One Direction star and perennial heartbreaker Harry Styles has been ranked 73rd in The Jewish Chronicle’s list of the 100 most influential figures shaping Jewish life in the U.K., ahead of 27 fully-fledged MOTs—including rabbis, philanthropists, and community leaders. Before you work yourself into a frenzy worthy of this hysterical mob, let’s make one thing clear: Styles isn’t Jewish. The Chronicle is aware of this, but decided to honor the singer anyway. “The One Direction star may not be Jewish,” they explain, “but he seems very much at ease with a Jewish lifestyle.”
Styles does appear to be pretty keen on the Jews, an affinity that many have attributed to the pop star’s friendship with Ben Winston, a Jewish music video director. Styles fasted on Yom Kippur, wore a Star of David necklace to last year’s Teen Choice Awards, and had his sister’s name tattooed on his arm in Hebrew lettering. As it turns out, Styles also looks pretty good in a kippah. According to the Chronicle, “millions of British teens have become familiar with Purim, Pesach, and schepping nachas,” thanks to Styles’ enthusiastic tweets about all things Jewish.
While tattoos, necklaces, and kippahs do not a Jew make, I for one am happy to see honorary tribal membership bestowed on anyone who publicly proclaims their love for “shmorreh matzah.” And now that Styles has been welcomed into the Jewish fold, Rolling Stone reports that the pop star has buried the hatchet with ex Taylor Swift. All is right in the world.
Brigit Katz is a graduate student at NYU’s Journalism Institute, and an intern at Tablet Magazine. You can find her on Twitter at @brigitkatz.
Related: One Direction’s Harry Styles Isn’t Jewish