Line #14 Main/JewishAndNerdy


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12	[[caption-width-right:350:Without the menorah, she's just nerdy; without the [[NerdGlasses glasses]], she's just Jewish.]]
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17	Jews are, perhaps, the originators of the modern nerd stereotype. Why? Maybe their long, scholarly tradition, maybe their immigrant past (comparable to AsianAndNerdy, the BollywoodNerd, and African migrant versions of BlackAndNerdy), maybe their [[JewishMother overbearing]] {{Education Mama}}s, maybe for some other weird reason. But for whatever reason, you will rarely see a stupid Jewish character on TV (unless he or she is more of a DitzyGenius or GeniusDitz). In RealLife, many prominent doctors, lawyers, authors, scientists, and philosophers have been of Jewish descent. Nearly 20% of all Nobel Prizes have been awarded to people of Jewish descent.
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19	These characters often sport NerdyNasalness that may accompany a Brooklyn or [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage Yiddish-inflected accent]] as part of the stereotype. Maybe even with EinsteinHair to go with, if they have one.
20
21	Compare AsianAndNerdy and BollywoodNerd, two other ethnic nerd stereotypes. Contrast GentileJewChaser and BlackAndNerdy, both inversions of a more prevalent ethnic stereotype. Intelligence as a character trait may lead to instances of AmbiguouslyJewish, thanks to this trope. Finally, contrast {{Hipster}}, which often deals with Jewish or Ambiguously Jewish characters acting stereotypically 'cool.' Compare NiceJewishBoy and MagicalJew.
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23	[[noreallife]]
24	----
25	!!Examples:
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* Benny from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' is Jewish and a computer geek.
30	* Leo Kakinoki in ''Anime/GhostStories'' is an elementary school student obsessed with the paranormal, and the English GagDub makes him and his family Jewish.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'': In a team where every member is some degree of AscendedFanboy, Billy Kaplan/Wiccan is still one of the biggest nerds, often quotes pop culture, and is canonically confirmed Jewish during ''ComicBook/AvengersTheChildrensCrusade''.
35	** In ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', he refers to fighting Laufey as looking more fun in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings.''
36	* Gertrude Yorkes of the ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' is both incredibly well-read and Jewish.
37	* ComicBook/KittyPryde from ''ComicBook/XMen''; in the comic she wears a Star of David necklace. She is a computer nerd, and in the Claremont days a general sci-fi and comic book nerd (with a particular fondness for ''Star Wars'', so naturally the X-Men's space adventures were just awesome for her). Less so in more modern depictions, where her general nerdiness is either downplayed or outright forgotten.
38	* ''ComicBook/{{Robin\|1993}}'': Tim's friend Ives is plenty nerdy, playing tabletop [=RPGs=] and arguing on what counts as actual cannon from the Star Wars expanded universe and what computer operating systems are better, he is also Jewish which means Tim takes note when he spots him leaving a Catholic church (Ives was there for a cancer support group meeting).
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Fan Works]]
42	* [[BigBad The Seraphim]] from ''Fanfic/AngelOfTheBat'' is portrayed as highly stereotypically Jewish and nerdy-looking, in strong contrast to his imposing physique and strong BoomerangBigot tendencies later.
43	* In the ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8552991/1/XXY-Evolution XXY:Evolution]]'', where most of the characters are [[RuleSixtyThree genderbend]], Kit Pryde (male Shadowcat) is nerdy, he loves science fiction and fantasy, and loves to play D&D with his few nerdy friends from his old school. This makes him [[TruerToTheText much closer to his female counterpart in her early comic book appearances]]. Unlike his counterpart in the show, Kit has a crush on Katrina (female Nightcrawler) almost immediately, due to her resembling a dark elf from one of his favorite fantasy stories. He's also a big FanBoy of ComicBook/SpiderMan[[note]]who's still in his canon gender along with his supporting cast[[/note]].
