Montana Tucker’s Journey to Jewish Advocate & Holocaust Remembrance Film

Watch and Listen

there's a lot Weighing on the hearts and minds of American Jews today the ongoing trauma of October 7th the seven front war in Israel hostages the plight of Palestinian civilians and the explosion of anti-jewish hate around the world and if we didn't have enough to deal with it's an election year over the past few months I have engaged with thousands of Jews on social media from all over the political Spectrum but the one common refrain I hear from both sides is I don't understand how other Jews can be so insane as to vote for the one I'm not voting for when it comes to voting people make judgment calls based on their own priorities their perceptions of the candidates and how they wish to use their vote all of those are valid and we should be able to maintain respect and unity as a community despite our different ideas so I want to lay out what I'm hearing as the arguments for both sides of this election might not be all of them but it's a lot of them and hopefully by the end we can understand validate and embrace each other a bit more full disclosure I am intending to vote for Harris but right now I'm hoping to make as strong a case as I can for both candidates let's start with the case for Kamala one of the most common arguments in favor of KLA Harris is that she is not Donald Trump a man whose character is seen by many to be at odds with the values we as Jews are taught to honor he has openly mocked or insulted nearly every race of people women the disabled and yes Jews who according to him hate their own religion and need to have their heads examined if they don't want to vote for him Trump's preference for isolationism makes the world less safe for everyone a world without America as an international Watchdog is a world where anti-western authoritarians are emboldened to fill that vacuum it is fair to assume that a trump Administration would cut back on support for Ukraine empowering Russia to achieve its Ambitions there and elsewhere speaking of Russia it is literally spending millions of dollars on shell companies fake personas and social media content to help Trump get elected according to the Department of Justice which most would consider a red flag he has repeatedly used anti-jewish dog whistles Google his use of the coded word globalist as a starter and he's openly befriended known Jew haters he also recently said Israel would not exist in two years without him which even prot Trump is Isis were insulted by although a trump Administration would undoubtedly allow Israel more free reign is more free reign for BB netanyahu's government actually a good thing intelligent Minds can and do disagree on this Trump openly idolizes and fraternized with authoritarian leaders like Putin Kim Jong-un and Victor Orban whose aspirations and views on human rights are totally at odds with Western values he will still not admit that he lost the 2020 election nor take responsibility for his role in the attack on Congress of January 6th many people fear that women's Reproductive Rights gay marriage Rights Voting Rights and other freedoms we enjoy now will be attacked under a trump presidency and last here's a short list of some of the people who worked with him in his first term who now oppose him his then vice president two of his secretaries of defense his chief of staff his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff his National Security adviser his communications director his Deputy press secretary and his director of strategic Communications for many all this is enough to not vote for Trump regardless of who the other candidate is but there are Arguments for Harris as well her past record does not indicate a person who was anti-jewish or anti-israel her first piece of legislation as a senator was a bill against anti-Semitism as vice president she had a muuza on the door of her official residence and hosted more Jewish events there than anyone before her she and her husband were an integral part of creating America's first ever National plan to combat anti-Semitism which clearly ain't working so great right now but they poured a lot of money resources and effort into trying to help the Jewish people and if there's one thing that lets you know a government's priorities it's where it spends its money her husband Doug mhof would be the first Jew to live in the White House mhof is committed to using his platform for the benefit of the Jewish people the possibilities with a Jewish voice in The White House should not be underestimated Harris has said very clearly on numerous occasions that Hamas are terrorists that must be removed from power that they committed horrible atrocities and sexual violence and began this war on October 7th and that America's commitment to Israel will never waver she's also met with hostage families and October 7 survivors taking great care to engage with them deeply from a place of genuine compassion now remember I didn't say all of that to convince you who to vote for only to illuminate the legitimate reasons why intelligent well-meaning American Jews might decide to vote for k Harris now the case for Donald Trump first and foremost his administration has a proven track record of meaningful action in support of Israel recognizing the Golan Heights moving the embassy to Jerusalem cutting funding to unra and of course the crowning achievement of his presidency really the Abraham Accords these accomplishments are indisputable the Accords were the brainchild of Jason greenblat his Jewish lawyer of many decades and his son-in-law Jared Kushner a Jew who married Trump's oldest daughter Ivanka in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony after she converted to Judaism with one of the most well-respected rabbis in the country in order for Israel to be truly secure it must be allowed to defeat Hamas as the insightful British journalist Douglas Murray put it Wars don't end in compromises as our Western values would have us hope Wars end when someone wins and someone loses it is undoubtedly true that a trump Administration unencumbered by the voices of restraint on the left would give Israel more freedom to operate in its pursuit of Victory the response to anti-israel college encampments was undoubtedly stronger and swifter in red States so it's safe to assume a trump Administration would take a harder line against that former of Jew hatred in the future this is in line with his 2019 executive order that made title six of the Civil Rights Act apply to acts of hate against Jews there's also the case to be made against Harris she famously