‘I am a big Jew’: Why Larry is a better Jew than most Israelis

Published: 30 October 2017

Last updated: 4 March 2024

LARRY DAVID, who’s more interested in the history of the pastrami sandwich than the Temple, is a better Jew than most Israelis. He is a better Jew than I am. It’s not a competition, I know, but still, his Jewishness is not in doubt. Larry himself doesn’t doubt it; he’s proud of it.

He flaunts it wherever and whenever he can. That egotistical, malignantly narcissistic man clings to his Jewishness. In fact, it’s the only thing he’s preoccupied with that’s not related to his personal problems, his neuroses, his embarrassments, his conflicted soul and his unfulfilled desires.

In the nine seasons of the HBO series “Curb your Enthusiasm,” Larry David’s Jewishness is present in nearly every episode. He had a rabbi over for dinner; posed as an Orthodox Jew; and scored tickets for a synagogue sermon from a scalper. He insisted on placing a mezuzah at the entrance to his new home and proudly told the Palestinian woman owner of a chicken restaurant: “I am a Jew, a big Jew. Big.” Then they had sex.

FULL STORY Curb Your Judaism: Why Larry David is a better Jew than most Israelis (Haaretz)
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