[1][2][3] Campbell, who is of Irish and Italian descent, grew up Catholic in a Philadelphia suburb.
A typical Campbell joke is that his aunt is a nun, "which of course makes Jesus my uncle, allowing for easier parking in Jerusalem."
On a four-month visit to Israel in 2000 he decided to have a third conversion and live as an Orthodox Jew.
[5] Campbell and his wife Avital, an Orthodox rabbi, have four children, including twins, and live in Jerusalem.
The Guardian wrote that "As far as we know, Lenny Bruce never had sex with an Orthodox Jew, but if he had – he would have produced Yisrael Campbell.