# All of the characters on Seinfeld are Jewish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422 "2003-02-07T08:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/21 "2003-02-07T16:46:49Z")
There was at least one episode where Elaine’s non-Jewishness was a major plot point. A series of Jewish suitors found her irresistable simply because she was a _shiksa._ > [@](#): > > **I’m not sure what his agenda is with this, but he usually has some conservative political agenda to push in every conversation we have–I think I may be the only Jew he’s ever met and the only liberal he has any association with.** I guess a history of pogroms makes you leary of any gentile asking you too many questions about your Jewish heritage, but it’s a fair topic. Unless the individual bringing it up has a proven track record of antisemitic behavior or is targeting you for conversion. Short of that, your religion/heritage is a completely fair topic of discussion. As is that of the person asking you all the questions. And as for his being a conservative… Are political conservatives any different from political liberals in this specific regard? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/22 "2003-02-07T17:04:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sugaree \* > \*\*Mr. Costanza was of Italian descent (there was an episode where he tried to track down a cousin in Italy), so George may have been raised Catholic. > > However, early on in the series, when Elaine’s Norman-Maileresque father went to dinner with Jerry and George, he made a reference to “Jew” or “the Jews”. Does anyone remember if he called both men Jews, or just Jerry? The writers may have changed George from a Jew to an Italian. > > If so, it’s my opinion that it would be more to bring in jokes like Mr. Costanza in Italy, George converting to Latvian orthodox et al, rather than a calculated effort to gentilize the characters. \*\* I’d always thought that George and family were Jewish, until Mr. Costanza actually goes to his family’s home town in Italy in one episode. Then I learned that Costanza is a very ancient Italian name, having evolved from Constantia. Churches of Saint Constantia are called Santa Costanza in modern Italian. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/23 "2003-02-07T17:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > A time-honored tradition. For some reason, Jews are “better” at playing Italians than. . . Italians? Especially gangster types. Edward G. and Harvey K. come to mind. In the Godfather, the guy that played Moe Greene, who’s name escapes me, was an Italian playing a Jew and Abe Vigoda was a Jew playing an Italian. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/24 "2003-02-07T17:55:12Z")
As far as making the show more accessable to Christians, I think the gentile characters made it less offensive to Jews. The ep where George converts to Lat Orth would have had different implications. There is a certain tension underscoring a fictional Jew converting to a branch of Christianity that is not there if a Christian converts to a different branch of Christanity. This is true irregardless of the fact that the charactor of George is totally not religious no matter what his ancestors may have been. Oh, yeah, and people can be both Italian and Jewish, but it’s unusual enough that it worth an quick explanation and a reason if it’s the background of a sitcom character, or viewers are just confused. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/25 "2003-02-07T18:05:50Z")
I always took it that George’s mother was Jewish (sitting down to play Mah-Jongg … ? c’mon …), his father Italian. This would make George technically Jewish (I’m also reminded of the discomfort in the Nazi Limo scene), though he was probably raised areligiously (his dad is too far out, with Festivus and all). ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/26 "2003-02-07T18:20:48Z")
That’s nothing. I hear all the characters in “The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air” were black. That Will Smith, what a racist. Furthermore, it’s my understanding that everyone in “Designing Women” was a southerner, the entire cast of “Golden Girls” were old biddies, and the great majority of the cast of “WKRP In Cincinnati” dress badly. Down with monocultural TV shows! ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/27 "2003-02-07T18:50:10Z")
I think most of us, Jewish or not, would be uncomfortable in the Nazi limo. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/28 "2003-02-07T18:58:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sugaree \* > \*\*I think most of us, Jewish or not, would be uncomfortable in the Nazi limo. \*\* Given! But I seem to remember something being said or suggested. I promise, the next time I watch the episode, I’ll be looking for it! ;j ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/29 "2003-02-07T19:18:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oblong \* > \*\*In the Godfather, the guy that played Moe Greene, who’s name escapes me, was an Italian playing a Jew and Abe Vigoda was a Jew playing an Italian. \*\* Moe Greene was played by Alex Rocco, who has played characters of many different ethnicities in his long career. [http://us.imdb.com/Name?Rocco,+Alex+(I)](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Rocco,+Alex+(I)) ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/30 "2003-02-07T19:28:58Z")
