Dear Rabbi,
I recently saw the Spiderman movie. It touched something within me.
I know it is weird, but is it possible that I have super powers? What
does Judaism have to say about super heroes?- Peter Parker
Dear Peter,
It is no accident that the most famous super heroes were created by
Jews. Bob Kane created Batman, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created
Spiderman, the Hulk and a host of other Marvel characters, and Superman
was created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Seigel.
The conflict between the characters powers and secret identity has
very Jewish overtones. Having to pass as everyone else in public,
keeping one's true self hidden is something that many Jews are
familiar with.
The connection, however, goes even deeper. Jewish mysticism
discusses the duality of Jewish identity. We are actually a compound of
the spiritual and the physical. Our bodies are like everyone elses. But
inside, the soul, the spirit is different. At Mt. Sinai G-d made a
covenant with the Jewish people. The Jewish people have the ability to
connect to an infinite G-d. In order to accomplish this task our souls
themselves took an infinite quality.
Tanya, the foundational text of Chabad, written by the first
Lubavitcher Rebbe, describes the Jewish soul as being part and parcel
of G-d, literally. So, since G-d is infinite and our souls are
connected to G-d, we have at our disposal infinite resources, infinite
power. Oh, and Peter, infinite power beats webslinging any day. Just
remember, with great power comes great responsibility. It is not easy
being a super hero; it is not easy to be a Jew.
Rabbi Eliezer Sneiderman
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