Almost every ethnic and minority
group has been the target of barbs —
sometimes cruelly funny — on the
show, unusual in such politically cor-
rect times.
And surprisingly, Jewish audiences,
young and old, haven't seemed to take
umbrage at the Jewish japes — with
Jews as the brunt of the jokes — that
made up some of the series' most sear-
ing plot lines.
Who could forget the man in black
— the rabbi who hankers for Elaine,
the forbidden shiksa, or Kramer's con-
tretemps with the aforementioned
mohel? Or that same rabbi revealing
on TV, in a sing-song voice, details of
George's sex life?
Is "Seinfeld" anti-Semitic? Or is it
all much ado about ... nothing?
Over nine years, audiences across
the country showed that sensitivities
can be overcome by a good laugh or
two.
"I [just] think of them as New
Yorkers," said one fan. And all the rest
is, well, yadda, yadda, yadda.

❑

Tune in to NBC from 8-10 p.m.
Thursday, May 14, for a "Seinfeld"
retrospective and the final episode
of "Seiafeld."

Michael Elkin is entertainment editor
of Philadelphia's "Jewish Exponent."

Wishing On A Star

TOM TUGEND
Special to The Jewish News

IV

him how much people in Israel liked
his show and gave him a T-shirt
which said, 'I Met Eyal Beer' in front
and 'Jerry' on the back."

hen 13-year-old Eyal
Beer spent most
of last year at an
Israeli hospital
for treatment of acute
leukemia, the ordeal was
brightened by regularly watch-
ing the "Seinfeld" show.
. So when the Make-A-Wish
Foundation, which fulfills the
requests of children with life-
threatening illnesses, asked Eyal
for his biggest wish, the answer
was easy: to meet Jerry Seinfeld
I MET
A YAL 1FER
and watch him tape a show.
On March 25, Eyal's dream
came true.
Accompanied by his parents Eyal Beer meets Jerry Seinfeld.
and a sister, he watched for
more than three hours as the
Seinfeld, in turn, marveled that
cast taped one of its last shows on
Israelis spoke such accent-free
the tightly guarded set at the CBS-
English, explained by the fact that
TV studio.
Beer's parents, Leo and Nettie, are
The climax came when Seinfeld
both native New Yorkers who moved
himself walked over to the Beer fam-
to Israel in 1975.
ily for a brief chat. _
The Make-A-Wish Foundation in
' "It was great; I actually got to
Israel, which scored a coup last sum-
meet Jerry," Eyal said later. "I told

Favorite Episodes

We'll all be talking about our favorite
"Seinfeld" episodes for years to come.
"The Contest," the Emmy-winning
1992 episode about sexual self-
denial, took top honors in a recent
People poll. Here's what some folks
had to say about their favorites.

Life After
Seinfeld

Jerry Stiller, also known as George
Costanza.'s dad Frank Costanza, cur-
rently can be heard on radio stations
across the country along with his wife,
Anne Meara, promoting Women's
American ORT's national "Love
Reading" campaign.
The veteran husband-and-wife
entertainers recently received the Israel
Cultural Award for their lifetime
achievements in the entertainment
world and their support oSthe Israel
m. "[Seinfe s] all about
Bonds progra
Jews," said Stiller. "We're out of the
closet. Being Jewish seems to be OK"

JUDY DORAN, a West Bloomfield
attorney: "I liked the `Soup Nazi'
episode the best. I thought it cap-
tured everyday life really well. I'm
sorry the show's going off the air, but
I think all the actors will do well."

BENNETT TEREBELO, a Southfield
real estate executive: "Yadda, Yadda,
Yadda's" my favorite. And the one
about George shrinking from the
cold. I don't know what will happen
in the final episode, but I hope Jerry
doesn't marry Elaine. Kramer's the
best character, definitely."

BILL LAKRITZ of Farmington Hills:
"I bet the foursome will buy a TV
network on the last episode. My

favorite was when Seinfeld bought a
new car from the salesman who was
Elaine's boyfriend (Puddy). George is
my favorite character."

JANET CARNOVSKY of Southfield:
"When they all
went to India
for the wedding
— that was my
favorite episode.
But there were a
ton of great
ones."

mer when it arranged a meeting
between young Yoni Dotan and
President Clinton, almost despaired
at the even tougher assignment of
lining up Seinfeld.
However, by pulling the right
Hollywood strings, Lori Schaefer
Bacher, the organization's Israel coor-
dinator, got the green light two days
before the taping.
A Southfield, Mich., native who's
been living in Israel for almost 20
years, she notified the Beer family,
then visiting relatives in New Jersey,
and the following day they were on
their way to Los Angeles.
They were picked up at the air-
port by a limousine, housed in a lux-
ury hotel and even got to visit
Disneyland, said Leo Beer, a dentist
in Rehovot, which is near Tel Aviv.
Make-A-Wish is an international
volunteer organization, active in 14
countries. The Israel branch, known
as Mishalat Lev and founded one
year ago, has fulfilled the requests of
43 children during that period,
Bacher said. ❑

Tom Tugend is a Los Angeles-based
freelance writer.

The
iaipisode
„
ma.

Cartoonist Barry Blitt suggested the
following "Seinfeld" plodines for
the show's last episode in a recent
Entertainment Weekly:

1. Stuck on the. Upper East
Side without a ride, our heroes
can't seem to get a cab. They
die.
2. The characters turn, one by
one, into the characters from
"Just Shoot Me."
3. A witty subplot involving
ballpark pretzels turns bleak as
MARIE GOLD-
the for main characters are
STEIN of
crushed under a falling section
Beverly Hills: "I
of Yankee Stadium. They die.
loved the shows
4. The Contest IL The char-
when they went Will Newman die in the
acters challenge each other to
to Florida to
final episode?
see who can go without whin-
visit Jerry's par-
ing the longest. They drift apart.
ents. Remember
when they all had to line up at the
5. Jerry realizes he can afford a
much bigger place and abandons
restaurant for the Early Bird
his friends. Kramer, George, Elaine
Special?"
and Newman die.

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