On the eve of Halloween (and Shabbos), let’s give a nod to some non-corporeal members of the tribe.
1. Casper the Friendly Ghost
Sure, Casper’s fair countenance and Scottish name (his surname is “McFadden,” Google it) are waspy as all hell, but America’s favourite ghost child is the creation of none other than Harvey Comics, a New York City publisher founded in 1941 by Alfred Harvey Wiernikoff, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants.
2. The Dybbuk
A Jewish folklore classic, this malicious spirit has been possessing our people’s troubled souls since waaay back in the day.
3. Fruma Sarah
The widow of hotshot butcher Lazar Wolf who haunts Tevye’s dream in the famous musical and film adaptations of Fiddler on the Roof, Fruma Sarah is so spooky she convinces Tevye not to marry his daughter Tzeitel off to money bags Wolf, and to instead let her wed her sweetheart Motel.
4. Kevin Costner (from the movie Field of Dreams, which is about ghosts)
…probably isn’t Jewish. Despite the Internet’s best efforts to “bagel” him, the verdict on the hard-hitting site Jew or Not Jew is that Costner isn’t.
5. Elijah the Prophet
Um, we leave an empty cup out for him and he’s invisible, so.
6. Dr. Egon Spengler
The most nebbishy of the Ghostbusters, Spengler, played in film adaptations of Ghostbusters by the late (and Jewish) Harold Ramis, shows that we play for both sides.
7. The angel of death
Angel, ghost, what’s the diff?
