The exhibition Inventing America: The Comic Book Revolution highlights how comics reflected—and at times anticipated—an increasingly complex and inclusive society. When Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz encountered Superman among the numerous iconic figures featured, it signified a reminder of the daunting challenges facing American Jews and the crucial role Jews can play 250 years into this incredible American experiment.

As darkness began to fill the world in 1938, a Jewish boy from Ohio wrote a story about a baby whose parents fear imminent death. The parents place the baby boy into a pod as the hope for our humanity, as a cosmic sign of goodness. He must live as an outsider in the new place and bear a secret identity. In the story, the pod’s monumental Earth landing occurs in the place we think most boring and least deserving: Kansas. The writer’s name was Jerry Siegel, the publication was Action Comics #1, and we commonly refer to this character by his heroic title of Superman. Many have pointed to the connections between Superman and the Jewish texts of our past, yet I would argue that this iconic superhero narrative remains a model for American Jews today.

For those who don’t yet appreciate the parallels between Superman and our textual tradition, let’s briefly examine the narrative of Moses. In the opening chapters of the Book of Exodus, Moses is set into a pod (basket) and placed in the Nile. He brings a new hope to a society overcome by slavery and brutality. There is a story from the Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 12a that teaches us that Moses’ mother was uncertain if she’d ever see her son again. So, she crafted the cloth of his future wedding canopy for him and placed it inside the basket. She wanted the child to feel her presence on his wedding day. So, the baby arrives in this basket wrapped in an identifying cloth that we know as a huppah. So touching and profound is the Talmudic idea of the canopy cloth that baby Superman arrives in Kansas wrapped in the blanket of his family from Krypton, and that special fabric is sewn by his new farmer mother into the cloth of his super suit, revealing the iconic “S” on his chest.

I have to believe that someplace deep within Jerry Siegel’s soul was the yearning to inspire a sense of strength for American Jews to help the world struggle to realize goodness and justice for all. We bear the responsibility of a tradition that has brought so much wisdom and progress to the world, including our contributions to the United States of America.

The Superman story is not solely connected to our sacred texts; it is connected to how we live our lives as Jews in modern America. Like so many American Jews, Superman grows up with an English name of Clark Kent and a special Krypton name of Kal-El, which means “voice of God” or “ease of God” in Hebrew. Like so many American Jews in the 1930s–60s, he struggled to fit into society and felt forced to hide the gifts of his identity. Like all Jewish figures, there is no claim of perfection within the Superman stories. He maintains a moral compass and strives to battle evil and bring a sense of goodness and justice to the world wherever he travels.

From the infancy of this country, Jews stood firm in their patriotism. Unlike so many enlightened European national movements at the same time that publicly debated Jewish ability to be loyal citizens, we enjoyed equal status here from the birth of this country. We contributed to American society as true stakeholders. We believed in the promise of the American dream. Hebrew Bible quotations and our traditional symbolism adorn our most cherished civic landmarks, from the halls of Congress to the Liberty Bell. If one understands the integral role of the Jewish story within the American narrative, then it should not be surprising that the quintessential American superhero bears Jewish underpinning.

No matter what we wear on the outside, just as Superman wore the “S”, we bear the responsibility of the “J” on our chest as Jews. Some might want us to think of the “J” as a burden. I view it as an incredible opportunity and responsibility for our people that requires us to help this country realize the best version of itself.

Superman is a model for modern American Jews as we proudly help others and navigate our own path forward through new challenges. We always live according to our most important texts—from Moses through Superman—to draw wisdom, inspiration, and remind ourselves of our purpose. Like Superman, we ought to fight for truth, justice, and the American way. Like him, there is much work for us to do. Just as the world looked to the skies for his arrival, I believe that the world waits for us to show up as proud American Jews.

---

Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz, PhD, is the senior rabbi of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, CA, and the author of the recently published bestseller The Case for Dual Loyalty: Healing the Divided Soul of American Jews. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel and on the Advisory Board of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition.

---