Much has been made of the fact that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) -- in the running to become the first Jewish president of the U.S. -- doesn't speak much about religion.

He said at the CNN Democratic presidential debate on Sunday that just because he doesn't talk about Judaism frequently doesn't mean he's disowning that part of his identity.

"I am very proud to be Jewish. Being Jewish is so much of what I am," Sanders said.

"Look, my father's family was wiped out by Hitler in the Holocaust," he continued. "I know about what crazy and radical and extremist politics mean. I learned that lesson as a tiny, tiny child when my mother would take me shopping and we would see people working in stores who had numbers on their arms because they were in Hitler's concentration camp. I am very proud of being Jewish and that's an essential part of who I am as a human being."