Can We Be Heroes?
A New Scroll of LA Jewish News
The Thing, Marvel Comics
Folks,
The Thing, a super powerful and ornery, yet often-humorous avenger created by Jewish comic book artist Jack Kirby, may make us wish, in a time of rising antisemitism, that he was real. His catchphrase “It’s clobberin' time,” seems an appropriate call for righteous revenge as on Saturday night (8/2) we observe Tisha B’Av, a day of fasting when we remember the destruction of both Temples as well as other disasters in the history of the Jewish People. If we feel that we need a superhero to protect us and our neighbors in our homes, cities, and universities, it won’t be the first time. As Jewish folklore tell us, Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, in the 16th century created the Golem, a hulking animated creature made of clay, to protect the Jews of that city. But updating that tale for today, when a growing number of Jewish Americans are questioning the continued violence in Gaza, we can also ask: Do we also need a Golem, or The Thing to protect us from ourselves?
…It doesn’t take a super effort to keep MegilLA in publication, just a paid subscription. Too few regular readers have subscribed in recent months, and I know you can do better. To continue publishing for another year, I need many of you who open and read EVERY issue to become a paid subscriber. Be that ultimate superhero, a mensch, and subscribe today.
Shabbat Shalom.
Edmon J. Rodman
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A Jewish-made fist
in the face of der Fuhrer
From the cover of Captain America Comics #1
Edmon J. Rodman
With a prescient splash of ink, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, Jewish creators of the comic book superhero Captain America, declared war on the Nazi fascism before the United States did, says a new show “Jack Kirby Heroes and Humanity” at the Skirball Cultural Center.
Kirby would go on to create and draw “The Fantastic Four,” “The Avengers,” “X-Men,” “The Black Panther,” and “The Incredible Hulk,” all characters that make us reconsider the possibilities of our own human potential, especially our capacity for empathy. It’s as if Kirby's stars of the multiverse were all from the planet Rachmones.
Yet it is Captain America's comic book attack against the rise of fascism in Europe, that opens both the show, and our eyes with a fist smashing the face of der Fuhrer.
While America debated entry into WWII, Kirby who drew the images, and Simon, who wrote the text, entered the fray with pens drawn.
Published in 1940, during a time when fascism was also on the march in the U.S., the first issue of “Captain America” comics introduced, to anyone intrigued enough to pay a dime, the red white and blue, superbly strong, agile, and shield-wielding soldier who waged war against Hitler and the Nazis.
The issue sold over a million copies. How did two young Jews come to lead the battle?
By 1939, the danger to Jews in Germany and Europe was in the air, and anger began to replace indifference. Here in Los Angeles, The American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee promoted a national boycott of German goods at a city-wide rally at the Philharmonic Auditorium, attended by 3,000, reported the B’nai B’rith Messenger.
There were also feelings of frustration, as the Messenger, and other Jewish papers, reported the international impasse on aiding European Jewish refugees.
Adding a tingle to a growing Jewish sense of dread, a 1939 Nazi rally, attended by 20,000 at Madison Square Garden was organized by the German Bund. The rally took place just across town from where Kirby and Simon had set up their studio.
Something had to be done. Jews, in their frustration over what they saw as impending horror needed a righteous avenger, a redeemer; and super hero, even if he was a fantasy.
When Captain America, appeared, socking Hitler in the jaw, more than just a comic book “POW,” was released. The image, like Chaplin mocking Hitler in “The Great Dictator,” must have been felt as a reliever of angst. Someone dared to fight back.
Kirby, a few years later, would fight Nazis himself as an infantryman (his uniform is on display), landing on the beach in Normandy, and fighting on the front lines.
Born Jacob Kurtzberg in 1917, to Austrian-Jewish parents, Kirby grew up on the Lower East Side, a biographical detail we are reminded of via an illustrated wall-sized panel strategically positioned at the show’s entrance.
In 1942, Kirby married Rosalind Goldstein. Together, they had four children. In 1969, the Kirby family moved to Southern California, eventually settling in Thousand Oaks. “He was a proud family man whose faith remained important throughout his life,” said the show’s text.
His creation, Captain America remains relevant as a symbol of determination, and resilience. His slogan “I can do this all day,’ connects with America’s our own search for strength in the face of adversity.
Exiting the show, a museum-goer might ask, as if appearing in a comic panel of their own: Where is Captain America today?
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Hidden Histories of
Boyle Heights revealed
Photo courtesy of Bruce Phillips
Boyle Heights is a place of many hidden histories, and during a free program August 31, 2-3:30 p.m. at the Temple Homestead Museum in the City of Industry, some of them will be uncovered.
During the program, Los Angeles Jewish historian Edmon J. Rodman; Bruce Phillips, son of Philips Music Company founder William Phillips; and musician Mark Guerrero, son of Chicano music pioneer Lalo Guerrero will delve into the intertwined histories of Boyle Heights' Jewish and Chicano communities, exploring their contributions to music, activism, and multiculturalism in Los Angeles.
Through vintage photographs, pamphlets, books, and L.A.-made garments from his collection, Rodman will introduce some of the Jewish East LA folks who made important contributions in healthcare, music, sports, multiculturalism, activism, and a Yiddish flavor to the City of Angels.
Adding a first-hand account to the presentation, will be a live interview with Bruce Phillips, a professor at USC and Hebrew Union College, whose father, William Phillips, founded and ran the influential Phillips Music Company, a music store and multi-cultural gathering spot on Brooklyn Avenue that operated from 1935 to 1989.