chose not to attend Netanyahu speech before Congress which many felt was a terrible affront she has officials in her Administration who have historically sought appeasement with Iran and she has the endorsement of all the members of the squad except Rashida TB from sanctions to delays of arm sales to the infamous don't go into Rafa directive there has been plenty for Jews to criticize in the Biden administration's handling of the war these reasons and others are also why many Israelis believe that a trump Administration would be more friendly towards the Jewish State many feel threatened by Harris's appeals to the left of her base which necessitates the inclusion of phrases like how Israel wages its War matters which although of course true also insinuates that Israel is not waiting aing its War properly which is precisely what Hamas wants everyone to believe so essentially rewarding their tactics in regards to the Rafa offensive Harris famously declared she had studied the maps and deemed it an impossibility that Israel could safely evacuate civilians from the area Israel was not only able to do so but they also rescued and recovered numerous hostages and engaged in battle with thousands of Hamas militants hiding there her mad dash to the election has left her big on platitudes and short on policies a failing that although understandable makes some uneasy and distrustful though the office of vice president is very limited in its powers many view her as having been ineffectual or too uninvolved in Affairs of the Jewish Community especially in light of this year's explosion of anti-jewish hate many believe that a Harris Administration will be a continuation of the worst aspects of the Biden administration's policies towards Jews with less of the support if you were already a conservative Jew before this election this one should be easy for you but if you're a liberal Jew there's never been a more difficult time Jews historically have voted overwhelmingly Democrat and have been an enormous presence in the push for rights for all other marginalized groups now many feel abandoned by the left that they long supported yet also out of sync with the priorities of the right leaving them feeling politically homeless as so many have told me the calculus of this election is so complex it really comes down to each person's individual priorities and I think that's something we must learn to honor in each other the beauty of democracy is that no one can tell you how to use your vote you can vote based on a single issue out of self-interest utilitarianism and we shouldn't need to judge each other for making the choice we each feel is best for us remember right off the bat tens of millions of us disagree on who to vote for every single time out so the expectation that every person with whom you share a commonality is going to vote the same as you is simply not based in reality we are different people equally as in charge of our own lives and making our own decisions just because someone's lived experience and priorities impel them to use their vote in a way that may be different from yours does not make them stupid or crazy the only thing that's crazy honestly is expecting that every Jew should agree with you disagreeing is a longstanding Jewish tradition and we must remember to embrace all that binds us together that we are one strong Jewish Community who will Outlast any politician or political party as long as we respect and love each other through our disagreements if I've made a case for anything today I hope it's that this is the second episode of being Jewish with me Jonah Platt [Music] [Music] today I get the chance to dig deep with someone who has become one of the Jewish voices of Our Generation and this moment a singer actress and Dancer who has used her tremendous platform to educate and Empower millions of people all over the world I mean there are little girls dressing up like her for porum she's that iconic she's Brave she's bold she's beautiful and I'm proud to call her friend welcome Montana Tucker yay thank you that intro is amazing you know I try that was great thank you that's I mean it's all true thank you very happy to have you here thank you you were born and raised in boa rone Florida yes and then to La which is like the reverse Jewish commute right I know I know well you know what I'll still always consider boa home I have a place there um La is always mostly for work yet I've built some incredible of course relationships and friendships out here but I feel like I'll always consider Florida home and and what are some of your earliest Jewish memories O Okay so I grew up of course going to Hebrew school um I grew up with Holocaust Survivor grandparents which we'll get into get into um so being Jewish was just always a part of my life and Boer tone Florida is a predominantly Jewish my grandparents used to have a place there we would go for Passover on the holiday it's funny out in La I feel like either people don't know bokeh or their grandparents live there there's like no in between um but yeah so a lot of grandparents live in bokeh it's great um but yeah I grew up there my whole life and being Jewish was just truly always a part of everything that I I knew um I feel like not that I was in a bubble but bokeh kind of is is a a it's a predominantly Jewish a strong Community yeah strong community so um when I kind of came out to LA more for work I think I started in La really seeing like a lot of different communities learning more about anti-Semitism and and stuff that I didn't really experience that much as a child because of the area that I grew up in sure I mean we always had all the holidays went to Temple went to Hebrew school did you like Hebrew school or did you hate you know what I did and I knew you were going to say that did I actually did and I have like very fond memories my Zade who passed away four years ago he would always love to like attend my Hebrew school classes and we have videos of him like coming there and and he would love to pick me up and and be in on like the singing classes that they would do when I was really young so I have like very fond memories of HEB school that's very sweets what about you so I went to Jewish Day School okay so I was in Hebrew school all day long from you know Mommy and me to 8th grade and it really fluctuated for me really sort of depended on who the teacher was was and when I had like strong good teachers um in command of the Jewish subjects I enjoyed them and I liked you know we had like Jewish we had like Hebrew choir I liked that stuff and I loved doing holiday stuff and holiday assemblies or whatever