Simcha Weinstein
Encyclopedia
Simcha Weinstein is an English author and a rabbi
. In 2006, his first book Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero
was published. In 2008, his second book Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century
was published.
, England, son of Eddie and Valerie Weinstein. He attended Manchester Metropolitan University
, where he earned a B.A. in film history. After graduation, he joined the British film commission and worked as a location scout for films like The Full Monty
and Spice World
.
In England, Weinstein joined two Orthodox organizations, Aish Hatorah
and Manchester Lubavitch, before moving to Jerusalem to study at Mayanot
Yeshiva. He married Ariella, an American, and the Weinsteins moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn
. With their three children, Mendel, Eli, and Orah Binah, they currently reside in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.
Weinstein ministers to Jewish students at Pratt Institute
(where he serves as Chair of its Religious Affairs Committee), Brooklyn Law School
and Long Island University
. In 2003 he founded the semiannual Brooklyn Heights Jewish Film Festival. He is also the founder of the Downtown Brooklyn Jewish Student Foundation and is the Chabad emissary to the Downtown Brooklyn student community and the Clinton Hill community.
Weinstein's first book, Up Up and Oy Vey
, published in 2006, analyzes the Jewish role in the creation of such popular comic book superheroes as Superman
, Batman
, Hulk
, Captain America
, and Spider-Man
, as well as super-teams like the Fantastic Four
, the X-Men
and the Justice League of America. The book also discusses Jewish superheroes, like Shadowcat, Sabra
and The Thing
and Jewish graphic artists including Jerry Siegel
, Joe Shuster
, Will Eisner
, Bob Kane
, Bill Finger
, Jerry Robinson
, Chris Claremont
, Julius Schwartz
and Stan Lee
. Up Up and Oy Vey won the Independent Book Publishers Association's Benjamin Franklin award in 2007 for religious book of the year.
The first sentence of the book reveals Weinstein's interest in the link between popular superheroes and Jewish tradition: "Before Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, there were the superpatriarchs and supermatriarchs of the Bible and heroic figures named Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David and Samson – not to mention the miracle-working prophet Elijah and those Jewish wonderwomen Ruth and Esther just to name a few. They all wielded courage and supernatural powers to protect and serve their people."
Weinstein's second book Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century
, published in 2008, presents an overview of the approach modern Jewish comedians are taking to their work - brutal, matter-of-fact, and unashamedly Jewish. To contrast the older approach with the newer approach, Weinstein gives examples of the comedy of previous generations of comedians such as Gertrude Berg
, Woody Allen
, Sid Caesar
, and Mel Brooks
. He then presents in-depth analysis of the modern crop of Jewish comedic performers, including Jerry Seinfeld
, Larry David
, Sacha Baron Cohen
and Sarah Silverman
.
Weinstein and his work have been discussed in publications such as The New York Times
, Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune
, Houston Chronicle
, Arizona Daily Star
, Miami Herald, The Forward
,
Arutz Sheva
, Terra Networks in Argentina, La Stampa
in Italy,
and on CNN
.
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
. In 2006, his first book Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero
Up, Up and Oy Vey
Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero is a book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein.In the book, Weinstein contends that because the creators of many famous superheroes, such as Superman, were Jewish, those superheroes were inspired by Jewish values and...
was published. In 2008, his second book Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century
Shtick Shift
Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century is a book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein.The book presents an overview of the approach modern Jewish comedians are taking to their work - brutal, matter-of-fact, and unashamedly Jewish...
was published.
Biography
Simon Weinstein [Hebrew name "Simcha"] was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England, son of Eddie and Valerie Weinstein. He attended Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is a university in North West England. Its headquarters and central campus is in the city of Manchester, but there are outlying facilities in the county of Cheshire. It is the third largest university in the United Kingdom in terms of student numbers, behind the...
, where he earned a B.A. in film history. After graduation, he joined the British film commission and worked as a location scout for films like The Full Monty
The Full Monty
The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
and Spice World
Spice World
Spice World may refer to:*Spiceworld , second album by British pop group the Spice Girls, released in 1997*Spice World , the Spice Girls movie*Spiceworld , the sellout world tour of the Spice Girls...
.
In England, Weinstein joined two Orthodox organizations, Aish Hatorah
Aish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...
and Manchester Lubavitch, before moving to Jerusalem to study at Mayanot
Mayanot
Mayanot Institute of Jewish Studies is a Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva located in Makor Baruch, Jerusalem, Israel. Its faculty and student body are mostly American, and the yeshiva is targeted towards English and Spanish speaking baalei teshuva...
Yeshiva. He married Ariella, an American, and the Weinsteins moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The main thoroughfare through this neighborhood is Eastern Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted extending two miles east-west.Originally, the area was known as Crow Hill....
. With their three children, Mendel, Eli, and Orah Binah, they currently reside in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.
Weinstein ministers to Jewish students at Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
(where he serves as Chair of its Religious Affairs Committee), Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School is a law school located in Brooklyn Heights, in Downtown Brooklyn, New York.-History:Founded in 1901 by William Payson Richardson and Norman P. Heffley, Brooklyn Law School was the first law school on Long Island. Using space provided by Heffley’s business school, the law...
and Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
. In 2003 he founded the semiannual Brooklyn Heights Jewish Film Festival. He is also the founder of the Downtown Brooklyn Jewish Student Foundation and is the Chabad emissary to the Downtown Brooklyn student community and the Clinton Hill community.
