Talk show set with two couches, tree bark-covered coffee tables, white armchairs and sofa, small green plant, mugs on the table; large windows in background showing cityscape and palm trees. Daytime setting with natural light. 4:28
TheEllenShow channel icon TheEllenShowOriginal creator 5.7M views Save

The boy who gave away his bar mitzvah money

Jesse had never met Jasmine when he read about her in the newspaper. She was fighting a rare brain tumor, so he wrote her a letter and sent her $20. more

Jesse's mom, LeAnna, wrote to Ellen DeGeneres about the two kids, and Ellen reads her letter aloud. Jasmine has had three surgeries and flies to Boston for radiation therapy. She lives with her mom, Lisa, who struggles to pay the bills. LeAnna writes that she feels blessed to have both kids in her life.

A person with short hair and glasses holds a paper and speaks, wearing a jacket over a patterned sweater. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Ellen DeGeneres reads the letter from Jesse's mom, LeAnna.

Jesse and Jasmine come out next, from Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Jesse explains that the newspaper said she was in Boston, and her story touched him so much that he wrote to her. In that letter, he says, he told her, "I love you so much, and I want to give you some money." Asked how it felt, he keeps it short: "I'm so happy."

He did not know her, and she was not at his school. A year later he walked into his fifth-grade classroom, and a girl there said her name was Jasmine. "I just froze in shock," he says, and the two have been best friends ever since.

Talk show set with two couches, tree bark-covered coffee tables, white armchairs and sofa, small green plant, mugs on the table; large windows in background showing cityscape and palm trees. Daytime setting with natural light. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Jesse had never met Jasmine when he read about her in the newspaper.

Then came his bar mitzvah. Jesse got $5,000 and gave all of it to Jasmine and her mom. When Ellen asks him about it, his whole answer is "Yes," and the audience applauds.

Because he gave away every dollar, Ellen wants to help too. With Shutterfly, she gives Jasmine $10,000, and all anyone can get out is "Oh, my god," twice.

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Jesse smiles as Ellen gives Jasmine $10,000.

Ellen has also heard that both kids wanted iPhones for Christmas and didn't get them, so they get those too. Then she asks about their favorite show, and the answer is "The Big Bang Theory." Asked for their favorite character, they say it together: "Sheldon."

"Sheldon, where are you?" Ellen calls. Out comes Jim Parsons, to the show's theme song and loud cheers.

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Ellen calls out for the kids' favorite character.

Parsons tells them how lucky he feels to meet them both. "Jasmine, you are so courageous," he says. "And Jesse, you really might be, no offense, the best person I've ever met."

He has brought a couple of baskets of show swag, though he admits he is not clear on what is inside. He also invites them to tour the set and watch a Friday run-through. It'll be rough, he warns. "You'll get to see us warts and all, but you deserve to." Being out there makes him nervous, he says, because he wants to say everything just right for them.