Larry David, Curb your Enthusiasm, Jews for Jesus

The entire episode aired last week although I only saw this short clip from Season 11, episode 6 of the series called "Curb Your Enthusiasm." In typical Larry David fashion, there is a doctor, in this case a chiropractor, named Jacobsen who is Jewish. Larry and he discuss in lightning fashion themes of Jewishness, divorce and singleness, and the status derived from clients. The latter scene introduces the new set which is a replica of Larry's childhood home and a character who is on the set, who turns out to be a man named Steinberg who attends a church and thus is unavailable for shooting on Thursdays after 4. As matter-of-factly as possible, Steinberg says he's a Jew for Jesus. That propels the rest of the controversial discussion. 

Here's the clip in question: https://youtu.be/CEaNcatvVY0

Shirley Maclaine was in the movie with Cameron Diaz and Aussie Toni Collette in 2005 named "In her shoes." An amalgam of stories that never quite worked well together, but in that show, the Marcia character becomes a "Jew for Jesus." (Played by Jackie Geary) It is met with usual Jewish disdain and a lack of understanding and dismissal if nothing else. 

I find the use of the phrase and the organization of interest. Perhaps it's because I've self-associated in this way for 40 + years, and perhaps because there are few other organizations which net as much negative perception. Larry David knocks it back with his associate. So do most others. 

The column written by Andrew SILOW-CARROLL of the Jewish Telegraph Agency was picked up this week by the Jerusalem Post. It highlights the increasing Jewish questioning and blatancy of Larry David in this season. Of this 6th episode, Carroll writes, "In the latest episode, for example, a Jew for Jesus joins the cast of the show that Larry’s character is developing for Hulu. Although neither Larry nor his Jewish friends are remotely religious, they seem genuinely upset by the actor’s apostasy, and Larry gives him a rather sober warning that he shouldn’t proselytize on set."

There are significant conversations to be had with your brother in San Francisco or your sister in Kansas City about matters of faith. Perhaps your cousin in Arizona or Pennsylvania has heard of the organization, but honestly, they have not actually looked into the question's answer: What is a "Jew for Jesus?"

It's not really so surprising to unpack the phrase, after all. Simply put, a Jew for Jesus is someone who is born Jewish and who comes to believe that Jesus is our Messiah. Full stop. Does it have to do with kosher food? Not necessarily. How about laying tefillin or having a Friday night Shabbat meal with all those nephews? Nope-- not the issue at all. Being a Jew is something for continual discussion and belief is continuing to intrigue many and give us ample conversations on Shabbat or anytime!

What if Howard Stern became a Jew for Jesus?

Or Mortimer Adler? Mel Brooks?

Or Andrew Klavan?

You see, it's not only for Marcia in 2005 or Steinberg on "CYE" in 2021. You can be a Jew for Jesus, and it won't change your identity at all. If you are a Jew today, tomorrow when you become a follower of the Jew Jesus, you will still be Jewish. Larry David would still be Jewish. Rabbi Saul of Tarsus and Rabbi Harold Vallins of Melbourne became followers of the Messiah Jesus and stayed very Jewish to their end. 

I was born a Jew; I'll die a Jew. In 1951, I was born. In 1971 I was born again. Believing in Jesus, the Jewish Messiah foretold by the Jewish prophets in the Jewish Scriptures doesn't make me a Gentile; it completes me as a Jew.

Want to read my story? It's right here. https://bit.ly/StoryBob  

What about you.... who do you think Jesus is?