I found this section of “Oy Vey up up and away” extremely interesting and valid. I had never thought of the plight of the Jews in relation to super heroes. I personally have gone to hebrew school for as long as I can remember and remember hearing the stories of the Torah. The Jews were always the underdogs. They were always discriminated against and constantly had to fight for their existence in the world. However, in most of the stories they overcame their struggles and made it. The story of Purim is a great example. This link is a brief overview of the story: http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/The-Story-Of-Purim.htm
All of these stories are relatable to Superman. As it states in the article Superman embodies integrity and that is the characteristic that Jews have in every story I heard in hebrew school…the Jews are a group of people who never gave up on their identity and they fought on through everything. Superman is a symbol of that plight.
Good ideas. Do you also think this has to do with the more subtle idea that the Jews, like Superman, no matter what they do never feel fully part of the US?