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
47	* Peter B. Parker in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' is an AlternateUniverse offshoot of the PrimeTimeline ComicBook/SpiderMan, with the main differences being a [[StatusQuoIsGod successful marriage to Mary Jane]] and him being AmbiguouslyJewish (whereas 616 Peter is Protestant Christian). In [[WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse the sequel]] M.J. teases him for being unfamiliar with sports.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
51	* Jessica Stein, from ''Film/KissingJessicaStein'', is a huge literature and grammar nerd.
52	%%* Insert Creator/WoodyAllen or Creator/RickMoranis character here.
53	* All of the Jewish Harvard students in ''Film/TheSocialNetwork''. The Jewish fraternity's party is pretty lame and filled with nerdy-looking guys. Jewish guys have a preponderance of [[AsianAndNerdy nerdy Asian girlfriends]].
54	%%* ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'': Rosenberg and Goldstein -- Harold and Kumar's neighbors.
55	* While Egon Spengler from ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' (and its various {{Spin Off}}s) is only AmbiguouslyJewish, he's a stellar example of the trope. His actor, Creator/HaroldRamis, was a secular Jew who was religious in his youth.
56	%%* The title character in ''Film/BartonFink'' is a particularly tormented example.
57	* Joel Glicker (Creator/DavidKrumholtz) in ''Film/TheAddamsFamily Values'' has it all: the asthma inhaler, the round glasses, the preference for complex science books, and the vulnerability to everything. His sickliness immediately [[NightmareFetishist attracts]] Wednesday.
58	** Ironically, Krumholtz ended up the straightest example of this in ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}'' 30 years later as Isidor Isaac Rabi. There are ''many'' Jewish scientists in the films, including UsefulNotes/RobertOppenheimer, but Rabi's probably the nerdiest of them, and he's also the one who's the most in touch with his Jewish heritage (speaking Yiddish etc).
59	* [[WordOfGod According to writer Travis Beacham]], Dr. Hermann Gottlieb of ''Film/PacificRim'' has Jewish ancestry but is non-practicing.
60	* ''Film/AnimalHouse'':
61	** Subverted by Donald "Boone" Schoenstein (Peter Riegert). Though AmbiguouslyJewish, he is arguably the fourth coolest guy in the Delta Tau Chi fraternity, as well as TheLancer to the supercool Eric "Otter" Stratton. ([[ShiksaGoddess His girlfriend]] does think he's a loser, though.)
62	** When Delta is tricked into using the wrong answers to cheat on a psych test, Hoover discovers their mistake (too late) by checking with the Jewish house.
63	* [[InformedJudaism Marv Murchens]] (Daniel Stern) of the ''Film/HomeAlone'' movies is a double subversion. Though certainly geeky in appearance, he has a mind scarcely superior to that of a young child. However, on occasion, he will be [[GeniusDitz the voice of reason and more intelligent than his partner]].
64	* David Levinson of ''Film/IndependenceDay'', played by Creator/JeffGoldblum. A NiceJewishBoy and GibberingGenius whose EstablishingCharacterMoment is [[SmartPeoplePlayChess playing chess]] with his lovably crotchety dad, he verges on AlmightyJanitor in that he has an [=MIT=] education but is happy in his cable company job in New York City. When the alien ships first appear, he's sharp enough to figure out the purpose of the signal the ships are sending out, and with dad in tow heads to Washington D.C. to warn the President of the United States of the threat. (It helps that the ex-wife he's still devoted to works as the White House Communications Director.) Later, he figures out how to bring down the shields that protect the aliens' ships, finally giving humanity a chance to stop them. Even his first name plays into this trope, as this situation is the DavidVersusGoliath tale from the Old Testament on a huge scale. It's worth noting that while Goldblum has played nerdy characters in ''many'' films and is himself Jewish, Levinson is the only one of those characters explicitly presented as Jewish and thus able to qualify for this trope.
65	* Timmy of "Film/Jaws2". He has a Jewfro and glasses.