but like especially once we got into Middle School some of these some of my teachers weren't great it was sort of like in an age where it's like if you were Israeli they let you be a teacher even if you had like no teaching credentials whatsoever so there were some less than great teachers and I we also had to pray every day and once you became bar mitzva you had to wear tfillin and talit every day and I I didn't like when it was forced on me so I rebelled pretty hard I got I I graduated with about 30 detentions I would love to see little Jonah in in in school people are shocked now like who knew me then that I'm like doing a Jewish podcast so like that guy ended up doing the Jewish podcast I love it you know what I think a lot of people also so it's like a random fun fact I actually don't think I've ever said this out loud but growing up I had a very strong lisp really and I would talk like this it's and I had a lazy tongue and I went to speech therapy and now I basically speak for a living which is crazy because I don't think anyone would have ever imagined that I love that talking about you did all the holidays I've read your favorite is Hanukkah is that still true it is what why do you love so much about Hanukkah I think just growing up as a kid I just always loved getting the eight gifts I don't really get eight gifts anymore no you know Mom what's up it's kind of upsetting yeah Mom eight gifts for Hanukkah um what's your favorite I I kind of like rashash Shana honestly you know it's like I feel somewhat spiritual it feels like you know like you're beginning a new year I like my family always gets together and but it's not like so heavy yeah like you were saying sort of like one of the lighter ones it's like more joyous and celebratory yeah and I like Russ Shana too because you always I always go around the table and say what we want our New Year's resolutions what we want for the new year and on the year before this this year is going to be very important what uh what are your Russia Shena resolutions or wishes for this year um I feel like I have so many this year obviously this year was an extremely hard year for everyone and I think some changes made not enough changes made I think we kind of get hard on ourselves that we should be doing more what more can we do um I I don't think that's true for everyone certainly for you I just I feel like that's why everyone's like you're working so hard and you're traveling so much you're doing so much like aren't you exhausted and yes I'm exhausted but at the same time it's like this is the most important thing we could ever do in our lives right now is to speak up and stand up so that's why I'm doing literally as much as I can and going everywhere I can because I feel like I have to I feel like there's no other option and I'm trying to do as much as I can because I'm hoping the craziness is done soon and you know we can focus on continuing to uplift each other and and move forward in a positive peaceful way but so I'm trying to do as much as I can right now I mean it's like every day you're you've got a video you're in Israel you're you're doing a speech somewhere else it's like crazy you're I mean you were telling me before we started shooting your your travel schedule's insane it's it's insane but truly what keeps me going is knowing how important this is and also knowing that like there are people literally on the front lines there are people that are literally missing their family members there are people who are literally hostage and now having to adjust to a new life so if they can handle that I can handle this you it's like Mamba mentality right it's you got to you got to just keep going you got to I love that so sort of back to the beginning career-wise you're writing music you're recording singles you're getting movie placements you're dancing for big artists also you hosted something called the streamy purpose Awards I have an amazing research assistant named Samantha and good job Samantha she's great but she she wrote she wrote it as the steamy purpose Awards and I was like what is this oh my gosh definitely the opposite of whatever that would be felt like a left turn um Ste so you're doing all this stuff and then you start making these videos I mean what was was there was it an explosion of popularity was it a slow ramp like what was that experience yeah I kind of kind of got thrown into the social media in a way that I never really expected um her name is lelay pwn she's a a very big like um on social media singer actress and she saw a video of me in dance class she's like I want to hire her for one of my YouTubes she hired me a few times and then after she's like can you teach me a dance so so I taught her a dance uh we posted it online next day it gets like 10 million views and I'm like this is crazy like what is happening so her and I became this little dancing Duo on social media we would do all these little dance videos together and then I got into the social media world and it kind of just started going crazy and then from there I started collaborating with all different um creators with different artists like Jason Derulo when when labels would have new songs that would come out they'd hire me to do like a dance video to the to the artist song and just you know just kind of started growing like really like crazy and the brand deals and all these things that started coming in um so before that I was singing and acting and everything but I kind of put that on the back burner because social media was taking over in a way that really I truly never expected and then from there with my different collaborations you know I really wanted to inspire people also through my dance and and music and what I was putting out so I would collaborate with people of all walks of life so it would be like you know a little six-year-old to the old gays who are in their 80s and they Fab and incredible or Terry Cruz or Paul Abdul or Sierra or JLo and just it kind of It kind of just took off in this really special way but I would do anti-bullying Dance videos I would do dance videos about body image so I'd always also try to have a message behind my videos so that was way before really like my activism that I'm doing now so you mentioned this 2022 you know there's this documentary that's going to come out before that were you doing a lot of speaking about being Jewish no I mean I not by choice or anything I just you know my I grew my social media on dance and music like I just personally never thought of doing anything until I did my Holocaust educational series but it wasn't like I was trying to hide it by any means