Ari’el Stachel: Reclaiming a Jewish Middle Eastern Identity and Challenging Stereotypes on Broadway

Ari’el Stachel: Reclaiming a Jewish Middle Eastern Identity and Challenging Stereotypes on Broadway

From All About Change by Jay Ruderman

March 16, 2026 · 32 min · Season 1 · Episode 99

About this episode

Ari’el Stachel discusses reclaiming his Jewish Middle Eastern identity and the challenges of internal activism.

Sometimes the hardest type of activism is the activism that happens inside ourselves. It’s easier for us to give others support and grace when they need it than it is for us to look in the mirror and do the same for ourselves. For recent guests Jeffrey Marsh and Jackie Goldschneider, this internal activism became a platform from which they were able to support others, and today’s guest Ari’el Stachel is doing that same work. Ari’el is an award winning actor of Ashkenazi and Yemenite Jewish descent, and he has long struggled with his mixed identity. But after realizing he could embrace his Middle Eastern identity in a professional capacity, his eyes were opened. Ari’el is now challenging his fear of himself in a brave one-man show called Other. In it, he tackles family history, his mental health challenges, and his profuse sweating, all of which are things that make him, him. Ari’el and Jay discuss connections, the responsibility artists must carry for their communities, Ari’el’s comfort moving across artistic mediums, and much more. Today's episode was produced by Tani Levitt and Mijon Zulu. To check out more episodes or to learn more about the show, you can visit our website…

People in this episode

Host: Jay Ruderman

Guest: Ari’el Stachel

Topics covered

  • identity
  • activism
  • theater
  • mental health
  • Jewish culture

Keywords

  • Ari’el Stachel
  • Jewish identity
  • activism
  • Broadway
  • mental health

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