# What would a Jewish Superman be like? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 28, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938 "2007-04-28T05:33:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/1 "2007-04-28T05:33:16Z")
How would he view the world and his own uniqueness? Or in other words, would Clark Kent’s life story really be any diffirent if he had been raised in another faith (he’s a Methodist, isn’t he? I really don’t know.)? ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/2 "2007-04-28T06:07:00Z")
What is the Methodist view on Kryptonians, anyways? I mean, Jesus didn’t appear in Krypton to forgive the inhabitants of sin, so does Superman think he’s going to hell no matter what? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/3 "2007-04-28T06:22:49Z")
The \*bris \* would have been a bitch, I bet. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/4 "2007-04-28T06:37:13Z")
And crime would always go up on Saturdays. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/5 "2007-04-28T06:49:24Z")
Kiln-fired. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/6 "2007-04-28T07:37:18Z")
He wouldn’t be allowed to use his heat-ray vision on the Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/7 "2007-04-28T07:51:05Z")
On a serious note: In many ways, Superman is already Jewish. Maybe he doesn’t practice the religion, but his character bears influence from it. Both of the creators of Superman, Siegel and Schuster, were Jews, and it’s said that he was inspired by Moses and that Kal-El is a Hebrew word. But beyond the religious elements, his role as a fighter of oppression can be seen as a parallel to the Jewish people’s long struggle against oppression. Wikipedia says this: > [@](#): > > Because Siegel and Shuster were both Jewish, it is thought that their creation was partly influenced by Moses,[30][31] and other Jewish influences. Superman’s Kryptonian name, “Kal-El,” resembles the Hebrew words קל-אל, which means “vessel of God”.[32] The suffix “el”, meaning “of God”[33] is also found in the name of angels (e.g. Gabriel, Ariel); flying humanoid agents of good with super-human powers. Jewish legends of the Golem have been cited as worthy of comparison,[34] a Golem being a mythical being created to protect and serve the persecuted Jews of 16th century Prague and later revived in popular culture in reference to their suffering at the hands of the Nazis in Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. Superman is often seen as being an analogy for Jesus, being a saviour of humanity.[31][34][25][35] But I had knowledge of this Jewish dimension to Superman prior to looking that up - I took a class on comics, analyzing them as literature and folklore, in which the same topic was discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/8 "2007-04-28T09:09:42Z")
[QUOTE=Love Rhombus] How would he view the world and his own uniqueness? Or in other words, would Clark Kent’s life story really be any diffirent if he had been raised in another faith (he’s a Methodist, isn’t he? I really don’t know.)? [/QUOTE] Maybe he’d call his muthah sometime, why not? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/9 "2007-04-28T11:27:15Z")
I recomend the book _Up! Up! And Oy Vey!_, which discusses the influence of Jewish culture on the comics. Very cool book. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/10 "2007-04-28T13:39:25Z")
Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/11 "2007-04-28T13:43:53Z")
[QUOTE=ticker] Jesus? [/QUOTE] The director of Superman Returns, while not a Christian himself, has acknowledged a deliberate use of Jesus-symbolism, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/12 "2007-04-28T13:50:10Z")
Superman’s mother: “What? Your alter-ego couldn’t have been a _doctor_?” ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/13 "2007-04-28T14:19:21Z")
\ All right, _bube_, this belongs in **In My Humble _Meynung_**. I must _bavegn_ it. \ First one to complain about my mangled and ungrammatical Yiddish is in deep _kak_. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/14 "2007-04-28T14:56:50Z")
SHALOMAN! > **[Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](https://www.yahoo.com/)** > > Latest news coverage, email, free stock quotes, live scores and video are just the beginning. Discover more every day at Yahoo! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/15 "2007-04-28T19:34:34Z")
Super-schleppin. Sending all the putzes and schlameels to jail. Oy gevalt, kryptonite! ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2007, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/16 "2007-04-28T19:59:06Z")
Somewhere in every story, you’d find a visual reference to Jerry Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/17 "2007-04-29T01:50:58Z")
Ever see The Hebrew Hammer? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/18 "2007-04-29T18:13:19Z")
[QUOTE=Least Original User Name Ever] Ever see The Hebrew Hammer? [/QUOTE] Did he point out all the unclean things and say “Can’t touch this!” ? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2007, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/19 "2007-04-29T19:39:46Z")
No, but his secret weapon was the Jewish Guilt Trip. ---
**Author:** ![gatorman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@gatorman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorman)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938/20 "2007-04-30T02:11:11Z")
cheap? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-jewish-superman-be-like/401938.md?page=2)