The Jew in You
There’s no doubting I live an unusual life. I often find myself in the middle of remarkable situations that are completely unplanned. I’ve had chance run-ins with the Queen of England, found myself almost shaken to death by a Samoan village chief’s eldest son, had two odd experiences with the United States Secret Service, had my life threatened by a Tijuana Churro salesman, etc. The list really does go on and on. Yesterday I had another one of those odd experiences.
I saw a listing for a Dell 2001 FP 20″ flat screen monitor on Craigslist Monday morning. It’s exactly like the monitor I already have. The price was right and it would make for a good second monitor. So I made arrangements to pick it up from a guy in Hollywood. I got out to his store, in a primarily latino neighborhood, but when I walk in I find one man wearing some sort of religious shall over his head, with straps wrapped around both of his arms and standing next to him is a man who’s quite obviously a Rabbi. I felt like I was invading, so I quickly turned around to wait outside until they were done, at which point the Rabbi said, “Sir, no, please don’t leave. He’s just talking with God. He’ll be done in a moment. Please stay.”
So, I did. I stood there in silence as the Rabbi explained his friend was just communicating with God and he’s not to break his concentration at all. The Rabbi went on to explain the significance of the covering and the straps, all while this man continued his prayers. When he was done, they said some prayers together in Hebrew and then undid the straps and removed the shall, at which point I finally met the man whom I was buying the monitor from.
I was then introduced to the Rabbi, who when he heard my name asked if I was Jewish. I explained I was not, but that my Father was raised in a conservative Jewish household and kept kosher until he went off to college. From there, the three of us had a half hour conversation that was just fascinating. It turns out this Rabbi’s father is the man behind the Chabad festivals, the annual Jewish money raising telethon’s that air all over the country, featuring rapping Rabbi’s and religious men jumping around, having a grand ol’ time. I’ve actually sat and watched this telethon a number of times because it’s highly entertaining – these deeply religious men, jumping and dancing around like they’re having epileptic seizures.
Shortly thereafter the Rabbi asked what I did and when I told him I run the largest online magazine devoted to the world of comics, it reminded me that the majority of American super heroes were created by Jew’s. Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Spirit, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk — all created by Jews. The only comic to ever win the Pulitzer prize, created by a Jew. He was shocked. I went on to tell him about a wonderful documentary on the life of Will Eisner, one of comics greatest pioneers, and how much growing up in Jewish Ghettos in New York City during the depression played a large part in Eisner’s later creativity. I mentioned the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Michael Chabon, “The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier & Clay,” a book about the fictional early days of the comics industry (based on a lot of very real details) and the role Judaism plays in the early chapters of the book. The Rabbi started taking notes. The conversation moved from there to Jewish traditions and Jewish mysticism, which clearly has a mythology that is reflected in a lot of super hero creations. We spoke about my father and his religion, what Judaism meant to him, about how he felt during WWII (my father avoided fighting in the war since he was in med school, but did get drafted during the Korean War) and on the remarkable story of when my father was a very young boy, four or five I believe, and developed a case of pneumonia that in the 1920s would kill most children. His parents at that time gave him a Hebrew middle name – L’Chaim, which means “To Life.” Overnight his health vastly improved and Hyman became the name for the rest of his life.
It was an unexpected experience, but a welcome one. It was really a very fascinating conversation.
During my trips to New York City the past two years, I’ve come in contact with a lot more Jewish culture than I have in the previous 33 years. I’m not a religious man, I don’t know that I ever will be, but Jewish culture does fascinate me. It’s more than religion – it’s a community. In fact, I know many Jews who are very active in their communities, but really aren’t actively religious. I guess my half-jew side – which doesn’t count in the minds of conservative and Hasidic Jews – keeps trying to break out and take over my life. Little by little it seems to be succeeding.
Oh, and yeah, the monitor is great! Having two 20″ monitors side-by-side is a huge help!
