Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on April 25, 2022

In the course of many years of exile, the days between Passover and Shavuot (the feast of weeks), have, on many occasions in the history of our people, been a period of distress and sadness. The massacres of Jews in the days of the Crusades took place at this period of the year and miseries befell us in Palestine.

Usually overlooked, Passover was observed as an agricultural feast as the season of the month of ripeness, when the barley sown in the winter had become ripe. The produce was to be reaped on Shavuot, the Harvest Festival. According to tradition, a great plague raged among the disciples of Rabbi Akiba during this time and only ceased on the 18th of Iyar, which is Lag BaOmer, the 33 rd day of the Omer.

In the second world war, when six million of our people died a martyrs death in the gas chambers of Nazi occupied Europe, the revolt of the ghettoes took place in the month of Nissan during this period.

As a result of such tragedy, two Jewish writers and illustrators, immigrants of the old world, dreamed of a messiah figure that would save them and bring peace to the world. The result was the creation of Superman, first published in 1938.

The Passover adventure is the tale of Moses who was raised among people as an alien with a secret identity. He matures to become a liberator and champion of the oppressed with the aid of miraculous superpowers pictured described by the plagues brought upon the Egyptians. Sound familiar?

Superman as opposed to the old world of pain and suffering, was to reflect the Jews in a free American society. Superman is not explicitly identified as Jewish, but the reader should be able to see how Jewish themes are central to his character. As an undocumented alien he comes from Krypton, a planet about to explode symbolizing the destruction of the Jews in the great Holocaust. Baby Superman was named Kal-El. Spoken with a Hebrew pronunciation it sounds like the Hebrew words for all is God. His name changed from Kal-El to Clark Kent and his move from Smallville to the big city of Metropolis mirrored Jewish immigration patterns. American Jews and super heroes share the same urban environment, the streets of the cities.

Could the name of the planet Krypton be decoded as a Crypto Jew who practices Judaism in secret? It is the combination of Supermans invincibleness and the nebbishness of Clark Kent that makes him a Jewish character.

The Golem of the 16th century, another messiah figure was another protector of Jews in times of peril. He was large and powerful, made of clay who was humanoid in appearance but was not really human. The legend of the Golem was defensive. In the midst of anti-Semitic oppression, the Golem is a mythology of survival not conquest. His speech impediment resembles both Moses and Clark Kent. The animated Golem was motivated by truth which was inscribed on his forehead to serve the cause of truth and justice. Supermans goal was the same except for the motto the American Way which was added in the 1940s during wartime. Superman transcended his precarious upbringing to become a major symbol of mainstream American culture.

He adapts a universal outlook inherited from the Jewish tradition. He is the ultimate assimilationist fantasy. Like the Golem, Supermans creators used power not as a villain, but as a hero to heal the world. Some Christians view him as Messianic. Its an interesting coincidence that both Moses and Jesus are the only ones who speak to God directly. When the character of Superman was created, Israel was seen as a vulnerable small nation but now as a country of strength.

In present times, the character of Superman is becoming unrecognizable. The new owners of Superman have changed his motto from the American Way to a better tomorrow. This is because they feel he is not relevant today. He now stands for leftist positions such as eliminating prisons, de-militarization of police, cancel culture and protesting our national anthem. This new motto is an acknowledgement that present times are bad and that we can only hope that tomorrow is better. Im glad the original creators are not around to see it.

Happy Lag Ba Omer and Shavuot!

Rabbi Alan Sherman believes that the messianic idea is the fulfillment of human potential.

Read the original here:

The Omer period and the search for a superhero messiah | Opinion - South Florida Sun Sentinel

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