Is Bruce Wayne Jewish?

[db105]

I've never seen him deny being a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. EVER.

Works for me. As you know, Pastafarianism is a real, legitimate religion, as much as any other, and it's a shame that Pastafarians don't get representation in comics, unlike other minorities. Batman being a Pastafarian is a step in the right direction.

[Osiris-Rex]

Did I? Yes we saw Menorah in that one issue, but why is that given more importance than the hundreds of times we've seen a cross on her gravestone. Or do Jews also use crosses on their gravestones? I honestly don't know.

In military cemeteries there is a Star of David on the headstone instead of a cross and for Muslims a crescent moon. It's not just limited to those though. There is a headstone for about every belief, or even for atheists.

https://www.cem.va.gov/docs/emblems.pdf

[Restingvoice]

Bruce's atheism isn't about not believing that a deity exists since he's seen and fought gods and he's even been to the afterlife and talked with his parents in Justice League Dark. It's more like a lost of faith, lost of trust, and lost of hope. The lost of his parents made him realize that things can be random, that there is no help from the outside, and it made him feel helpless. So the way he handle it is to be so self reliant, so capable, he can plan and control anything.

He knows deities exist, but he doesn't want to have anything to do with them and he's not hoping for anything since no one was there that night to save his parents.

[Vordan]

Pretty sure Kate’s mom was the ethnic Jew while Jacob Kane maybe converted in order to marry her. Bruce has always celebrated Christian traditions, and has never once hinted at Jewish heritage. I always had him as a lapsed Catholic who turned his back on faith after his parents deaths.

[byrd156]

Pretty sure Kate’s mom was the ethnic Jew while Jacob Kane maybe converted in order to marry her. Bruce has always celebrated Christian traditions, and has never once hinted at Jewish heritage. I always had him as a lapsed Catholic who turned his back on faith after his parents deaths.

Yeah I've always seen the Waynes as some form of Christian but Bruce stopped after his parents were killed.

[batnbreakfast]

The real question is if the Clash were Jews, I guess. Religion doesn't really matter in Batman comics (Ragman on the other hand...)? He's worked with Spectre so he probably is a believer. Bruce as a sceptic is just rational detective default mode.

[Arctic Cyclist]

Pretty sure KateÂ’s mom was the ethnic Jew while Jacob Kane maybe converted in order to marry her. Bruce has always celebrated Christian traditions, and has never once hinted at Jewish heritage. I always had him as a lapsed Catholic who turned his back on faith after his parents deaths.

Pretty sure based on canon evidence that you're right except for the Catholic part.

The Waynes, Kanes, Elliots, and Cobblepots are all old New England families with roots shown going back to the 1600s. Basic American history establishes that they, in order to have accumulated their wealth and power, and, oh, not have been tortured and driven from Gotham, all are white Angelo Saxon protestants. Every flashback outside of Tynion's 'Tec to Martha's family, including Year Zero with Phillip, reinforces that. Batman: the Return made a brick joke about the Kanes being the worst of WASPs. That particular storyline made the jump to current continuity via Batman & Robin and Robin Rises: Omega, which also still count for Rebirth as some of the plot lines from those comics have been referred to in the background art of King's Batman. Or in the case of the pearl, stripped of the original meaning and emotional weight to create a scene bolstering his OTP.

Since Batman: the Ultimate Evil, we've started seeing the history of Martha as a social activist who was borderline disowned until she married rich. The impression I've received from Batwoman's various comics was that Jacob was estranged, if not outright disowned, because of his marriage choice which fits with the character of the few appearances of other Kanes we've seen. Even before Tynion, Jacob appeared to be the only sibling Martha had a good relationship with. Other flashbacks have shown her disliking her family and avoiding them due to money grubbing. Zero Year explicitly had her other brothers hounding Alfred to declare Bruce dead so they could inherit. Considering how negative of a stereotype that is in regards to Jews, well...

If the Waynes are Catholic, it was a recent conversion occurring after JFK became president. Likewise, if the Kanes are Jewish, it's a recent thing that occurred within the last two generations as prior to that rampant racism would have prevented them from acquiring a position among New England Blue Bloods. They would be Episcopalians, or possibly Lutherans, which as a former Catholic, I still sometimes confuse for Catholic based on imagery and ritual.

