The Israeli TikTok Star Reconnecting Young Iraqis with Their Jewish Roots

Guy Shuval Shaul, a 24-year-old from Pardes Hanna, has transformed Iraqi-Jewish Arabic—his family's heritage language—into a thriving Instagram phenomenon with around 30,000 followers. His content primarily targets the younger generation in Iraq, where the comment sections of his videos are filled with Arabic responses. On Instagram, he goes by Sami (named after his grandfather) Shaul, as well as Talut (the Quranic name for King Saul). His content varies widely: in a video posted ahead of Yom Kippur, he appears in his father's bicycle workshop and explains holiday traditions in Arabic—the busiest time of the year for the business. In another, he joins his grandfather to teach numbers in Judeo-Arabic. He has also published videos detailing the Farhud, the violent 1941 anti-Jewish riots in Baghdad.

His connection to the Arabic language began during his childhood in Jerusalem. "When I was in kindergarten and the first years of school, I attended a bilingual education program at the 'Hand in Hand' school in Jerusalem," he tells mako. "We learned to read and write in two languages from the start, and I remember it as a very positive experience. We celebrated the holidays of all religions." However, his family's move to Pardes Hanna at the end of second grade severed his ties with the language. "I stopped studying Arabic as a child and forgot it completely. Two or three years ago, before October 7, I didn't speak a single word of Arabic. I remembered a bit of reading and writing, but I didn't understand what I was reading except for street signs."

It was precisely in the wake of October 7 that he decided to relearn Arabic. "Like all of us, I suffered a massive shock, lost people, and attended funerals," he shares. "Yet something inside me told me: you need to learn Arabic and actively work to bridge the gap between Arabs and Jews during this difficult period." He enrolled in a beginner's spoken Arabic course and quickly fell in love with the language. As a musician who plays the piano and accordion, he soon took his efforts offline. "Now I organize joint events in Haifa for young Jewish and Arabic people who come to play music, hold parties—it's very sweet. This weekend we are hosting a Sukkot hafla."

The next step was diving deeper into his personal heritage. "After learning Arabic, I suddenly realized there is another dialect my grandfather speaks—a bit different, with a funny and beautiful sound. It is Judeo-Arabic. Only the Jews of Iraq spoke this language, much like Yiddish in European countries. Muslims have their own Arabic, and the Jews spoke a special language at home." He studies the language with teacher Dan Sheina (Danshi), whose parents immigrated from Iraq in the 1970s. His grandfather initially questioned the endeavor: "At first he said to me, 'What do you need this language for? Learn regular Arabic, who are you going to speak Judeo-Arabic with in a few years?' I told him, 'No, I want to, it interests me.' Today I actually speak the language, it's emotional, and I've found a purpose for it.

The breakthrough came during Passover, when he decided to teach his family a traditional Iraqi song—the local version of 'Echad Mi Yodea' sung half in Hebrew and half in Arabic in Baghdad. Because of security concerns during tensions with Iran, his grandfather could not attend the Seder, so they filmed a video for him. Shuval Shaul posted the clip online with English subtitles, waking up the next day to hundreds of thousands of views, largely from Iraq itself. His most popular video, boasting over 4.3 million views, features a 90-year-old Iraqi man named Eli whom he cares for and visits. In the footage, Eli expresses his deep nostalgia and desire to return to the land of his birth.

Shuval Shaul sees his platform as a mission far beyond nostalgia. "My goals are to expose the Iraqi audience to our community, build connections, and show that we still exist," he explains. "Some of us still own property in Iraq, there are righteous tombs and historical Jewish sites, and perhaps one day tours will be possible if the regime changes. I am trying to rebuild this connection and counter stereotypes about Israelis." While he encounters antisemitic remarks, the overwhelming majority of responses are deeply touching. Viewers write to him, "You are the color we lost in Iraq, you are the original Iraqis," sharing stories passed down from their grandparents. Through his journey, the third-generation descendant is successfully bridging past divides and proving that cultural heritage can spark unexpected dialogue across borders.