whatsoever it was just I didn't even like think to use my platform for that for that way it was just kind of going and it was yeah it was it was it was work and I was just dancing and singing and acting and that's kind of what I was doing but and also like my name is Montana ER so I know it's not the most Jewish sounding name which I hate even saying that but I say that because I know it's just stating the obvious but I think that's also when people ask me like oh have you ever experienced anti-Semitism before I truly like can't say I have only when it comes to like my name or the way I look and I think that's it's I think it's offensive when people say you you're you're Jewish you don't look Jewish or your name is Montana Tucker that's not a Jewish name like to me that's anti-semitic because what is being look like what does being Jewish sound like many many many different things and many many different ways you know so um I think people just didn't know that I was Jewish until I had to like throw it in their face that is like you know one of the main reasons this podcast exists to show people how different Jews can look and feel and sound and it's so important I'm so happy you're doing this because it it's crazy the the misconceptions and the uh stereotypes that are out there okay so um then we get to 2022 and you make this multi-art docu series for social media called how to never forget so let's start with the grandparents who have inspired this project you've already spoken about um what can you tell us about your relationship with them and and about who they were H my grandparents were and are because my grandma is still alive um my grandma Lily is 96 uh she unfortunately suffering Alzheimer's disease of 16 years but she's the most amazing amazing lady and she survived ashit my Zade uh passed away four years ago at 97 he was the most incredible man and I always like every thing I do I always mention I'm obsessed with um obsessed with my grandparents and I wear all his jewelry so this is his bracelet that I never take off this is his ring that I don't take off this is his wedding band um so he's always a part of me he had very cool jewelry seriously yes looking good yeah thank you and so he's always a part always part of of me and anyone that knew knew me knew my grandparents I was obsessed with them and had the most special relationship especially with my zie um so when he passed it was obviously very very very difficult of course for my mom as well um and when he when he passed I I rewatched the show Foundation testimonials of both my grandparents wow you know I watched them a lot as a child but watching them as an adult you feel it completely differently and of course after he passes to to rewatches stories is it's just uh yeah it's it's I can't even put into words like when you re how you when you rewatch it I still when I even if I've seen it 10 times already when you re-watch it you pick up on different things and you just like can't even you still can't even believe also how relevant their stories are to today is is even crazier the the parallels but I rewatched their stories and then I was like okay like I got to do something with these like I have to do something I just don't know what exactly and my mom and I never went to Poland never went to ashit and my grandparents never wanted to go back but they always spoke about the Holocaust they would they were open oh yeah yeah yeah like my Zade would wear pins that said never forget never again and Survivor every day he would speak at all the schools in Florida um they were by Z would talk to literally any person he would meet and tell them that he's a holocaust Survivor and share his story like he was very adamant about never again and making sure people heard his stories my grandparents are actually from Hungary and Romania my grandma's from Hungary my Z was from Romania and um where did they meet they met in New York actually at like a dance I believe I think I'm telling the story right but they met my grandma was there with another guy and my Z went up to my grandma and said like like I'm gonna you're GNA be my wife one day or something like that you hear so many stories like that from that era I know if he wanted to he would okay um but and then yeah the rest is history but um but yeah so I knew we wanted to do something with them wasn't sure what and then we talked to a bunch of people and we said hey like let's go on on this trip let's go and at first we were just going to go to visit and then we said hey I have millions of people that could be impacted by these stories my fing at the time was literally only genen Z right you know we said hey Holocaust Education isn't forc to being taught in every state in the US let alone around the world they're genuinely these people don't even know about the Holocaust so we ended up filming this docky series uh did it in 10 parts made it solely for social media each episode was a minute and a half to two and a half minutes easy to digest easy to share and um we went we filmed it and at the time like obviously we know anti-Semitism has just always existed but at the time it wasn't there wasn't anything that like triggered me to go besides my Zade passing and me wanting to film this we ended up editing it always plan to release it release it leading up to Crystal KN and coincidentally the same time was Kanye West all the crazy stuff with Kanye and it was just the weirdest timing of it all and my mom always says like my Z with me and that moment was like okay this is he's got his hand in it this is why this is why we're doing this and I I I didn't think like I wasn't nervous about posting it because I was nervous about the hate I was getting or I I would get I was nervous about posting it because I'm like people follow me to see me dance and be happy and smile and be bright and vibrant and the series is very dark and heavy and sad and I'm crying and it's not what they're used to seeing of me so I was like I think it's just not going to do well because people don't want to see that that's what I was worried about I was like you know what if it impacts one person great like we just wanted to impact people so however way it can impact great and then it ended up taking off in this way that I I don't I don't think I really expected honestly um and then it just it took off and then I started going on to schools to speak and I went to the White House to have us sit down with Doug mhof and we spoke about my experience at oshit and he actually went right after me and we spoke about his experience and I hosted Israel's 75th Anniversary um kamla and Doug were were guests and