# The Goldbergs (Sitcom on ABC): They're Jewish, Right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2013, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910 "2013-12-09T17:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/21 "2013-12-10T00:03:05Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Menorahs are only around at Hanukkah - have they shown a Hanukkah episode? > > Do most sitcoms make reference to going to church? Some do but do all of them? > [@HeyHomie](#): > > First, yes I know Menorahs are only around at Hanukkah. It’s Hanukkah/Christmas season on TV right now, by the way. > > And many sitcoms reference going to church. Besides the ones mentioned so far, there have been church references on _Modern Family_, _Mike & Molly_, and _Raising Hope_, to name a few. Hannukah menorahs (or Hanukkiahs), which have 9 spots are around at Hannukah. Menorahs, with seven arms, can be used at other times or as decorative items. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/22 "2013-12-10T00:20:06Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > Sounds like they’re [Ambiguously Jewish](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AmbiguouslyJewish). That is probably the best explanation/term for it. Seinfeld and The Goldbergs are both good examples of it and I am fairly certain it is done intentionally for a variety of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/23 "2013-12-10T00:40:52Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > That is probably the best explanation/term for it. Seinfeld and The Goldbergs are both good examples of it and I am fairly certain it is done intentionally for a variety of reasons. Jerry did, though, deliver a memorable line in **The Cigar Store Indian**. “Not allowed to ask a Chinese person where the Chinese restaurant is! I mean, aren’t we all getting a little too sensitive? I mean, someone asks me _Which way’s Israel?_, I don’t fly off the handle!” (Plus, y’know, the whole episode where Whatley converts to Judaism and gets a quick “welcome aboard” from Jerry, who soon finds himself prefacing his remarks to a Catholic priest with a quick I-Should-Tell-You-That-I’m-Jewish.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/24 "2013-12-10T00:51:30Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Hannukah menorahs (or Hanukkiahs), which have 9 spots are around at Hannukah. Menorahs, with seven arms, can be used at other times or as decorative items. That’s true, but generally not in secular Jewish homes in the US. At least I’ve never seen them displayed. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/25 "2013-12-10T00:56:55Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > I know that the show asked us to pretend that George was Italian, but that’s stretching willing suspension of disbelief past the breaking point. He’s obviously Jewish. > > …Jewish families don’t sit around all day and talk about how Jewy they are. They just act all Jewy without talking about it, especially on TV. TV families are often very Jewy even when the characters are ostensibly Christians/Nones. You get a bunch of Jews writing sitcoms and this is what happens. I agree, George is obviously Jewish on Seinfeld just like most of the other major characters. Newman and J. Peterman are the only ones that probably aren’t. However, minor absurdity was both a tactic and strength of the show so I think that is why the writers went to some lengths to point out that obviously Jewish characters were not, in fact, Jewish. J. Peterman was even (is) a very real company that produced catalogs with outlandish descriptions that rival anything shown on the show but most people think it is fictional to this day yet it predates Seinfeld. I still get the catalogs and read them like fine literature and even have some clothes from them. The Seinfeld writers were brilliant at twisting expectations and twisting around reality in various ways. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/26 "2013-12-10T01:06:15Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > That’s true, but generally not in secular Jewish homes in the US. At least I’ve never seen them displayed. I’ve seen them as decorative items in secular and observant homes. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/27 "2013-12-10T01:23:28Z")
There’re non-practicing Reform Jews, and don’t appear to keep kosher. I doubt it’ll explicitly come up in the show unless they do a Hanukah special or have to go to a family funeral or wedding. Or the show lasts long enough to cover the wacky hijinks at Adam’s bar mitzvah. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/28 "2013-12-10T03:01:32Z")
Is this a remake of the original series by that name that ran from 1949 through 1956? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/29 "2013-12-10T04:03:13Z")
It’s a new series, based on the family and memories of Adam Goldberg, who is the show creator. I like it; it’s funny and the bits of 80’s nostalgia are amusing. (For example, we had the same VCR as shown in the credits.) And over the credits, he shows very brief clips of the videos he took of his real family, and these are usually amusing as well. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/30 "2013-12-10T08:12:39Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I haven’t watched the show in question, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had culturally Jewish elements that went over non-Jewish heads. Take “Seinfeld”: Jerry Seinfeld doesn’t have a religious bone in his body, but \*his \*character was definitely Jewish. I have NEVER understood this argument. Especially for the first season. Can someone explain it to me like I’m five how Seinfeld was considered “Too Jewish” for primetime at the time? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/31 "2013-12-10T12:54:11Z")
There have been, what, 11 episodes? They should wear yarmulkes and whiskers and dance like the fiddler on the roof? How do you think reform Jews live their daily lives that is so different from everyone else? This isn’t a snarky question. As a non-Jewish friend of many non-practicing reform Jews, the only really big difference I noticed is that they go out for Christmas. Many even had Christmas trees in their homes. (But only if they weren’t expecting their parents.) \*\*ETA:\*\*Oh and they almost always rushed home on Rushahoma (the name they called it, not me!) They did do the big holy days as best they could. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/32 "2013-12-10T14:40:40Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > There’re non-practicing Reform Jews, and don’t appear to keep kosher. I doubt it’ll explicitly come up in the show unless they do a Hanukah special or have to go to a family funeral or wedding. Or the show lasts long enough to cover the wacky hijinks at Adam’s bar mitzvah. Can a boy from a non-practicing, Reform family expect a bar mitzvah? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/33 "2013-12-10T15:07:45Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Can a boy from a non-practicing, Reform family expect a bar mitzvah? Non-practicing? Probably not. You would most likely need to be a member of a congregation and take basic religious training. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/34 "2013-12-10T15:20:48Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I agree, George is obviously Jewish on Seinfeld just like most of the other major characters. George is neurotic. You can be neurotic without being Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![Happyasaclam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7c8e57/32.png) [@Happyasaclam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happyasaclam)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/35 "2013-12-10T15:44:40Z")
I’m hungry for some lox and bagels. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/36 "2013-12-10T15:46:47Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > George is neurotic. You can be neurotic without being Jewish. People often mistake New Yorkers for Jews, and vice versa. It’s much more difficult without a field guide and some good binoculars. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/37 "2013-12-10T18:36:01Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > To me, the most “obviously Jewish” characters on \*Seinfeld \*were George’s parents, regardless of what the show “asked us to pretend.” I’ve had Jewish relatives who could understudy those characters. Jerry Stiller once joked that the Costanzas were Jews in the witness protection program. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/38 "2013-12-10T19:56:08Z")
For what it’s worth, Jeff Garlin (who plays the dad on The Goldbergs) was on some interview show around September. He said something like, “You know, by calling the show ‘The Goldbergs,’ you might as well call it ‘The Jews.’” ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/39 "2013-12-10T21:30:02Z")
It will be interesting to see if they do a Christmas episode. I like the show quite a bit, the “narrator reminiscing about his childhood” angle is a bit like The Wonder Years but the actual show is much more sitcommy. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910/40 "2013-12-11T14:11:38Z")
So FWIW, last night was the last new episode of 2013, and was NOT a Christmas episode. The school was having a “Holiday Talent Show”, and the Patton Oswalt voiceover (which is brilliant) said at one point something like “Barry was in the holiday spirit”. No Christmas or Hanukkah decorations in the house, though I did spot a few Christmas cards on the mantle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-goldbergs-sitcom-on-abc-theyre-jewish-right/675910.md?page=3)