By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO– Over the Chanukah holiday I turned 11 — again. And I can thank my wife Nancy for that.
My grandson, Shor, and I, for many years, have been watching science fiction television series on DVDs. We saw together every episode of Star Trek, working our way through the original Kirk and Spock series, to The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. And of course we watched the associated feature length movies.
As we were completing the Star Trek: Enterprise series, we knew that more fun was ahead with the full set of Twilight Zone episodes, featuring Rod Serling. But as we neared the end of that collection, we had a sense of foreboding. There were no more series in the cupboard. When we finished this, what would grandpa and grandson do during their special after-dinner time?
And then, during this Chanukah, Nancy provided the answer. I couldn’t have been more thrilled.
She presented to us the complete set on DVD’s of The Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves — the very same series that I had watched when I was a boy Shor’s age. This is the one in which the announcer intones: “Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound….” and startled people in a crowd call out in succession: “Look, up in the sky… It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s superman!”
Given the high-tech special effects that television and movie viewers enjoy today, I wasn’t certain whether the “Superman” television series would be too cheesy for someone of Shor’s sophistication. But we watched the very first two episodes — and I’m happy to say that Shor and I both enjoyed it.
The series really took me back to my boyhood, and sitting there, watching it with my grandson, it was as if all the years between our ages, 56 of them to be exact, had been erased. It was just two buddies watching the amazing tale together.
I’ve long known that Superman’s creator, Jerry Siegel, was Jewish. But I hadn’t realized how much Siegel had relied on the Bible to explain Superman’s origins on the Planet Krypton. I hadn’t recognized the similarity in experiences between those of Superman’s father, Jor-El, and those of Noah of our Bible.
As a scientist, Jor-El discovered that his world would soon shake apart. He wanted to build a fleet of rockets to transport the planet’s population to safety. But people just laughed and scoffed at him, just as they laughed at Noah as he built his Ark — and just as, I imagine, people would laugh and scoff at someone predicting the imminent doom of our planet today. (In fact, some people misinterpreting the meaning of the Mayan calendar coming to an end make just such a prediction for Dec. 21 — the winter solstice — of this year)
So Jor-El and Lara swaddle the baby Superman in a blanket and send him on his way in a rocket to Earth, just as Moses was sent in a basket down the River Nile. Moses was found by Pharaoh’s daughter, whereas Superman was found by the kindly Ma and Pa Kent. Neither child was told immediately of his origins. But after they learned, both became highly ethical personages whom we all should strive to emulate.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com