and and her SG and I I was the host of the event which was a really beautiful event this is all before October 7th right yeah and then it just kind of started slowly but surely like becoming a huge part of what I do and and what I stand for of course and then obviously everything changed after the seventh right so so clearly the the response from the Jewish Community was overwhelming supportive what about from your non-jewish followers you know it was interesting like I definitely got some hate like oh your grandparents should have died like we're not going to stop until you do or like I can't believe you're Jewish or of course you're a Jew and you're making this about you like I don't know how I Wasing about I'm in it I'm in it but like how is this about me um whatever so I got those type of comments but nothing was as bad as when I started like full on Israel um that was a whole other a whole other form of haate of course did did you did you hear like positive Oh Yeah from n from from because they didn't know like and it was really educational and I think the way that this the series was made is it wasn't like it wasn't so um forceful like I think it was really personal to me so I think people also felt like they could relate to it in a way um there's that authenticity yes exactly like it wasn't you know I think with a lot of Holocaust Education especially for the younger generation you know a lot of it's in black and white or they're hearing from survivors who you can't understand their accents unfortunately or they're they're getting older and it's hard to to connect with them and speak to them I mean I say to everyone if you have the opportunity to sit down with the Holocaust orever you're the luckiest person in the world and you but you know for them it's somebody that they knew from not that world so to come in as somebody that they followed on Tik Tok for my dancing videos to then see me talk about the Holocaust they were like a little bit more connected to it in a way so the the connection from the Jewish Community the non-jewish like a lot of the non-jewish community was was honestly overall very positive of course I got of course I got the hate but the hate I get the hate I get now is on a is is completely different I I think a lot of people don't like a lot of people think everyone who's not Jewish like hates the Jews and it's just so not the case and and that's like also what I try to portray in a lot of my content recently I don't know if you if you've noticed but I go out in public and I do these videos in public because not only do they ends up being powerful amazing videos that get viewed millions of times which is great and we're thankful for that the inperson conversations that I have with people or whoever I bring in to collaborate with me on the video they're so powerful that you actually connect with these people most of them you'd be so shocked don't even know what's going on right and I think yes all we hear in the media in the news is how everyone's again against us and how you'll get canceled if you speak out for Israel or if you're if you're for the Jews you're going to get canceled like it's not that like and I think that yes a lot of it is but I think we need to show that people just genuinely don't know and we end up having powerful conversations and then they go home and then they research and then they talk to their friends and their family and I think we need to just keep encouraging more conversation couldn't agree more and I think that's what's lacking unfortunately is I think people are feeling just like they have to choose a side or they have to be so angry or so negative but uh I think when you educate and you actually speak and I think that's kind of what happened with my series it was really educational but also really personal that people felt it in a different way totally when so I got the opportunity to help produce a video that you and Rudy Rockman were in at UCLA and I was struck by how many of those college students and this was at the height of these encampments anti- protests they were like dude I don't know I'm trying to get to science class exactly what I mean but they don't so the thing is that they don't know and then what happens is you see a Tik Tok video that has 10 million views about how terrible Israel is and how terrible Jews are so somebody who doesn't know anything is coming across this video and they see that this is a popular video wow look at look how many comments look how many views like how many likes oh my gosh and then they start seeing more of that they're going to think that's true and then they're going to want want to create their own video to it because it's trending and because it's popular and I think that's what the cycle yes yes so October 7th obviously a big turning point for all Jews and certainly in your advocacy let's start with that day itself like what was that day for you oh man it was just like something came over me that I was so incredibly sick to my stomach and like everything shut down for me like I felt even guilty looking out my window and like enjoying my view knowing that this is going on MH um I think I just kept replaying all my grandparents stories and being like this is our modern day Holocaust yeah there's there I can't believe we're living through this um I remember just thinking like I'm so thankful my grandma like I never said that but thankful my grandma has Alzheimer's and doesn't know what's going on right now you know yeah because I can't imagine what she would think or if my Zade was still alive what he would think about what's what what just happened what's going on and it it it took over for I mean a whole week I feel like I didn't leave my apartment I think the first time I left was when I saw you and that's where we met the first time at the rally right for with the one that Mayweather was there that was the first time I like left since since it happened and actually that rally was a turning point for me because I think I actually never really went to like these big rallies before now I'm at I've been out I've been out 100 of them they're they're amazing oh my gosh but I think that was my first first time and being around people that I know were also feeling exactly what I was feeling but then also having so much love and positivity like you know it's so interesting these rallies because everyone's hurting but then everyone's so loving and inspirational and motivational and I think that's just Jews in general and Israelis that I've over time known so well is that like no matter what you just keep going and you keep pushing and they're so resilient and