Rabbi, Sometimes we hear grumblings about how Jews control Hollywood and the media. It does feel like there are a lot of Jews in movies and television. Why does this stereotype exist? Is there any truth to the idea?
The story of Jews in American popular culture is a complicated one, but, as often seems to be the case, it centers around antisemitism. In the early 20th century, as Jews were fleeing European persecution and eventually the Holocaust, they found that America was a strange mixture of a promised land and more of the same. Jews were often told that they couldn’t work in the most traditional jobs, and were thus relegated to the less appealing ones. These less appealing jobs included textiles, manufacturing, and the creative arts. The arts were appealing for many Jews because it so often was a form of self-employment, and the public was generally willing to be entertained by content that was genuinely appealing, regardless of its origins. This is why so many of the earliest comic books were written by Jews; you didn’t need someone to employ you to write a comic book, and once the product was created, a distributor would be willing to sell something written by a Jew as long as the public would read it.
As the century continued, many of those second-class trades that had been the only option for the Jewish community wound up hitting pay dirt. Manufacturing innovations made the textile industry boom, leading many Jews to go from humble salespeople to empire builders. The rise of television and movies led Jewish actors, producers, and writers to explode into the Hollywood we are familiar with today.
Now, this leaves an open conversation to a couple of different underlying factors that contribute to the perception that Jews were more successful than everyone else. First, Judaism has historically held education to be a sacred value, and thus more educated, worldly Jews were likely to have knowledge that could help them succeed. Another possibility is that because of their identity as immigrants, Jews were forced to work harder to make the same progress as their non-Jewish neighbors, thus inspiring a work ethic that paid off in the long run. It is also possible that, as a community, Jews were able to have better networking opportunities with other Jews, creating the rising tide that helps all boats. All of these likely contributed a little bit to the success of 20th-century Jewish enterprises, while none of them fully encapsulate the unique balance that led to this reality.
This does, though, afford a dangerous opportunity for antisemites who want to use Jewish supremacy as an excuse for the hardships they face. It is easier to say that there is a conspiracy of the Jewish Braintrust that is keeping others from succeeding, only furthering the hatred that forced Jews into such a problematic corner in the first place. It is more palatable to say that Jews have some magical Midas touch, rather than to admit that Jews were forced into unpleasant contexts that they were able to turn into golden opportunities through hard work and ingenuity. As has been so often the case throughout history, anti-semitism is often used as the excuse for more anti-semitism, which proves to be the case here.
That is not to say that there isn’t a great sense of pride in the Jewish community around our proficiency in certain areas. It is a point of celebration that Jews are disproportionately represented in the sciences (22% of Nobel Laureates are Jewish). Jews have been some of the greatest comedians, writers, and actors of the 20th and 21st centuries, and Jews worldwide look at the leaders, thinkers, and scholars who lead their fields with a level of kinship and mutual admiration. While antisemitism might have forced our hand in certain areas, it does nothing to take away from the Jewish instinct to bring water to a parched field, leading to beauty, growth, and creativity.
Austin Zoot is the Rabbi Educator at Valley Temple in Wyoming, Ohio.
