SUPERMAN is the most famous character in the world. He’s the first superhero, an American icon—and he’s Jewish!

Introduced in 1938, the Man of Steel was created by two Jewish teens, the sons of immigrants from Eastern Europe. They based their hero’s origin story on Moses, his strength on Samson, his mission on the golem, and his nebbish secret identity on themselves. They made him a refugee fleeing catastrophe on the eve of World War II and sent him to tear Nazi tanks apart nearly two years before the US joined the war. In the following decades, Superman’s mostly Jewish writers, artists, and editors continued to borrow Jewish motifs for their stories, basing Krypton’s past on Genesis and Exodus, the trial of Lex Luthor on Adolf Eichmann’s, and a future holiday celebrating Superman on Passover.
Author Roy Schwartz discusses his new book, Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero, exploring these underlying themes of a beloved modern mythology in a fascinating and entertaining journey through Jewish tradition, American history and comic book lore, sure to give readers a newfound appreciation for the Mensch of Steel!

Roy Schwartz is the author of Is Superman Circumcised? The Complete Jewish History of the World’s Greatest Hero and the middle grade fantasy The Darkness in Lee’s Closet and the Others Waiting There. Originally from Israel, Roy has written for newspapers, magazines, websites, academic organizations, law firms, tech companies, toy companies, and production studios. He has taught English and writing at the City University of New York and is a former writer-in-residence fellow at the New York Public Library. When not writing, he is the director of marketing and business development of a regional law firm.