Julia Haart and Alexander Hankin Explain the Importance of Bringing Friends Together for Star-Studded Shabbat Dinner

Julia Haart and Alexander Hankin are celebrating their heritage.

The My Unorthodox Life star and the arts philanthropist recently joined forces to host a star-studded Shabbat dinner at Haart's Soho penthouse to raise awareness and funds for JewBelong.com.

The Brazen author and Hankin speak exclusively with OK! about how they came up with the idea for the gathering, the way Haart has challenged the status quo with how she lives her life and how they both have used their platforms to honor their Judaism.

"Julia and I have been friends for two years now. We met at my birthday party and we instantly had this connection," the real estate developer explains. "We both said, 'We need to do a Shabbat!' Then we spent time together and we both had this cultural heritage and shared love of being Jewish, so we wanted to celebrate all the wonderful things about being Jewish together."

"We went to a Shabbat hosted by my friend, Archie Gottesman," he continues about the genesis of their idea. "Archie puts out billboards all over the country to fight antisemitism, but then, she [Haart] thought, 'No — lets do a Shabbat our way with our friends!'"

Last month, Haart and Hankin welcomed RHONY star Erin Lichy, Batsheva Haart, Miruim Haart and more to come together to celebrate their community and to fight Antisemitism.

The businesswoman has brought her heritage to the forefront of culture since launching her hit Netflix show in 2021. However, Haart has always remained authentic despite the backlash she's faced.

"All of us have different levels of religiosity," the mother-of-four explains of her unique way of expressing her beliefs. "When my show first came out, I got so much love and all of that. But also some people from my community called me an Anti-semite. I remember I kept saying, 'No. This comes from asking for change to improve someone's life, which comes from love!'"

"I received a message last week from one of the big people who had been dissing me when the show came out and they said, 'I'm so sorry. I understand now when you're standing with the Jewish people that you've been standing with this all along.'"

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When using their platforms, both Haart and Hankin emphasize it's more important than ever for them to make their voices heard.

"How could we not speak out?" the social commenter notes. "It's just as important for non-Jewish people as it is for Jews to speak out. You might not be a social media warrior, and you don't have to be. But it's literal acts of kindness that means so much in times like this."