Related Blog Posts on Arts and Culture

What Can We Learn from the Pfeffermans?

Wes Hopper

Most people have at least heard of Amazon’s groundbreaking television show, Transparent, which along with transgender actress Laverne Cox of Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black and movies such as Tangerine, are pushing transgender stories from the margins into the mainstream. But to single out Transparent simply for highlighting a topic that’s still taboo in most of the television world is to overlook the other half of the show’s DNA – its significant reliance on Jewish themes and customs to weave its tale. It may seem an arbitrary combination, as the show is based in part on creator Jill Soloway’s own Jewish family and transgendered parent, but advocacy for LGBTQ rights has a long history among progressive Jews.

Judaism and the Jedi: What Do Darth Vader and Jewish Mystics Have in Common?

Rabbi P.J. Schwartz

“It’s true. All of it: The Dark Side, the Jedi. They’re real.”

These are the first words we hear from Han Solo, the former smuggler and member of the Rebel Alliance, in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

It’s been almost 40 years since the original Star Wars film hit the big screen, but its stories in the theater, books, television, video games, and other media highlight themes that continue to resonate with us today.

In particular, the Star Wars mythology can be understood through a Jewish lens.