Biblical Imagery in Dolly Parton’s Music
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Don't let the new Captain America trailer fool you. Ruth Bat-Seraph is as Israeli as they come!
Blue blazes! In addition to Magneto, Quicksilver, Wanda Maximoff and the Thing, here are four characters from the Marvel universe you probably didn’t know are Jewish!
Marc Spector, AKA Moon Knight, wasn't originally created as a Jewish character. When writers realized his name seemed Jewish, they gave him a Jewish backstory as the son of Rabbi Elias Spector, who fled Czechoslovakia when the Nazis came to power. Moon Knight’s father was a Talmudic prodigy before he was fifteen, became an ordained rabbi at eighteen, and became a brilliant scholar in Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism.
On his way to see his dying father, Moon Knight rescues a rabbi struggling to save the Torah of a synagogue on fire. He goes after the neo-Nazis responsible and describes the epic Jewish struggle: “I belong with the decent and innocent folk who can’t find a moment’s peace, not in the streets, not in their own homes so long as punks like you terrorize them. I belong with the persecuted.” You can’t get more Jewish than that! (In Moon Knight #37 (1984))
Curious to see how the new mini-series Moon Knight, starring Oscar Isaacs, treats his Jewish backstory.
In the X-Men, Kitty Pryde’s mutant ability allows her to phase through solid objects. She joins the X-Men team and eventually becomes its leader.
According to her origin story, Kitty’s paternal grandfather, Samuel Prydeman, was a European Jew who was held in a Nazi concentration camp. Throughout the series, Kitty shows pride in being Jewish. In one captivating episode, she defeats a vampire -- and instead of using a cross she vanquishes the vampire withher silver Magen David pendant.
Kitty visits the National Holocaust Memorial in Washington, DC, where she speaks in honor of her grandparents, and lights a yahrzeit candle in memory of her fellow mutant and sometime boyfriend, Colossus.
True to the spirit of the X-Men, Kitty Pryde's story challenges readers to empathize with misunderstood minorities in a world filled with hatred and bigotry.
Because of his long hair Leonard Skivorski, Jr. was given the Biblical nickname "Samson" by his wife. The nerdy Doctor Samson empowers himself through a controlled dose of radiation and becomes Doc Samson, a massively muscled, green-haired superhuman with gamma-boosted strength, sporting long hair like his biblical namesake. Cutting Doc Samson's hair saps his power, too.
Samson's Jewish roots are confirmed in issue #373 when he admits he went to yeshiva and is intimidated by “a very strict rabbi.”
Meet "Sabra, super heroine of the state of Israel." This Hulk side character is a feisty Israeli policewoman with a secret. Sabra's costume is blue and white, and emblazoned with a Star of David, like the Israeli flag.
Turns out Sabra was raised on a special government-run kibbutz, served in the Mossad, and lost a young son named Jacob in an Arab terrorist attack on an Israeli school bus.
Sabra's full name Ruth Bat-Seraph alludes Ruth, the young Moabite woman who became the maternal ancestor of King David and the messianic dynasty.
"Sabra" is the word used to describe a Jew born in Israel. A sabra is a cactus that is rough to the touch, but has a sweet interior. On the outside Israelis may at times seem "prickly,” but inside, they’re kind and sweet.
Jewish super heroes seem to be everywhere. What inner super power do you have that’s waiting to be revealed?
Iceman's (Bobby Drake) mother is Jewish. Blindfold (Ruth Aldine) is Jewish. Destiny (Irene Adler) and her son Knightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) are Jewish. Polaris (Lorna Dane) is half Jewish. Wiccan (Billy Kaplan) is Jewish. Legion (David Haller) and his mother (Gabrielle Haller) are Jewish Israeli, and his powers manifested during a Palestinian terrorist attack that killed his adopted father.
Great! Thanks for this.
There is also a Jewish Villian and a Jewish hero of African descent that were not mentioned. The Villain is Magnito of the X men. His story is that as a young boy he was a victum of the Holocost. His power to manipulate metal apparantly did not appear to him until he was put in a concentration camp. The details are fuzzy but he was able to escape the camp because of his superpowers. Unfortunately his history gave him an extreme distrust of humans in general and while his once best friend now turned enemy Professor X has tried to reason with him many times that humans are not all bad it does not seem to register. The Jewish hero of African descent shows up in the sateric Archer series. It is unclear how he became Jewish. Maybe he has a Jewish ancestor like the famous Drake.
A lot of comic book character are actual Jewish, but sometimes they hid the fact for instance I think "superman"
Better update your description of Sabra. Marvel recently retracted and rewrote the details of Sabra to avoid anti-Israel backlash.
“I belong with the decent and innocent folk who can’t find a moment’s peace, not in the streets, not in their own homes so long as punks like you terrorize them. I belong with the persecuted.”
This I understand, and know well.
Suddenly, I realize I am not alone.
I believe they have already removed all Israeli references to Sabra. Marvel will likely remove all reference to Jewish back stories for the four or eliminate them altogether. I have never seen either in animation/TV/Movies any of these characters. PS: You should also mention Arch-Villain Magnito who Is a Jew whose parents died in the Shoah and lived through the death camps!
In the x-men comic book "magneto" is also Jewish