Sunday, November 9, 2014

Allusions to the OT in the South Park episode Jewbilee

"Jewbilee"
In the ninth episode of South Park's third season, entitled "Jewbilee," Kyle Broflovski and his brother Ike are preparing to go to Jewbilee, a camping event for the "Jew Scouts" and "Squirts" (not unlike Boy Scouts). Kyle's friend Kenny arrives at Kyle's house to hang out, and Kyle invites Kenny to come along "so it wont suck so much."

The episode's namesake, "Jewbilee," is a reference to the Biblical event Jubilee. Every forty ninth or fiftieth year, the people in the Land of Israel would receive back their original property, and slaves would return home to their families. The argument in the text of Leviticus is the land belongs to the God of Israel, and the Israelites have no claim to buy or sell it among themselves, so periodically the land must be returned to how it was proportioned originally. It is also theorized that the practical reason for this rule is to preserve the balance of  power between the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The freeing of slaves is also reasoned in a similar manner: the people belong to God, and not to each other.

Kyle's mom Sheila says Kenny may not be accepted into Jewbilee because he is not Jewish, but both parents agree to let him try. They give him a rundown of Judaism in the hopes it will be just enough to get him by, and tell Kenny to act Jewish when they drop the kids off at the camp. Kenny finishes his initiation into the Jew Scouts while Ike goes with the younger kids in "Squirts," and the scouts begin making various arts and crafts, which are pleasing to the prophet Moses.


Moses 
In the episode, Moses appears as a giant glowing dreidel with inspiration from the Master Control Program of Tron, and demands various things such as soap sculptures and macaroni pictures from the children as an offering. In the Bible, Moses is among the most important figures of Jewish lore. He leads the Israelites out of Egypt by performing various miraculous acts through the power of his God. He communicates directly with God, and brings God's Law to his chosen people. Even after spending his whole life dedicated to leading the Israelites to their Promised Land in Canaan, Moses is denied entry himself. Although he did not live to see its formation, Moses was a central figure in the founding of the ancient country of Israel.

The elders of the camp hold a meeting where a character, Garth, reveals he is from a new Anti-Semitic Jewish sect. He is expelled from the group for his blasphemies, and vows to revive the enemy of the Jews, Haman, by imprisoning Moses in a conch shell. Kenny is discovered to be not Jewish by Moses, and is also sent away.

Haman begging for Esther's forgiveness.
Haman appears in the Book of Esther as the main villain who seeks to kill all the Jews of Persia because Mordecai, a Jew, refuses to bow to him. He convinces the King Ahasuerus to allow the Jews to be destroyed by telling him they are a rebellious people, but Ahasuerus's Queen Esther foils the plan by telling the king the truth and exposing Haman. Haman becomes an archetypal tyrant and persecutor of the Jews.

Meanwhile, the Squirts are following their leader Shlomo, who wants his chutzpah badge so he can advance in the scout ranks, to find and capture a bear that has been terrorizing the nearby region. When the Squirts are captured one by one to be friends for the bear's cubs, Kenny finds them and convinces the bears to let them leave. Kenny returns to the camp with the Squirts to find that Moses is imprisoned in a conch and all the Jew Scouts are locked in a cabin. Kenny saves the day by sacrificing himself to free Moses while the Squirts break into the cabin. With Haman banished and Garth killed, Moses decrees that Kenny be remembered at Jewbilee with paper plate bean shakers decorated with glue and glitter.

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