I learn I personally also learned that from my grandparents too of they experienced experienced such Horror in their life you can't understand how they would even want to live after it right my grandma saw her mother get beaten up and dragged to the gas chamber right in front of her saw her family members get killed what they myadi had to uh he had blonde hair and blue eyes so he would get away with a lot of things in the camps and he was an electrician and he would make friends with like the guards and one day the like the guard would always tell him like you know let him come back late or give him some extra food whatever and one day that guard got sick or something like that couldn't and couldn't um tell my zi that he wasn't going to be that working so my Z walked in late and for punishment they made him sleep in a coffin with Nails in the front and back so if he leaned forward or back he would get stabbed for a whole night God so I just like heard their those types of stories my whole life and I don't think I I didn't even realize how crazy what was going to even happen after the sabath but just knowing what happened on that specific day seeing the the videos come in I think that just trigger something inside of me I don't know if it's like generational drama or what it what it could be but I just knew that like this was now this is this I have to do I have to do everything I can and you know I I knew I had this following I knew again still even you know unless you follow my stuff every single day like maybe people didn't see my Holocaust series that were still following me for dance you know what I mean like I don't know what it was but I I didn't even like think twice like this was now becoming so I didn't post anything else besides anything about Israel for a full two weeks like I didn't post not even one thing I missed out on brand deals like I said no to everything I would wouldn't post anything else on my social for like two to three weeks um and then I was like struggling with it like I didn't know how to dance and be happy because I was so upset and this is such a serious matter how could I just like post a happy dance video and then I remember I did and the I got messages from people saying thank you so much for this video because I've been so upset and so depressed that coming across this one minute dance just took my mind off of everything going on in the world um so I said you know what I have to keep sprinkling this in there to to keep it going but I mean I wanted to get to Israel as soon as possible I literally wanted to fly on the next flight like the next day um how many times have you been there now since I've been I've been twice since and now I'm going three times in the next three months so wow wow wow uh yeah it's so it's and I'd be there more if I could honestly I really I really would I I I think about it all the time that's why like I've been posting a lot about making Aah like it's not just like a post like it's something that I I do think about but at the same time I know there's so much work to be done here I feel like I don't we need you I'm like I think there's way more work that I need to do here um before I do that but I think eventually in my life like I just love it so much and and you know everyone gets nervous about me going and I'm like I literally feel safer there and and more at home yeah there czy nobody giving you for being Jewish over there literally you know you know here like I I don't get nervous it's more my mom honestly that is nervous yeah of course you know I wear my jewelry all the time like you know there you don't even have to think about that like it's not even like everyone's wearing it the flag is waving everywhere right you know what I mean and and then like the last time I went there I remember like just because you hear all the the the misconceptions and the propaganda about you know how Israel is apartheid and all these things and you go there and you're at the beach and you see all different types of people just coexisting y you get off the plane for 5 seconds it's it's it's crazy as colorful as can be seriously so um yeah I mean my whole world's I know went off topic but my whole world's really changed since the seventh and like I've never been been prouder to be Jewish and never and and before if people maybe would question if I was Jewish by not my name or my looks like that's why I want to make sure everything I wear now you can't miss it I love it you know or if you go to my page you're going to know I I want to commend you for a second because what you're what you do is is not for everyone and it's not easy and the way that you do it it's it's never about you the way you've lifted up hostage voices and family hostage family voices and survivors and you're always platforming others and amplifying others and it's just really you know I I admire you so much for that thank you so much for saying that and I feel like we have to I mean all these things like I I'm I'm so grateful when when people say thank you to me but truly it's like I can't think of doing anything else I can't even imagine just going about my days still doing my dance videos every day singing videos brand new like that to me like I I I can't even imagine that being my reality right now like truly I can't I mean people are all often well you know if if this were the Holocaust what would you do it's like we we know now what I've been saying this to everyone lately that's why it upsets me I'm I'm sorry if this is controversial but if a Jew is not speaking out or not doing something because every Jew around the world should be United in this right now and standing up in whatever way that is however they can do it but they need to like it doesn't make sense to me when when Jews are not United in this in the in the one main cause right now I I call it an all hands on deck moment I feel like wherever you are whatever it is you do whatever you're involved with we need everybody doing the thing that they do exactly not everybody's going to be Montana Tucker but they can be you know a parent at a school who's speaking out when they see something that's anti-jewish talking to a friend who's has the wrong idea about something whatever that's literally all it is that's what I literally at all my events I try to preach this because it's it's truly not about you don't have to just post on social media you don't have to just do what I do but you have to do something yeah you have to do something this is the time that everyone needs to stand at so if your advocacy had like one thesis statement like the core your core Mission we've touched on aot