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Jedi Jews

31.07.2024

Natalie Portman is just a cherry on the Star Wars cake. The film is full of Jews, rabbis - and even conspiracy theories.

Let's start with the main characters of the epic. Padme Amidala Naberri is the queen of the planet Naboo, the mother of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organo-Solo. This role in the prequel trilogy - "Hidden Threat", "Clone Attack", "Revenge of the Sith" - was performed by Jerusalem-born Neta-Lee Hershlag, better known under the stage name Natalie Portman.

Her paternal grandfather Zvi Yehuda Hershlag was born in Poland when she was part of the Russian Empire. My paternal grandmother, Manya Hershlag, born Portman, is from Romania. His paternal great-grandfather Eliezer Herschlag and his wife Leia died in 1942 in the Belzec death camp. Avraham Edelstein, the great-great-grandfather of the actress on the maternal side, lived all his life in the village of Kavskoye, Lviv region.

 

Padme Amidala Naberri - Luke Skywalker's mother

Padme Amidala Naberri - Luke Skywalker's mother

 

Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia Organa, is the daughter of the insanely popular 1950s pop singer Eddie Fisher. In his autobiography "I was there, I did it," Eddie Fisher wrote: "My parents were part of a powerful wave of Russian Jews who came to America at the turn of the century, fleeing poverty and pogroms... My father's last name was Fish or Tish, but he became Fisher when he came ashore in America and designed the papers." It is not known which part of the Russian Empire the actress's grandparents, Joseph and Kate Fisher, came from. Of the surviving documents, only the birthplace of Carrie's great-grandfather, whose name was Zelik Tsadik Vinokur, is known. And this is Odessa. Carrie Fisher defined her religion as "an enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy if he was proved that there is a G-d." Despite such beliefs, Carrie often visited the synagogue with her Jewish friends.

 

Princess Leia Organa

Princess Leia Organa

 

Harrison Ford starred as space adventurer Han Solo. His maternal grandparents are Minsk-born Harry Niedelman and Anna Lifshitz. Ford's paternal grandfather was an Irish Catholic, his grandmother was German. When asked in what faith he and his brother were brought up, Ford once replied: "Democratic, so that we can become liberals of any kind." Another time he said: "As a person, I always feel Irish, and as an actor, I always feel Jewish."

 

Harrison Ford as Han Solo

Harrison Ford as Han Solo

 

Of the main roles in the film epic, only Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker, has nothing to do with the Jewish people. But apparently, he was also influenced by the environment. Under the open letter of Hollywood stars in support of Israel in the war with Hamas is Hamill's signature.

Lawrence Edward Kasdan co-wrote four films from the Star Wars universe. Kasdan spent most of his childhood in small towns where there was not a single Jew among his peers. Other boys, even his best friends, often made anti-Semitic jokes, which hurt him a lot.

 

Harrison Ford as Han Solo

Harrison Ford as Han Solo

 

In the tenth episode of the movie saga "Han Solo. Star Wars. Stories" of young Han Solo was played by Alden Caleb Ehrenreik. His Jewish ancestors came to America from Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Russia and Poland. And Ehrenreik got to the movies after Steven Spielberg met him at a common friend who celebrated his son's bar mitzvah.

Another Jew from Star Wars is Jeffrey Jacobs "JJ" Abrams, director, producer and co-writer of the seventh episode of the epic "The Force Awakens". J.J. publicly stated that he was proud of his origins. Although Abrams' wife is an Irish Catholic, he takes his children to the synagogue. It so coincided that the premiere of the film "The Force Awakens" took place in 2015 on the last day of Hanukkah. Comedian Adam Sandler on this occasion inserted such a line in his "Hanukkah Song" - "Princess Leia cuts the hala".

 

Puppeteer Frank Oz

Puppeteer Frank Oz

 

Grand Master of the Jedi Order Yoda was created and voiced by hereditary puppeteer Frank Oz. The full name is Oznovich. His father Isedor Oznowicz was a Polish Jew. During World War II, he fought against the Nazis in a unit of the Dutch army - the Royal Motorized Rifle Brigade of Princess Irena. Some of the dolls made by Frank's parents are now stored in the Modern Jewish Museum in San Francisco. Speaking of Yoda, it is impossible not to notice that his name is close to the verb "know" in Hebrew, in the present masculine tense it sounds like "yodea". Fans of "Star Wars" have long noticed that the word jedi - jedi - sounds like the word "Jew" in both English - jew and Hebrew - "yehudi".