That said, I unrepentantly ship Waynes/al Ghuls, and fully suscribe to an obscure fan theory of the early 00s that Alan Wayne is the hidden son of Nyssa Raatko and Joshua Wayne raised by Solomon and his wife after their own still birth/early infant death and Joshua's death. Not only does that explain Ra's' obsession with Bruce as his heir, Nyssa's desire to avoid conflict with him, Dusan's weird resentment, Talia's hot and cold feelings for Bruce, it makes him Jewish through Nyssa. Who, for those who only know the faux Nyssa from Arrow, is the daughter of a Russian Jew who chose her mother's heritage over her father.

Is Bruce Jewish? In fanon yes, and maaaaybeeeee in canon based on one panel in one comic out of thousands that doesn't match up with what other comics say. But this is the era of fan pandering, where if a few fans scream loud enough and harass the creators across social media, their head canons can become canon. At least in comics. So, probably, eventually the Kanes will be complete with the toxic stereotypes thrown in.

However, I'm holding out for the Nyssa/Joshua version of Bruce being Jewish. It's much nicer and has the positive aspects of the Jewish affiliations with abolition and the Underground Railroad.

[bobellis75]

Except, once again: fictional characters owned by corporations who have their histories erased or altered on a regular basis.

If DC doesn't come out and have Bruce Wayne ever explicitly say on-panel that he is Jewish, then he is not.

Why do they have to explicitly say anything? Shouldn't they rely on their audience to be able to put 2 and 2 together?

If you need your stories spoon fed to you, then that's fine...but I can take information I am given and get from point A to point B. If Martha Wayne is Jewish, in canon, then so is Bruce.

Not that it matters. It doesn't inform his character at all (or it hasn't to this point).

[Tenzel Kim]

In military cemeteries there is a Star of David on the headstone instead of a cross and for Muslims a crescent moon. It's not just limited to those though. There is a headstone for about every belief, or even for atheists.

I get that, but that wasn't the question I was asking. I was asking if some Jews were also seen using crosses on their graves due to the fact that Martha's grave always seem to sport a cross rather than the Star of David. And if it was because she had converted to Christianity wouldn't the presence of the Menorah at her and Thomas' funeral be out of place.

[Colt Cape]

This doesn't matter at all. They don't have to be explicit about it. Martha Wayne was Jewish, therefore Bruce is. That's how it works. It also doesn't matter if Bruce is observant or not.

He doesn't observe Judaism. Thus, not Jewish. Its a religion, not a race.

[sunofdarkchild]

He doesn't observe Judaism. Thus, not Jewish. Its a religion, not a race.

And yet you have atheist Jews. It's an ethnicity first and foremost.

[Colt Cape]

And yet you have atheist Jews. It's an ethnicity first and foremost.

What Jews do you hang around? Lol
What's next, Muslims are an ethnicity?

[sunofdarkchild]

What Jews do you hang around? Lol
What's next, Muslims are an ethnicity?

Jews are not people who practice or believe in Judaism. Jews are so named because they are descendants of the nation of Judah. Judaism is named for the people who practice it, not the other way around like with other religions today. The people and the religion date back to a time when each nation had its own religion. To say that a Jew who does not believe in god is not Jewish is more like saying that an Ancient Egyptian who did not believe in Ra or an Ancient Greek person who did not believe in Zeus was not really an Ancient Egyptian or Greek person rather than like a modern day Muslim or Christian who renounced their faith.

[adkal]

He doesn't observe Judaism. Thus, not Jewish. Its a religion, not a race.

What Jews do you hang around? Lol
What's next, Muslims are an ethnicity?

This might help:

It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do. A person born to non-Jewish parents who has not undergone the formal process of conversion but who believes everything that Orthodox Jews believe and observes every law and custom of Judaism is still a non-Jew, even in the eyes of the most liberal movements of Judaism, and a person born to a Jewish mother who is an atheist and never practices the Jewish religion is still a Jew, even in the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox. In this sense, Judaism is more like a nationality than like other religions, and being Jewish is like a citizenship.

From Judaism 101

[adkal]

Jews are not people who practice or believe in Judaism.

I think you may have meant "Jews are not just people who practice or believe in Judaism".

Jews are so named because they are descendants of the nation of Judah. Judaism is named for the people who practice it, not the other way around like with other religions today.

Yes and no. Like you said, one understanding is that it's derived from Judah - coupled with that, however, is that it's 'the religion of Judah': therefore named after him.

Judah and Israel became two separate nations after Solomon (as) passed away and, although some tribes were lost and/or exiled, the nomenclature ended up embracing both core groups.