sort of a lot of different aspects of it like what do you say is like the essence I think something that God I feel like there's a lot but I think something that I've been trying to do from the beginning is really personalize and humanize um these stories and these people that's why it was really important to me when I went back in December for the first time um not my first time to Israel but first time since October and I really tried to meet with as many people and hear their stories and share their stories because I think it doesn't matter what you believe about the conflict it doesn't matter what religion you are what race you are like you can't help but feel for a crying mother or feel for a girl who was at Nova that got shot and saw her boyfriend get killed right in front of her like you can't you can't I don't care unless you're just an evil human being like you can't not feel for that person or not hear them out and I think that is what's missing in all this is like people are losing the humanity of it yeah um so from the beginning I've been really trying to just humanize everyone um I think also something that I did that you know it maybe wasn't everyone's cup of tea but I know it meant a lot to the survivors and to the community and actually reached a whole different audience that I think instead of the echo chamber was I did a Nova dance video right um and that was actually like the first real time that I was able to blend my world since the 7th um because I I had a hard time I was like okay I have my dancing my singing my acting and then I had my activism how do I blend how do I bring those together right now because what I'm advocating for is so serious so intense and hard and sad and depressing honestly so it was I was having a hard time and then I realized people went to the Nova Festival to dance the whole thing is we can dance again I I reached out to a bunch of survivors I reached out to an Israeli Dance Company who lost three of their members at Nova and I got everyone that they wanted to do it everyone was on board and thankful that we were going to do something like this yeah we went to the Nova site where we didn't dance of course on the memorial anywhere near it but away from where people were running I had Stella y i who I don't know if you if you know her she's amazing she is um she went to the Nova Festival to sell her jewelry and then she got shot and kidnapped for 54 days in Taza um I've become actually good friends with her I love her so much um but she was there with me during this Nova Video and a bunch of survivors and it was a really powerful video but it's it was filmed like a music video in a sense and um but that video reached a whole different audience of it reached the dance Community it reached the music Community because people thought it was just the dance video at first and then all of a sudden it hits you of what what you're really here for to watch and people wrote me and messaged me in the comments saying I never saw this way thank you wow I can't believe this happened at a music festival you know so it really it really got to people in a different way so um I think from the beginning in what with my advocacy I'm just really trying to get the message through and personalize and and relate I want I want everyone to be able to come to my page and relate to one of my videos in in some way shape and form I think you're doing an amazing job of that there's there's something for everybody thank you I hope and I I just again I I I want peace I want to bring everyone together and that's also a message that I'm trying to portray is is I think there's so much separation in this world and so much hate and we all need to if we United the world would be way better and and we need to all unite against the evil totally here yes um what are what are some exciting highlights on the horizon for you I know you got a lot on your play oh gosh I have so much just give me a couple highlights I didn't say it's exciting but something that I'm um really looking forward for the world to see um I'm actually flying to Israel to film a documentary um about the kids of October 7th um what do you mean the the the like children who are survivors who were involved yes so it's children's children who were either taken hostage who either had to see their parents get killed right in front of them um we're face to face with Hamas where sh like I mean their stories are just you can't even you can't even understand they're 10 years old 12 years old um terrible just terrible story so it's going to be very very difficult to film but I think probably the most important thing I've done wow um because I think they're also for some reason kids on on either side are always being broughten up in in the conflict and I feel like people haven't really heard from from the kid victims that much um so this is really important and I'm I'm honored that I was asked to do it because I know this is a big responsibility and a big a big like task honestly and and I'm I'm grateful that I was asked to do it because this is so important and um so I'm leaving in a few days to go film that wow um I have this movie that I'm going to be working on called the bench I you heard of that one yeah so the mench is a movie that I am producing and also acting in that Montana is going to be playing a very comedic role in is is like is comedy stuff something you've done before I just we thought of you right away for this part I love it you know I actually have never done comedy so this is really exciting and I mean it's something for me that I feel like even this past year I feel like I've been and in general with my career it's always taken me on these like random paths and I've kind of been thrown into situations that I never would have maybe thought I would be in before and then I do it and I'm like wow like this is this is now what I want to do or now this is a a new Lane that I want to explore so I'm really really excited for it I mean music dancing acting has always been like they have been my three top priority passions and of course now my activism is fully taking over um but to do a movie about being Jewish also and the men you know my dog is named Menchi I did not know that my dog is named meni because he is such a mench so the title and I saw the title too I was like okay this is meant to be meant to be bear um okay so we're going to just wrap it up here we're going to uh deal with some questions and comments from our fans on our Instagram right who saw that you were going to be the guest and left us some stuff which you can do every week with whoever we got coming on okay here's a