66	* Barry Allen/The Flash in the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse. In ''[[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague Justice League]]'', he's {{socially awkward\|Hero}}, built himself a suit to resist the high friction his SuperSpeed causes, and indirectly describes himself as "Jewish".
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Literature]]
70	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Butters is a total geek and mentions in a couple of places that he is Jewish.
71	* Most of Chaim Potok's characters embody this trope, especially his protagonists.
72	** ''Everybody'' in ''Literature/TheChosen'', a novel about a friendship between two Talmud students.
73	** ''In The Beginning'' has an interesting contrast: the protagonist's father is a [[BadassIsraeli Badass Polish Jew]] whose backstory includes joining the Polish army against his family and community's opposition and killing an unspecified, but quite large, number of Cossacks. He is very clear that the appropriate response to a pogrom is violence, and passes this belief on to his son, the protagonist... who couldn't possibly act on it, being a [[JewishAndNerdy pale, skinny, glasses-wearing,]] utterly brilliant, chronically-ill bullying target.
74	%% * Simon Lewis from ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments''.
75	* Stanley Uris (from Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{It}}'') must count, what with loving birdwatching, being almost obsessively neat and smartly dressed, and growing up to become an accountant.
76	* Albert Kaussner from ''Literature/TheLangoliers'', a spaghetti western buff and Indiana Jones fan with a yarmulke on his head. He's also the resident BadassNormal, being the one who finally takes down the insane Craig Toomy.
77	* ''Literature/TheSupervillainySaga'' protagonist, Gary Karkofsky, constantly references Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, and other pop culture. He's also very-very Jewish. Curiously, he's also a KavorkaMan and PopCulturedBadass.
78	* Minerva Green, better known as Min, is the protagonist of ''Literature/WhyWeBrokeUp'' and applies. She's Jewish and a smart, bookish [[TheMovieBuff movie buff]] with a quick wit. She shares qualities of both a nerd and a {{Hipster}} and falls somewhere between the two.
79	* In ''Literature/GoodbyeToBerlin'', Natalia Landauer is a well-read Jewish heiress who wields her book smarts like a cudgel.
80	* Anthony Goldstein from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is implied to be this. Though he's a background character who barely speaks, he's a prefect from Ravenclaw (the house known for intelligence), implying that he's smart and a great student, and WordOfGod confirms that he's Jewish.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
84	* Noel Shempsky from ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. He's heavy into all things ''Franchise/StarTrek'', to the point Scott Bakula and William Shatner have both [[StalkerWithACrush legally required him to remain at least 100 feet away from them]]. His crush on Roz has him envisioning her as "Queen Rozalinda", a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe with four breasts.
85	* Howard Wolowitz from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. Leonard Hofstader could also be an example: he's never implied to be even ethnically Jewish and he's a bit more 'jockish' than the other nerd characters, but [[JewishMother his mother]] does fit many of the stereotypes.
86	%%* Willow Rosenberg from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
87	* Rachel Berry from ''Series/{{Glee}}'' is a musical-theater nerd, though the show also has a rare stupid (or at least BookDumb) Jewish character in JerkJock Puck. And then, of course, there's Jacob Ben Israel.
88	* Seth Cohen from ''Series/TheOC'' is Jewish on his father's side and a self-proclaimed geek who loves comic books and video games.
89	* Ross Geller from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' is a brainy paleontologist and easily the most socially awkward Friend.
90	* The two nerdiest characters from ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'', Andrea and David, are both Jewish. In the SequelSeries, Navid is by far the nerdiest main character and is also Jewish.
91	%%* Robbie from ''Series/{{Victorious}}''.
92	* Annie Edison from ''Series/{{Community}}'' is a very intelligent over-achiever as well as the group's requisite Jew.
93	* ''Series/NeverHaveIEver'': Ben rivals Devi in intelligence, and happens to be Jewish.
