Troye Sivan is an Australian singer-songwriter, actor, YouTuber and nice Jewish boy
We love him so much. So here are some things to know about Sivan’s Jewish identity:
He was born in South Africa
Troye Sivan Mellet was born on June 5, 1995, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Laurelle Mellet and Shaun Mellet.
Troye Sivan is a stage name — and here’s what it means
Troye’s full name is Troye Sivan Mellet.
His middle-turned-last name, Sivan, is a common Israeli/Jewish name. Sivan is the ninth month of the Jewish calendar (May–June on the Gregorian calendar), and Troye’s birth month!
He was raised Modern Orthodox
At the age of 2, Sivan’s family moved to Australia. He grew up in Perth and was raised Orthodox.
His father, Shaun, is an Ashkenazi Jew and his mother, Laurelle, converted to Judaism when she married Shaun.
The Mellet’s went to shul and observed Shabbat every Friday, Sivan said in an interview with the New Yorker.
He went to Jewish school
Sivan attended Carmel School, a private Modern Orthodox school, until he was 14 when he left to pursue his music career.
“I met my first non-Jewish friend when I was probably seventeen,” Sivan has said.
“I went to a Jewish school of 200 kids, so there were 30 kids in each grade, all the way from kindergarten to year 12. I went there until I was year nine, around 14 years old, and then I started being home schooled,” he told Vice.
“All of my friends and everything are all still from that school.”
Here’s an adorable photo of him as a kid at a Passover seder
“Here I am being a cute little Jewish boy at a Passover Seder when I was probably three or four,” he explained about the photo in an interview. “You can see the Seder plates in the background. I grew up in a conservative Orthodox Jewish community—not necessarily a very religious one, but a very traditional one—in Perth.”
He got his start touring synagogues
Sivan began singing lessons at seven, studying recital music.
He sang at school talent shows, fundraisers, and synagogues building up his reputation.
After a rabbi saw Sivan sing at his shul in Perth, he was invited to perform at Sydney’s Central Synagogue.
“I loved the fact that I got to travel for the first time, and the shuls kept getting bigger,” he said.
Soon after, he was invited to perform at Chabad of Encino in California and sang Barbra Streisand’s version of “Avinu Malkeinu.” How much more classic NJB can you get?
He came out to his dad through a conversation about Judaism
During a segment of “On Air with Ryan Seacrest” in 2016, Sivan opened up about his coming out story. Turns out it has to do with Judaism.
Here’s the clip:
His family is still very traditional, and Sivan is a proud Jew!
“I still go home for the high holidays. My family is very traditional, I grew up doing Friday night Shabbat dinners with my family and then the High Holidays, and those are things that I really, really value,” he said in an interview with Vice.
“To be completely honest, I could do without saying the prayers and whatever, but getting the family together and not turning on our phones for a Friday night, connecting, is something I really cherish.”
Just read this caption:
In 2018 he hosted a star-studded Passover Seder — and Ariana Grande was there.
It was Sivan’s first Passover away from home, so naturally, he invited all his celebrity friends for an unconventional Passover dinner.
Here are the deets:
Last but not least, a really wholesome Twitter thread:
Originally Published Oct 14, 2021 12:02AM EDT