Star kashrut

Last year, the Jerusalem Post published an article "Which animals in the Star Wars galaxy are kosher?" Most of the animals, as it turned out, turned out to be tref. There were only three types of Kosher.

Mammals should be both herbivores and artiodactyls with forked hooves. Bows similar to mammoths do not fit this definition - they are unpaired. But the horn of the bow could make a great shofar.

Kosher fish have two mandatory features: they have scales and fins. The marine opi killer from the planet Naboo has no fins, so he is not kosher. The water monster sando, which swallowed the opi, does not meet the requirements of the kashrut. If it is a mammal, it has no forked hooves, if it is a fish, it has no fins.

 

Jeffrey Jacobs "JJ" Abrams

Jeffrey Jacobs "JJ" Abrams

 

The Torah does not name signs of kosher birds, they just list non-kosher birds. All of them are either predatory or eat carrion. Domestic birds are recognized as Kosher. In the Star Wars galaxy, as on our planet, there are such birds. Ducks on the planet Corusant and chickens on Endor. In addition, in the TV movie "Caravan of the daredeves. The Adventures of the Ewoks" you can see real earth chickens.

The planet Tatooine from Star Wars was filmed in Tunisia, on the island of Djerba. Several hundred Jews still live in two villages on this island. This is one of the largest Jewish communities in the Middle East - except for Israel, of course. Once upon a time, there were many more Jews in Tunisia and Djerba, but many at one time preferred to go to France or Israel. Tourists visiting the island of Djerba can see an abandoned building depicting the Mos-Aisley cantina in the film. And the Jedi knight Obi-Wan Kenobi performed by Sir Alec Guinness looks strikingly reminiscent of the greatest Moroccan Talmudist Rabbi Rafael ben Mordechai Enkaue. The name of the planet - Tatoine - resembles the name of the city of Tetouan in Morocco. In the past, it was the most "Jewish" city in the country, now there will be no hundreds of Jews in Tetouan.

 

Rabbi Rafael bin Mordechay Enkaue

Rabbi Rafael bin Mordechay Enkaue

 

The music for the first films of the epic was written by composer John Williams. Director George Lucas gave him the following instruction - to make it look like the music for the popular 1930s films The Adventures of Robin Hood and Sea Hawk. Both films featured music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, an Austrian Jew who worked under contract in Hollywood and did not return to his homeland because of the Anschluss of Austria. Williams never concealed that his work was strongly influenced by Corngold. The famous musical theme of "Star Wars" - the so-called theme of Luke Skywalker - intersects with the melody of Corngold from the movie "Kings Row" in several notes.

Anti-Semite bread

As you can see, all the Jews of "Star Wars" were on the side of good. This, of course, does not suit the anti-Semites. When a character named Watto, the owner of a spare parts store on the planet Tatooine, appeared in the first episode, they tried to record him as Jews. What about? The nose is crocheted, there is some kind of hat on the head that can be considered squick, cunning, greedy. Of course, a Jew! Does George Lucas himself say that this is a parody of an Italian American? It doesn't matter. Some film critics thought Wotto was an Arab. A Jew, a Jew, the anti-Semites said. Listen to his accent. Andy Secombe, who voiced Wotto, should know best about the accent. Here's an excerpt from Secombe's interview: "I made it quite rude, quite hot-tempered and speaking with an Italian accent."

 

Princess Leia Organa

Princess Leia Organa

 

But even more interesting is the story of Darth Vader, the father and main antagonist of Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader wears armor that plays the role of a portable life support system. In the fifth and sixth episodes of the epic - "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" - an inscription in an unknown language can be seen on the chest plate of armor. Both films were shot a long time ago, and it's not the first year that versions have been on the Internet, what exactly is written there.

 

Darth Vader

Darth Vader

 

The fact is that the letters are very reminiscent of Hebrew. However, some are turned upside down, some are from left to right, and some are completely absent in the Hebrew alphabet. Even if you twist all the letters to their normal position, the text will not make sense. This can be confirmed by anyone for whom Hebrew is their native language. But when did such trifles interfere with conspiracy theorists? The inscription has already been translated as "his deeds will not be forgiven until he gains merit", "his actions will not be forgiven until he comes." Whose deeds? Who will come?

However, the inscription in Hebrew - if it's him, and not some galactic language with similar graphics - does not yet make Darth Vader a Jew. Unlike his children, Luke and Leia. May the Force be with them.

Alexey Alekseev

Alexey Alekseev