“Superman Is Our Story,” Rabbi Elaine Zecher’s Shabbat Awakenings
July 18, 2025 | 122 Tammuz 5785
Welcome to Shabbat Awakenings, a weekly reflection, as we make our way toward Shabbat. You can listen to it as a podcast here.
“Where is Superman?” This question often animates a scene of people in distress in a movie. Imagine a world where out of nowhere, a man of steel saves the day, even if it means rescuing a kitten? But Superman did not start in his cape and tights, his origin story is a familiar one. It mirrors what happened to Moses from the Torah.
A baby, in danger in a world that will collapse, was placed in a vessel. His parents don’t know if he will survive or where he will end up. He is discovered and adopted, allowed to grow in the open field of opportunity in the palace. Protected until he is grown, he soon learned that he has a gift that he can hear the voice of God and takes on the role of rescuing and redemption. There will be opposing forces that will challenge him, but he will have to garner his strength.
Was Superman Moses? Was Moses Superman?
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, children of immigrants who grew up in Ohio, had a front row seat to the idea of coming from the outside to find a new home and perhaps to start anew. Were they Torah scholars? I don’t think so. Might they have known the story of Moses even from a Passover seder? Probably. Their creativity perhaps informed by their Jewish knowledge birthed Superman. It is an important story to inform how to see the world.
Isn’t this also the immigrant story for many of our ancestors and many today? They faced a world of danger. They left behind a world they knew to find a new world who they hoped would adopt them. They did not forget their past but looked to the future and what they might be able to bring of their own talents and abilities to contribute. The Superman tale is a way to elevate the immigrant experience rather than to denigrate it.
The most recent Superman story shows a dark side through the ill regard of those in power for someone like Superman. With no spoiler alerts necessary, our superhero is regarded as an “it, not a man.” He must declare that he is a human who laughs, cries, and despairs.” The message of the movie is how our actions make us who we are. But you already knew that.
Those who come into America deserve to be included, to be treated with respect, and not to be rounded up as if they are an “it” rather than a human being. We may not be made of steel, yet we do have our own individual superpowers that can bring out the best of us in the way we regard one another. To me, that is “truth, justice, and the American Way.”
Shabbat Shalom! שבת שלום
I welcome your reflections and responses, Connect with me with comments and reflections here.
Rabbi Elaine Zecher