Interviews >> Carmit Levité                                                                        

Carmit Levité

(USA via Israel)

Pg.: 1,2,3,4,5,6

16. The religious issue.

Cristina: You grew up pretty religious?

Carmit: I call it traditional. My mom grew up in a very conservative environment. Her parents were regular synagogue goers, but not religious. My dad and his family couldn't care less about religion. I agree with him when he says it's public brainwash and thought killing. The head of the most religious party in Israel is in jail for fraud - that sums it up for me. But I keep the tradition by eating kosher because it reminds me never to forget who I am in La-la Land, a place to be easily neutralized. If I order a chicken fajita without the cheese people ask me if I'm lactose intolerant. I say no, I keep kosher. They say "Oh, really?" and from there, the talk goes a little bit to me and then to Israel, and that way I can spread a good word about Israel who is seriously misunderstood from what we see in the news which can be very misleading. Thus, my vocation is fulfilled. On a side note, I think my mom always had shrimp on the side somewhere...

I keep kosher because to me it reminds me not to forget about my roots. So no, I don’t keep kosher because I believe in the Bible literally or pray every day. I'll leave that to the republicans.

After we moved from South Africa to Israel they heard about this school that it would be good for me to go to but then they found out that there were prayers every morning and religious classes. So they yanked me out of there because they didn’t want me to grow up religious. Which I don’t want to be either.

But I always loved praying days. There was this game that I played with my friend: “Guess what page I’m on?” and she’d say a number and I’d say “less… more… less… more…” At 12, that’s a fun game. I never actually got into religion. Anything organized… to me “organized religion” is a contradiction and an oxymoron. I feel very constricted by synagogues and churches.

Cristina: Do you think people in America are very religious? – actually, if you come from Israel, that’s probably not so. But it is so for many Europeans. There are all these polls that say that 90% of Americans believe in angels, pray before meals and all those things. And now ex-president Clinton speaks openly about praying with his wife and daughter. You would never hear a French president say that.

Carmit: Coming from Israel… I wasn’t very surprised. I was ready for the American culture. I wasn’t ready to be in it, but I was ready about what to expect. I knew that there was a large population of Christians. I was actually ready for everything. So it’s not that they are more religious – at least not compared to Israel. There are many variations of religious people there. In Israel the question is “Who is a Jew?” Is it the people who are Hassid, the ones who wear the yarmulka, or the ones who just live in Israel?

Cristina: The centuries old question….

Carmit: Exactly.

17. Revelations about the world
and the gifts of the road.

Cristina: Did you make any discoveries in the States that you couldn’t have made in Israel?

Carmit: The connection to my family is the main one. The more I lived in New York, not knowing what the hell I was doing with my life, the more I realized how important it is to know where I am coming from. To know what I can do, to know what I can be, to understand what’s happening to me while I’m growing up.

I also learned that when my family came from all over the world for my brother’s wedding, my family on my mom’s side all got together, the aunts, my mom and my grandmother. I realized that these people are who I am. They are really witty and strong. Sometimes I don’t quite understand it but now I understand it and I want to be that. That’s the part of me that strives. I felt that I’m made more of their side of the family, even though much of my father is also in me... which reaffirms that I'm not the milk man's daughter.

On the other hand, there is another side of me that wants to ignore all that and be me. When I’m away from Israel I tend to forget and care less but when I go home I see it so clearly.

18. Being happy, “finding your stride”
and the lure of the Promised Land.

Cristina: What does it mean for you to be happy? This whole journey is a lot more about you and how you see life.

Carmit: To me to be happy comes down to love and a successful acting career. I think it’s good to have marriage and kids. I think I do want that.

Cristina: Do you think you found your stride?

Carmit: I’m almost happy. I think I’m the happiest I’ve ever been with the people I have around me. I have very close friends. The other day I met these people on the beach, we played volley ball and got along really well. I know I’ll see them again. My friends and I have the same sort of problems so we’re helping each other out. I found my niche that way. They are like a family.

Cristina: So happiness is about love and work?

Carmit: Yes. And I think right now work would make me happier than anything else. Because I know I’m not really whole yet. There is something missing. I know that. I need to be needed.

For instance if I get this great part in a movie, work on it, do my best, meet people and learn something, then hopefully the next part would be a step up. I’d meet new people and do the best that I can. And the next step up and then the next. And the more I do it, the more I’ll expand. I also know that that way I’m going to meet the person for me.

Cristina: It’s the hero’s journey… you go through all these trials and tribulations and then you reach the Promised Land. Then you start blooming and all of a sudden, who is right there, to carry you across the threshold.

Carmit: Exactly. My sister is studying communications and is taking this one course about fables and fairy tales. The princess is saved by the prince, he kisses her and she becomes rich. But it’s such a paternalistic society. The guy is the one to save you. Women have to rid themselves of that "schaisa". (Sisters can do it for themselves.) One of my wonderful acting teachers, Larry Moss, always said “Don’t be a victim. Here’s the bad news: no one is going to save you. Here is the good news: no one is going to save you.”

Cristina: But I don’t think it’s about being saved, it’s about meeting your equal.

Carmit: Precisely. And I wanted to find my way through so we could meet at equal points. That’s why I feel that I’m not whole because I haven’t done that yet. I’m looking for the trail. I think I got through the first clue. I haven’t done a production. Those are the luckiest people on earth, who are every day on stage. Or have been doing nothing but good material: either on stage or in the movies. That, to me, is happiness. To get to a stage where I’ll know that I’m okay, that I’m happy, that I have this role that I’m doing. The moment of happiness will be the one when I’ll know that I won’t have to struggle again. That I won’t have time for anything because I’m so busy.

19. Finale.

Thank you, Carmit, for a wonderful conversation. I (and all your friends) am happy that your green card struggles are over and we know that one day (sooner than you think) the muses will smile a big grin.

Carmit lives and works as an actress in Los Angeles. Her career recently took off with voice-over opportunities and parts in independent films and theatre. For more information about her and her production, visit the webpage www.riddleinthedark.com/carmit.htm. If you have any comments or feedback about this interview please send an email to the editor@sentimentalrefugee.com.

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