94	* Barbara Brownstein from ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', a TwoferTokenMinority who is also AsianAndNerdy.
95	%%* Craig and Eric, the two nerds from ''Series/DrakeAndJosh''.
96	* Felicity Smoak from ''Series/{{Arrow}},'' a computer geek and [[HollywoodHacking expert hacker]].
97	%%* Neal Schweiber from ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks''.
98	%%* Simon Lewis on ''Series/{{Shadowhunters}}''
99	* Paul Phiffer on ''Series/TheWonderYears'' is a Jewish nerd.
100	* Adam, sci-fi and video obsessed favourite son of a classic JewishMother, in ''Series/TheGoldbergs''.
101	* ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': In a cast full of Jews, only Midge's father Abe is really an example, and he's a nerd in the "middle-aged, tweedy professor" style.
102	* ''Series/ThePlotAgainstAmerica'': Seldon is a small, bespectacled, [[NerdyNasalness nasal-voiced]] Jewish kid who likes to play chess and won the math competition. He's a friend of Philip's, but Philip ditches him whenever there's something more interesting to do.
103	* Series/PowerRangersSPD has Bridge, a CloudCuckooLander with a love for buttery toast. He's AmbiguouslyJewish, noting in a Christmas episode that he used to celebrate Channukah instead of Christmas.
104	* ''Series/MyDeadEx'': Ben is a Jewish boy who's {{endearingly dorky}}, with interests like cooking that aren't typical of teenage boys, and charmingly awkward.
105	* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': Robbie Shapiro is frequently mocked for his nerdiness by other characters and the narrative alike, and is stated in ''[[Recap/VictoriousS1E16 Wok Star]]'' to have had a bar mitzvah.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Music]]
109	* In Music/ZachSherwin's song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4zyJW3GcjM "Street Cred"]], Sherwin discusses how, rather than participating in underground battles and being in gangs like the rappers he admired in his youth, his childhood consisted of joining his synagogue's youth group, being on his high school's debate team, and getting a job at the local TCBY.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Podcasts]]
113	* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures'': The first Molecule Max is a theoretical physicist and university teacher. As his name implies, he's able to shrink himself so small an oxygen molecule is the size of a football to him using technology of his own invention. Impressive as this is, Max wishes his powers were more flashy precisely because there aren't a lot of Jewish superheroes out there, and is actually put out that the Red Panda brought him along in "Small Wonders" because he wanted Professor Weisman more than Molecule Max. He was originally a member of the American superhero team the Justice Union, but as World War II ramped up and the Americans initially stayed out of it, he joined a Canadian unit known as the Home Team so he could do his part.
114	[[/folder]]
115
116	[[folder:Theater]]
117	* ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'': Chava is sometimes portrayed as this, due to her love of reading books. The 2015 Broadway revival gave her glasses.
118	* ''{{Theatre/Leopoldstadt}}'': One of the main characters, Ludwig, is a professor of mathematics at the University of Vienna, and is obsessed with number theory, particularly solving the Riemann Hypothesis.
119	* Mark Cohen from ''Theatre/{{Rent}}''. He's smart, wears glasses, is an artistic filmmaker, and knows enough about electronics to help fix Maureen's setup. He's also more cultured than most of his friends (he recognizes Musetta's Waltz and knows how to tango).
120	* ''Theatre/AShoggothOnTheRoof'', a parody of ''Theatre/FiddlerOnTheRoof'' [[RecycledInSpace with]] [[Creator/HPLovecraft Lovecraft]], evokes this.
121	* The AmbiguouslyJewish Seymour Krelborn of ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' fame probably counts. Hell, in [[Film/LittleShopOfHorrors the film adaptation]], they got Creator/RickMoranis to play him!
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Video Games]]
125	%%* The entire Emmerich family line from the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series, but Otacon most of all.
