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Ask a Jew: Most faiths seem to have a central religious figure they look up to (Jesus, Buddha, Ghandi). Do Jews have such a figure, or who do you personally look up to as a Jewish leader?
Jews who worship any entity worship God, aka Hashem. As you’re probably aware, we don’t have godheads, saints, or other figures worthy of worship — just God. That said, our tradition is steeped in intellectualism, so scholars and innovative thinkers tend to be included in any list of most admired Jewish figures. The two who came most quickly to my mind were Maimonides, the most renowned Jewish philosopher of the medieval age, and Hillel the Elder. Hillel is a no-brainer; after all, how many Jews have a sandwich named after them? (OK, maybe a few.) Anyway, if you’re into rabbis, Jewish history provides no shortage of interesting, admirable people to learn about and/or emulate.
The Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman — an indie and mainstream success who hasn’t forgotten her Judaism — may make some contemporary Jews’ “most admired” list. I can understand that, as I’m not a religious Jew but am obsessed with pop culture. When I think about contemporary Jews I admire, director Darren Aronofsky comes to mind. He’s a gutsy indie filmmaker who started his career addressing Jewish themes in the black-and-white, ultra-low-budget head trip “Pi” and most recently returned to Jewish subject matter — or at least a Torah story — with his risk-taking, painterly epic “Noah” (currently available on Netflix).
In between, Aronofsky helmed the notoriously hard-to-watch “Requiem for a Dream,” the underrated “The Wrestler,” and the nightmarish “Black Swan.” His work juxtaposes darkness and hope in a way that seems very Jewish to me. Furthermore, Jews have a long history of creating vibrant, challenging, and unique works of art. Aronofsky makes movies that start long, heated conversations and aren’t for everyone. To me, he fits right in.
Elie Wiesel?
Great example Frank.
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elie_Wiesel
Elie Wiesel born September 30, 1928) is a Jewish-American professor and political activist. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald
concentration camps.
When Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986, the Norwegian Nobel
Committee called him a “messenger to mankind,” stating that through
his struggle to come to terms with “his own personal experience of total
humiliation and of the utter contempt for humanity shown in Hitler’s
death camps,” as well as his “practical work in the cause of peace,” Wiesel had delivered a powerful message “of peace, atonement and human dignity” to humanity.
I heard Elie Wiesel speak when I lived in Connecticut. Pretty powerful.
Yep, many Holocaust survivor/authors are considered heroic and much admired, not only within the Jewish community but in general. I’d say that’s a category of people to include alongside the major scholars and artists, for sure.