As some of you may know, I love superheroes. I have for a long time.
It was
way back in 2013 when I saw my first superhero movie. It was “The Avengers.” I was surfing Netflix for appropriate movies
– I was so young at the time – and I stumbled on “The Avengers.” I went nuts.
I loved it – so much I went on to see maybe twenty
movies over the next several months (while still fitting in my homework – which
took a superhuman effort if there ever was one). By now I’ve seen every Marvel and DC movie
that’s been made – at least 20 in all.
For those who might be interested, my top five would
include, at number 5, “Captain America, the Winter Soldier.” At number four, “Iron Man.” Coming in third, “Guardians of the
Galaxy.” Number two: “The Avengers.” And
at number one, what else could I pick but, of course, you guessed it…. “The
Dark Knight.”
What is it about these movies that I love? For one thing, there’s the character building.
Each main character is well developed and unique, both the heroes and the
villains. Even with the bad movies (like
the worst superhero movie ever – “Batman and Robin,”) there are still good
storylines.
There are recurring patterns and themes exploring how
heroes overcome tragedy in their lives.
Batman could never have become Batman if his parents hadn’t been
murdered. He turned that tragedy into a
good thing. So did the Green Lantern,
after his parents died in a place crash, Superman when his planet blew up, Spiderman
after his uncle and parents were killed, and Thor, whose mom was murdered. It might seem like it’s a cliché, since it
happens so often, but in each case the hero responds a little differently.
In my portion of Shmini, Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu
also die tragically, by a flash fire when they brought an unauthorized
sacrifice without informing their father.
In this case they lacked some of the qualities that are needed to become
a superhero like their uncle Moses.
The commentators give several reasons why that was the
case.
For one thing, there was a lack of faith – in God or
themselves. Superheroes are able to
triumph because they believe in themselves and in the rightness of what they
are doing.
Nadav and Avihu also put themselves before others, the
exact opposite of what a true hero would do.
Unlike them, Iron man, who is cocky and it does get him into trouble, is
able to learn from his mistakes. Batman also
overcomes his inflated ego through training from martial arts mentor, Ra's al
Ghul, who then turns out to be a villain who tries to kill him.
Yes I know it’s complicated. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
Then there’s the matter of dress, a subject that is
near and dear to me. According to the commentators,
Nadav and Avihu disrespected their surroundings by entering the sanctuary
casually dressed. I can relate to the
need to dress well! (Put on little
cape?) True superheroes understand the need to wear color coordinated capes and
masks and they always come dressed to kill!
And finally, patience.
One critic of Nadav and Avihu explains that they were too anxious to
take over leadership from their elders.
For a superhero, there is no need to rush to become a leader. When the
right moment arrives to take charge, you’ll be ready. Superman had to wait for years before that
moment arrived. With Thor, the hammer
chose him. You just have to be ready to
respond the needs of the moment.
In some ways, right now is my moment. Becoming a Bar Mitzvah is a lot like becoming
a superhero. The world needs a lot of
help. Our task as Jews is to help to
repair it – we call that tikkun olam.
It’s no surprise that so many of these superheroes were created by Jews.
I know that although I’m now a bar mitzvah, it may be
years before I really know what my place is in the bigger picture. But when that time comes, I hope to be ready.
For my mitzvah project, I’ve been volunteering at
Friendship Circle. I know that for the special needs students that I work with,
I can be a hero to them.
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