Superman, Batman and the Fantastic Four were all created by young Jewish men. In fact, almost all of the original DC and Marvel superheroes, except Wonder Woman, were created by Jewish writers and were drawn by Jewish artists. We will discuss the many theories of why this may be true. We will consider why, until five or ten years ago, the comic book industry was dominated by Jewish men and women, as writers, artists, pencilers and publishers. We will also look at the Jewish roots for some of these superheroes and supervillains, and the handful of characters who are identified as Jewish today.
Rabbi Harry Manhoff was ordained at the Hebrew Union College in 1979. He has a BA from Yale, an MAHL from HUC and a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He co-authored A Place In the Tent: Intermarriage and Conservative Judaism regarding intermarriage and acceptance, and is currently working on a new book.
