s doing the horizontal bop with her former That 70s Show co-star Ashton Kutcher.  Sorry guys, her topless picture in Forgetting Sarah Marshal?  Her head on another woman’s body.

Kat Dennings has been around for years, appearing in 40 Year Old Virgin, Big Momma’s House 2, and Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist.  But she finally busted out with her role in Thor, and her cleavage on the red carpet.  Since then, Denning’s has starred in her own CBS sitcom, 2 Broke Girls, and recently Thor: The Dark World.  Though she admits that Judaism is important to her history, she doesn’t consider religion to be part of her life, saying she more ethnically and culturally affiliated rather than religiously affiliated.  And she’s another entry on the list to have leaked photos (NSFW Link).

Good luck ever watching Harriet the Spy again and not feeling dirty.  Though born in America, like Mila Kunis, Michelle Trachtenberg can trace her family lineage to Russia and even speaks Russian fluently.  Trachtenberg comes from a Jewish family, with her grandparents still living in Israel, and reportedly celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.  Always cute in her younger days, Trachtenberg started gaining “Hottie” status during the final season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  After Buffy, Trachtenberg banked on her sexuality, appearing in Eurotrip, with some of her hottest scenes hitting the cutting room floor.

Lizzy Caplan was raised in a Reform Jewish family originally perusing playing the piano before switching to drama.  Caplan has regularly worked in Hollywood, appearing on the shows Freaks and Geeks and Smallville, and in films like Mean Girls and My Best Friend’s Girl.  But she really turned some heads and shocked people when she appeared nude in the first season of True Blood as Amy, Jason Stackhouse’s girlfriend who gets him addicted to V.  Caplan’s new series, Showtime’s Masters of Sex, regularly shows Caplan in her birthday suit (NSFW link), telling the story of 1960s human sexuality pioneer Victoria Johnson.

How hot is Alison Brie?  Well, she has websites dedicated entirely to GIFs of her sexiest moments.  Raised by divorced parents, Brie would attend her father Christian-Hindu hybrid church while her mother would raise her Jewish.  Since her break out in Community and Mad Men, Brie has regularly appeared on Maxim’s Hot 100 lists.  Brie not only has beauty, but a terrific sense of humor to match, as apparent in this video.