I am so ashamed of myself wasting time on this…I have so much I should be doing, but I found a site that posts Seinfeld scripts. It’s just some fans putting it up, so it could be violating copyright law, so I won’t link to it. Assuming the transcription is correct, nothing was mentioned in “The Limo” about George being Jewish. Nothing was mentioned about Jerry being Jewish either, and he know that he is. Nothing about Jews at all was mentioned in the episode with Elaine’s father; I was just remembering that one incorrectly. Email me if anybody wants the link. Further clues may be found. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/31 "2003-02-07T19:29:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gex gex \* > Elaine was told that she had Shik’s (sp?) appeal (the appeal of a non-jewish woman to jewish boys) Just in case you don’t already know, it derives from _shiksa_. Myself, I would spell it _shiksappeal_. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/32 "2003-02-07T19:36:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Carnage \* > \*\*Wow, I always felt the Costanza’s were supposed to be the stereotypical Jewish parents. \*\* Me too! True story: I grew up in a very rural, mono-cultural place, and the “Jewishness” of Seinfeld went completely over my head when the show was first aired. Hell, I didn’t even know know _Jerry_ was supposed to be Jewish, nor could I have recognized a typically “Jewish” name like “Seinfeld.” Then I went to college, where my freshman-year roommate, a Buffalo, N.Y., native, clued me in. He said _he_ had not known either, until a Jewish kid from New York City had moved to his neighborhood in high school. This kid seemed put off that nobody in my roommate’s neighborhood could tell immediately that he and his family were Jewish. And he explained that people like Seinfeld were immediately recognized as such “back home,” i.e. in the New York metro area. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/33 "2003-02-07T19:37:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > **Even if she’s nominally Catholic, Elaine Benes is supposed to represent Seinfeld’s pal, Jewish comedienne Carol Leifer, and is played by a Jewish actress.** Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s mother is not Jewish. Her father, who is, divorced her mother when Julia was quite young. In one episode, Michael Richards as Kramer plans a Jewish singles function with authentic ethnic foods. He wants Jerry and Elaine to attend, and Elaine says, “Well, I’m not Jewish!” To which Kramer replies, “Neither am I.” > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astorian \* > \*\*But in real life, a white girl doesn’t BELONG in a show about an all-black college. And Gentiles don’t BELONG in a show about a clique of Jewish comedians. \*\* While Spelman College, the real-life model for _A Different World_, is “historically black”, 2% of its students are [white](http://www.blackexcel.org/july2000.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/34 "2003-02-07T19:57:15Z")
Immigrants to America named “Benes” have been most commonly Bohemian (i.e., Czech), Slovak, or Hungarian. Fewer than ten percent are listed as “Hebrew” for race on Ellis Island passenger lists. The surname is pronounced Benesh. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/35 "2003-02-07T20:01:40Z")
And to anticipate an objection that you can be both Czech, Slovak, or Hungarian, _and_ Jewish, the Ellis Island passenger lists categorize “race” (which, by the definition they used, included “Hebrew”) and “nationality” separately. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/36 "2003-02-07T20:12:41Z")
> [@](#): > > But in real life, a white girl doesn’t BELONG in a show about an all-black college. And Gentiles don’t BELONG in a show about a clique of Jewish comedians. How can you say “in real life…in a show”? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/37 "2003-02-07T20:42:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Even if his name is Italian, George Costanza is OBVIOUSLY meant to represent Larry David, and everything about him (his mannerisms, his neurotic family) is stereotypically Jewish. How much diffenent is stereotypically New York Jewish from stereotypically New York Italian? Lenny Bruce wasn’t entirely wrong. [http://www.wujs.org.il/activist/features/articles/humor.shtml](http://www.wujs.org.il/activist/features/articles/humor.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Aglet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@Aglet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aglet)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/38 "2003-02-07T20:45:44Z")
“…I don’t get it. I’m not allowed to ask a Chinese person where a Chinese restaurant is? I mean, aren’t we all getting a little too sensitive? I mean, somebody asks me which way is Israel, I don’t fly off the handle.” - Jerry, in “The Cigar Store Indian” Other than that, I don’t remember it being mentioned. He appears to be an exceedingly nonpracticing Jew. I never got the impression that George, Elaine, or Kramer were Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/39 "2003-02-07T21:04:22Z")
I always thought in the early episodes Jason Alexander was playing George to be a Woody Allen clone. Whether or not Woody Allen is Jewish, I have no idea. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2003, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422/40 "2003-02-07T21:30:09Z")
> [@](#): > > Jason Alexander was playing George to be a Woody Allen He has indeed stated so in interviews. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-of-the-characters-on-seinfeld-are-jewish/153422.md?page=3)