Simcha Weinstein

Simcha Weinstein (1975 - ) is an English author and a rabbi. In 2006, his first book "Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero" was published.

Biography

Simon Weinstein [Hebrew name "Simcha"] was born in Manchester, England, son of Eddie and Valerie Weinstein. He attended Manchester Metropolitan University, where he studied film history. After graduation, he joined the British film commission and worked as a location scout for films like "The Full Monty".

In England, Weinstein joined two Orthodox organizations, Aish Hatorah and Manchester Lubavitch, before moving to Jerusalem to study at Mayanot Yeshiva. He married Ariella, an American, and the Weinsteins moved to Crown Heights, Brooklyn. With their two sons, Mendel and Eli, they currently reside in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn.

Weinstein is assistant rabbi of the Brooklyn Heights modern Orthodox congregation, Bnei Avraham. He also ministers to Jewish students at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn Law School and Long Island University. In 2003 he founded the semiannual Brooklyn Heights Jewish Film Festival.

Weinstein's book, "Up Up and Oy Vey", published in 2006, analyzes the Jewish role in the creation of such popular comic book superheroes as Superman, Batman, Hulk, Captain America, and Spider-Man, as well as super-teams like the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Justice League of America. The book also discusses Jewish superheroes, like Shadowcat, Sabra and The Thing and Jewish graphic artists including Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Will Eisner, Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, Chris Claremont, Julius Schwartz and Stan Lee. "Up Up and Oy Vey" won the prestigious Ben Franklin literary award in 2007 for Religious book of the year.

The first sentence of his book reveals Weinstein's interest in the link between popular superheroes and Jewish tradition: "Before Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man, there were the superpatriarchs and supermatriarchs of the Bible and heroic figures named Moses, Aaron, Joshua, David and Samson – not to mention the miracle-working prophet Elijah and those Jewish wonderwomen Ruth and Esther just to name a few. They all wielded courage and supernatural powers to protect and serve their people."

Articles

* "Is it a bird, is it a plane .... it's you know who!" (2006)
* "Last men standing" (2006)
* "Spirituality in spandex" "Kosher Magazine" (March 2006)

Books

*"Up Up and Oy Vey : How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero" (2006)

ee also

*List of Jewish superheroes

External links

* [http://www.rabbisimcha.com/ Comic Book Rabbi] Rabbi Simcha Weinstein's official website.