Chicano rock musician Mark Guerrero will discuss his and his father Lalo Guerrero's musical careers and how they intersected, utilizing sound and video clips and live performances.
Mark Guerrero began playing in rock & roll bands at age 12 and led the popular East Los Angeles band Mark & the Escorts. He has recorded as a solo artist and with his group Tango, and his songs have been recorded by artists such as Herb Alpert, Trini Lopez, Chan Romero, and his late father.
RSVP HERE.
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Warner Bros.
A Super Jewish Superman
Edmon J. Rodman
At a time when American Jews are not feeling so super, a Superman, played for the first time by an actor of Jewish heritage, appears on our movie screens with powers we wish we had too.
Opening at a moment when many Jewish Angelenos are anguishing over the daily ICE raids, I wonder how many wish they had the super speed and strength to rescue those in peril as Superman, played by David Corenswet, does in this movie.
Afterwards, the ability to fly away, perhaps to a more welcoming planet, would be a cathartic dream.
The Torah exhorts us to pursue justice, and in “Superman,” originally created by two Jewish teenagers from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the undocumented alien does his darndest to obey that command.
Superman, who takes the commandment to not kill seriously, pings on our Jewdar in other ways as well. It is not just his superpowers that we seek, but his sense of chesed, as the film shows him as loving and kind to people and animals.
But don’t be confused. Superman is not woke, as some on the right attest . He’s just an immigrant, long-time fellow traveler of Moses and his Five Books, even if some of the pages are from his home world of Krypton.
“Superman is the story of America,” director James Gunn told Variety. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”
Though Siegel and Shuster were not practicing Jews, the life story of their creation dovetails nicely with many Bible and Jewish folkloric narratives.
In the Book of Judges, Sampson was blessed with super strength, and like Superman, he too is set apart from birth for a special purpose. In Jewish folktales, the Prophet Elijah has the ability to fly, and David has laser-like aim as he brings down the giant Goliath with a stone.
Author Roy Schwartz, even believes that Superman’s origin story is similar to that of Moses. Both are sent away from home to escape death, one floating in a basket on the Nile, the other coming to Earth in a tiny cocoon of a spaceship. Each is raised among people unlike their parents, but eventually discovers their true identity.
Adding to that comparison, both Superman and Moses become reluctant leaders, with a destiny. Moses frees his people for slavery in Egypt, and in early issues of DC comics, Superman fights the Nazis, keeping the world free from enslavement.
Each falls for a woman of their adopted homeland; Moses for Zipporah the Midianite, and Superman for Lois the urbanite, reporter for the Daily Planet.
Moses and Superman also face opposition from powerful adversaries. Moses from Korach, who seeks to overthrow him, and Superman from Lex Luthor, who in the movie gets government approval to lock Superman in a pocket universe prison.
Connecting the Jewish film-goer even more directly to Superman’s character was the conundrum of the S on his chest. As Superman streaks from point to point, saving everyone in need regardless of color, gender, or country of origin, was the S a reminder of his JewiSh qualities, as well as our own aspirations? Or, was it the letter writ large from that Yiddish word of Jewish praise, menSch?
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*LIVE FROM THE ARCHIVE:
When Jews were the heroes
The “SuperJew poster was created soon after the Six-Day War in 1967. Created by photographer Harry Hamburg in Pennsylvania, this copy was obtained through a seller who originally sold them at the Pike in Long Beach.
Mimicking the classic disguise device in Superman, a nebbishy-looking Hasid emerges from a phone booth, revealing his “super” outfit, emblazoned with the Hebrew letter shin, instead of an “s.”
Though difficult to imagine now, in light of the backlash over Israel’s invasion of Gaza, the humorous poster was seen as symbolic of Israel’s decisive and, yes, heroic victory over the attacking forces of Egypt, Syria, and Jordan.
Jews around the world felt pride for what this little county had done, and for a moment, the world was in awe.
*The Rodman Archive of Los Angeles Jewish History is a collection of approximately 1500 objects, photos, clothing, art, books, recordings, and ephemera relating to the lives and endeavors of Jewish Angelenos between 1850 and 1980.
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Seen on the way: Hollywood Blvd.
Stan Lee was a comic book writer, editor, and publisher who in collaboration with others created Marvel Comics superheroes Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther, and the Fantastic Four.
Born Stanley Martin Lieber to Romanian Jewish immigrant parents, he rose through the ranks of a family-run business to become Marvel Comics creative leader for two decades. Over his career, Lee led Marvel’s expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multmedia corporation.
Lee died at age 95 in 2015, and the photo above is of an impromptu memorial that was created then at his Walk of Fame star at 7072 Hollywood Boulevard.The quote, positioned by his photo, "That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed, without a doubt, a real superhero." is attributed to him.
The stories of several of his characters have been made into movies, and Lee, in cameo appearances, can be seen in many of them.
One of his comic book superheroes, who he created with illustrator Jack Kirby, was Jewish: The Thing, Benjamin Jacob "Ben" Grimm, one of the Fantastic Four, a star character of the newly released movie.
The character, born on Yancy Street in New York’s Lower East Side, had an early life of poverty, and street fights. In one issue, The Thing, recites the Shema, and in another, 13 years after his transformation, has a bar mitzvah.
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