Weinstein's first book, Up Up and Oy Vey
Up, Up and Oy Vey
Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero is a book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein.In the book, Weinstein contends that because the creators of many famous superheroes, such as Superman, were Jewish, those superheroes were inspired by Jewish values and...
, published in 2006, analyzes the Jewish role in the creation of such popular comic book superheroes as Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
, Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
, Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
, Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, and Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
, as well as super-teams like the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
, the X-Men
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
and the Justice League of America. The book also discusses Jewish superheroes, like Shadowcat, Sabra
Sabra (comics)
Sabra is the alias of Ruth Bat-Seraph, a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:...
and The Thing
Thing (comics)
The Thing is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1...
and Jewish graphic artists including Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
, Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
, Will Eisner
Will Eisner
William Erwin "Will" Eisner was an American comics writer, artist and entrepreneur. He is considered one of the most important contributors to the development of the medium and is known for the cartooning studio he founded; for his highly influential series The Spirit; for his use of comics as an...
, Bob Kane
Bob Kane
Bob Kane was an American comic book artist and writer, credited as the creator of the DC Comics superhero Batman...
, Bill Finger
Bill Finger
William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development...
, Jerry Robinson
Jerry Robinson
Jerry Robinson is an American comic book artist best known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s.He was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2004.-Career:...
, Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont is an award-winning American comic book writer and novelist, known for his 17-year stint on Uncanny X-Men, far longer than any other writer, during which he is credited with developing strong female characters, and with introducing complex literary themes into superhero...
, Julius Schwartz
Julius Schwartz
Julius "Julie" Schwartz was a comic book and pulp magazine editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in the Bronx, New York...
and Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
. Up Up and Oy Vey won the Independent Book Publishers Association's Benjamin Franklin award in 2007 for religious book of the year.
The first sentence of the book reveals Weinstein's interest in the link between popular superheroes and Jewish tradition: "Before Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, there were the superpatriarchs and supermatriarchs of the Bible and heroic figures named Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David and Samson – not to mention the miracle-working prophet Elijah and those Jewish wonderwomen Ruth and Esther just to name a few. They all wielded courage and supernatural powers to protect and serve their people."
Weinstein's second book Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century
Shtick Shift
Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century is a book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein.The book presents an overview of the approach modern Jewish comedians are taking to their work - brutal, matter-of-fact, and unashamedly Jewish...
, published in 2008, presents an overview of the approach modern Jewish comedians are taking to their work - brutal, matter-of-fact, and unashamedly Jewish. To contrast the older approach with the newer approach, Weinstein gives examples of the comedy of previous generations of comedians such as Gertrude Berg
Gertrude Berg
Gertrude Berg was an American actress and screenwriter. A pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce and star in a long-running hit when she premiered her serial comedy-drama The Rise of the Goldbergs , later known as The Goldbergs.-Career:Berg was born...
, Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar
Isaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an Emmy award winning American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.- Early life :Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York,...
, and Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
. He then presents in-depth analysis of the modern crop of Jewish comedic performers, including Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
, Larry David
Larry David
Lawrence Gene "Larry" David is an American actor, writer, comedian and producer. He is best known as the co-creator , head writer, and executive producer of the television series Seinfeld from 1989 to 1996, and for creating the 1999 HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm, a partially improvised sitcom in...
, Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Noam Baron Cohen is an English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and voice artist. He is most widely known for his portrayal of three unorthodox fictional characters: Ali G, Borat, and Brüno...
and Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
.
Weinstein and his work have been discussed in publications such as The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Seattle Times, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
, Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Daily Star
The Arizona Daily Star is the major morning daily newspaper that serves Tucson and surrounding districts of southern Arizona in the United States. The paper was purchased by Pulitzer in 1971; Lee Enterprises bought Pulitzer in 2005....
, Miami Herald, The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
,
Arutz Sheva
Arutz Sheva
Arutz Sheva is an Israeli media network identifying with Religious Zionism. It offers online news in English, Hebrew, French, Spanish and Russian. Arutz Sheva offers free podcasts, live streaming radio, a daily email news update, streaming video and 24 hour updated text news...
, Terra Networks in Argentina, La Stampa
La Stampa
La Stampa is one of the best-known, most influential and most widely sold Italian daily newspapers. Published in Turin, it is distributed in Italy and other European nations. The current owner is the Fiat Group.-History:...
in Italy,
and on CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
Articles
- Freedman, Samuel G. "Religion and Comic Books: Where Did Superman’s Theology Come From? " New York Times (23 Sept. 2006)
- Pinsky, Mark I. "Putting the 'fun' in fundamentalism" USA Today (8 Dec. 2008)
- Weinstein, Simcha. "Is it a bird, is it a plane .... it's you know who!" Jerusalem Post (20 July 2006)
- Weinstein, Simcha. "Spirituality in spandex" Jerusalem Post (3 May 2007)
- Weinstein, Simcha. "Behind Batman and Joker are Borscht Belt comedians" St. Petersburg Times (22 July 2008)
Books
- Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book SuperheroUp, Up and Oy VeyUp Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero is a book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein.In the book, Weinstein contends that because the creators of many famous superheroes, such as Superman, were Jewish, those superheroes were inspired by Jewish values and...
(2006)
- Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st CenturyShtick ShiftShtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century is a book by Rabbi Simcha Weinstein.The book presents an overview of the approach modern Jewish comedians are taking to their work - brutal, matter-of-fact, and unashamedly Jewish...
(2008)
External links
- Comic Book Rabbi Rabbi Simcha Weinstein's official website.