126	* Stelsa Sezyat from ''VideoGame/{{Hiveswap}}'' and ''VisualNovel/HiveswapFriendsim'' was stated to be "troll Jewish" and looks rather nerdy, with her large glasses and... [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes questionable fashion sense]].
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Webcomics]]
130	* [[AmbiguouslyJewish Mordecai Heller]] of ''WebComic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' was eventually confirmed by WordOfGod to be Jewish and is one of the smartest members of the cast. Unlike many examples, he's also extremely ''[[PsychoForHire brutal]]''.
131	* Ethan Siegal of ''WebComic/{{Shortpacked}}'' and ''WebComic/DumbingOfAge'' is a toy collector, a near-fanatical editor of the Transformers Wiki, and can recite ''He-Man'' audiobooks from memory.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Web Videos]]
135	* ''WebVideo/GameGrumps''/''WebVideo/SteamTrain'': Barry Kramer (the editor) and Danny "Sexbang" Avidan (of Music/NinjaSexParty fame). Both are fond of making jokes about it at their own expense (Danny even questions the GreedyJew stereotype on one episode of their ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'' playthrough, asking "Who doesn't love money?")
136	%%* Barbara Dunkelman of ''Creator/RoosterTeeth''.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Western Animation]]
140	* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': [[Characters/SouthParkKyleBroflovski Kyle Broflovski]] is the smartest kid in his group and has a poster of Einstein on his wall. He also sports a classic, unfortunate Jewfro underneath his hat. However, he's cool enough to be just one of the guys. His cousin from Connecticut, on the other hand, is extremely nerdy, delicate, and stereotypical, to Kyle's annoyance.
141	%%* Mort Goldman, his wife Muriel, and their son Neil from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' all fit this trope to a T.
142	* Professor John Frink of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' was always AmbiguouslyJewish until he cleared everything up by admitting that his father enjoyed kosher food. It should be noted that Hank Azaria based Frink's voice on Creator/JerryLewis from ''Film/TheNuttyProfessor1963'' -- and Lewis voiced Frink's dad in one segment of "Treehouse of Horror XV".
143	* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': Inverted with Harold, who is one of the least intelligent characters on the show. Also played straight with AmbiguouslyJewish Eugene (confirmed by WordOfGod)
144	%%* Ron Stoppable from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' is a .
145	%%* Sheldon Klutzberry from ''WesternAnimation/TheReplacements''.
146	* Arnold from ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'' is a very geeky kid with glasses, and the ChristmasEpisode, [[InformedJudaism it's revealed that he celebrates Chanukah.]]
147	* Libby from ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee''. One episode in season 1 is about her Bat Mitzvah and she is in general a quirky nerdy girl who is one of the few people able to vibe on Molly's level.
148	* Dipper Pines from ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' is heavily implied to be ethnically Jewish, but WordOfGod states [[https://twitter.com/_AlexHirsch/status/758547032554344448 he was raised non-religiously]]. [[spoiler:His great-uncle Ford, the author of the journals,]] is a straighter example since he ''was'' raised Jewish.
149	* Andrew on ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth''. Also possibly [[BlackAndNerdy Missy]], whose mother is AmbiguouslyJewish whose father is a Black man. Jessi may also qualify, being more intellectually oriented than most girls in her school except for Missy.
150	* Both Neil Goldman and his father Mort on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
151	* Snot on ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. Sort of a subversion, since he might be the least nerdy of Steve's nerdy friends, despite being the only Jewish one.
152	* Filburt from ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' is another AmbiguouslyJewish nerd, as well as a SicklyNeuroticGeek.
153	* ''WesternAnimation/XavierRiddleAndTheSecretMuseum'': Brad is Jewish, as revealed in "I Am Tomioka Tessai" (His special item is a dreidel, and his grandfather is shown wearing a kippah in a flashback), and is a huge nerd due to his love of comics, knowledge of butterflies, and good math skills (judging by how he always accurately calculates how many years back in time the kids will go).
154	[[/folder]]

Context Main / JewishAndNerdy