question from Little Miss Kramer how has the dance Community reacted to you taking on a larger Jewish advocacy role honestly not not so well it's been upsetting actually a few a few people that I've collaborated with for years won't collaborate with me anymore and they flat out have told me that they not like in a in a mean way but they just said um you know I'm sorry but we you know we can't get into that world and you know we we can't really touch on that so we're going to have to stop working together and dancing together in the meantime and it's just interesting because i' like I've never asked them to post anything about Israel I've never asked them to like them to share my that those types of videos we just danced together um which means we know what that means and I I think something that like non-jewish folks of that ilk don't understand is how intrinsic a connection to Israel is for the majority of Jewish people that it's not like it's not some like political decision you decided to make a couple months ago like others have made to be against Israel it's part of your identity it's natural it's like of course you would be a supporter of Israel You're a Jewish person exactly and that's what I I I don't it feels like anti-jewish exact well yeah and I feel like also if people really dive into my content they will see that all I'm doing is trying to unite everybody and bring everyone together right there's nothing inflammatory you're not trying to be polarizing or no I've never said one negative thing about Palestinian people ever and I never would right that's just I mean it's just not what I'm about and what I'm standing for I would love everybody to be together that would be the dream I saw you uh posted yesterday with the that Israel Palestinian boy band exactly I mean they're the they're the prime example of everything that I stand for for that's when I found out about them I was so excited to to meet with them because I think it's incredible and they actually formed this band way before October 7th so it's it's really interesting to it was interesting to speak with them and literally sat down with two Palestinian young men and they were sharing their version of everything and we were talking we had beautiful conversations um and I think that's what also needs to happen and fortunately it doesn't happen but I think if anyone really sat there and looked at my content they would they would really realize what my message and it's not it's not to be pro-israel anti- Palestine or against the Palestinian people at all whatsoever it's it's about how do we bridge the gap how do we all come together during this time but also the anti-Semitism needs to stop yeah it like they need to realize this is a real thing that is happening right now it's not it's not just made up and it's affecting me it's affecting everyone you know and also like when you talked about the hate that I did not really get from the Holocaust series but I'm sure you understand the hate that comes with with posting now is any it's insane I mean death threats every single day multiple times a day you know they say stuff about my mom about my grandma about my family about my you know it's it's crazy so it's not it's not the easiest thing but it doesn't matter because it's it's necessary it's necessary yeah you got to do what you got to do no matter what hater's Gonna Hate You Know hater's Gonna Hate Sean's lost it asks what's your favorite Jewish deli in bokeh oo favorite uh there's a place called twojays I just feel like it's like the OG like Jewish jelly two JS two JS 2J t o o j a y s JS okay two JS and my Z loved tjs I like tjs classic here's a question from some random person named Courtney Anne Platt remember that is who is that I wonder who that is um she writes yay Montana number one you're a total babe not a question just a statement and number two com from her are you kidding she's she's she's the ultimate she's the um and two you do so many fun dance collaborations who has been one of your favorites and why oo that's a good question she if you don't know my wife is a Dancer so she's so talented beautiful amazing yes um thank you God my favorite dance Cloud I think one that was really fun or two that were really fun were Terry Cruz that was super fun because Terry is like a huge muscular strong guy and we filmed our video on Hollywood Boulevard which for me I filmed all the time and as you know Hall Boulevard is like you know it's an interesting crowd of people that that are there and he was so nervous to film on Hollywood Boulevard just because of like the because of the craziness gram yes and I was I just thought that was funny because he's so like no who's gonna mess with Terry Cruz like he's so huge um so that was a funny one and just he was such a nice guy really really sweet really down to earth um and then Lance Bass I love Lance love love love Lance and he's been a huge supporter by the way amazing um so I'm really grateful he's he's he's really special but we got to do a few V videos together and that was fun I mean growing up on insync like to be able to do a video CL was insane um and you're a Florida girl it was it was like I like when I was dancing with him we were like doing the the byebye bye dance and we're doing um the it's going to be me dance like my real like is this happening right now um and then what would I the other one I mean I do a lot of videos with kids and those those ones are always so special to me because I'm like how are you six years old and so talented um and these kids are just so good and so talented and so cute so those are my my fun ones and just to finish my wife's comment finally number three thanks for being a badass Jew that is loud and proud about who she is she's amaz can I just like have her around me all the time please yeah she's that's why I do uh thank you no thank you so much it's it's you know again when I get people always saying thank you I'm really grateful but at the same time it's like I feel like we're all doing our part in a different way and I think we just all need to keep uplifting each other and keep inspiring each other so hearing that really does mean a lot to me because because of all the negativity it comes with it's really nice to hear that there are people who appreciate it that are maybe getting inspired by it that it's maybe making them want to speak out and that's all I that's all I want to do no doubt that that is what's happening Montana thank you so much for being here this was so great oh my God that's all right we're we're totally using that by the way of course we did it we did it yay thank you thank you [Music]