If you have ever seen William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” performed, you know Shylock would never win the Nice Guy Award. Being a Jewish moneylender intent on procuring a pound of Antonio’s flesh as punishment for not paying off his debt, Shylock was not necessarily the most complimentary depiction of a Jew. But he was certainly a prominent Jew in the “pop culture” of his time.
We’ve come a long way since the Elizabethan era.  Jewish characters have now gained recognition on both the big and small screens. From moneylenders to moneymakers, Jewish characters are proving their worth in American pop culture. So go meshugana and sift through our list of the top 10 Jewish on-screen characters of all time.

10. Name: Jim Levenstein, “American Pie”
movie series

Occupation: Student

The spiel: Besides the hint from his surname, there’s no mention of Levenstein’s religion in the original “American Pie.” However, in the third installment, “American Wedding,” Levenstein’s grandmother tries to prevent him from marrying the shiksa/band geek Michelle. When Michelle’s father makes a genuine attempt at a Jewish-themed toast, a hilarious malapropism results: “Here’s hoping we can sit many happy shivas together.”

9. Miracle Max, “The Princess Bride”

Occupation: Miracle Man
The spiel: Unlike the book, the movie never explicitly presents Miracle Max as Jewish. However, between Billy Crystal’s giant schnoz and his Yiddish quips, there is not much room for doubt. Miracle Max and his wife Valerie bicker back and forth like an adorable Zadie and Bubbie from Boca Raton. If your grandparents were older than Methuselah, this would be them.

8. Name: Krusty the Clown, “The Simpsons”

Occupation: Town clown
The spiel: Krusty was born Hershel Krustofski, son of Rabbi Hyman Krustofski. Unfortunately, Krusty had a falling out with the Rabbi after he decided to pursue a different career. Good thing The Simpsons were around in the episode “Today I Am a Clown” to watch Krusty proudly become a bar mitzvah and enter the Jewish world as a man. Heck, he probably even saved money on a balloon man for the party.

7. Name: Harry Goldenblatt, “Sex and the City”

Occupation: Divorce lawyer
The spiel: When divorcing her first husband, Dr. Trey MacDougal, Charlotte hires Goldenblatt as her lawyer—but  she never expects to fall for him. Goldenblatt explains that he can only marry a Jewish woman, and Charlotte converts out of love and dedication. Let’s face it: We’d much rather watch Charlotte marry the nice guy in a kippah than the mean guy in a kilt.

6. Name: Ari Gold, “Entourage”

Occupation: Celebrity agent
The spiel: Gold is big, he’s bold, and he never shuts up.  And we love him for it.  In season two, Gold throws a $500-per-head bat mitzvah party for his daughter. In the next season, he attempts to navigate a movie deal from his synagogue on Yom Kippur.  Fun fact: His character is based off of Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood agent and brother of President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.

5. Name: Seth Cohen, “The O.C.”

Occupation: Student
The spiel: You can’t help but fall for this curly-headed, comic book-loving teenager living in southern California. Okay, he’s only half Jewish, but if it weren’t for Seth, we wouldn’t have a Chrismukkah episode in each of “The O.C.”’s four seasons. As he explains in “The Best Chrismukkah Ever,” this holiday is “the greatest super-holiday known to mankind.” Hanukkah and Santa? We are totally in.

4. Name: Ross and Monica Geller, “Friends”

Occupations: A paleontologist/college professor and a chef, respectively
The spiel: In the episode “The One with the Holiday Armadillo,” Ross strives to teach his son the story of Hanukkah – all while dressed as an armadillo because New York City was out of Santa costumes. It is situations like this that make all of us want to be best friends with the Friends. Wonder if they ever broke a fast at Central Perk….

3. Name: Grace Adler, “Will & Grace”

Occupation: Interior designer
The spiel: Referring to their college romance, Grace explains to Will, “When you and I broke up it was for totally different reasons. I wanted to raise the kids Jewish; you wanted to sleep with men.” Religion was not the only thing standing in the way of this titular couple. Thanks to their break up, we got eight seasons of banter between these two hilarious (and platonic) roommates. “Will & Grace” brought a gay man into America’s living rooms. But behind this great man was a great Jewish woman with a whole lot of chutzpah.

2. Name: Jerry Seinfeld, “Seinfeld”
Occupation: Comedian
The spiel: Real-life comedian Jerry Seinfeld teamed up with another Jewish funny man, Larry David, to create the sitcom “Seinfeld” in 1989. Seinfeld and David pitched “a show about nothing” but ended up generating a show that touched on enough “things” for it to resonate with millions of viewers. Seinfeld ranks among this country’s most entertaining Jewish comics, and his show hysterically explores Jewish topics: In the fifth season, a shaky mohel accidentally circumcises Seinfeld’s finger. Oy gevalt.

1. Name: Tommy Pickles, “Rugrats”
Occupation: Baby

The spiel: If you haven’t seen “A Rugrats Passover” or “A Rugrats Chanukah,” your Jewish education is incomplete. When the evil Pharaoh Angelica denies Moses Tommy his people’s freedom, his cries of “Let my babies go!” make us all proud to be one of the tribe. And in “A Rugrats Chanukah,” once Tommy can no longer handle practicing Torah in secret, he vows to stand up against Antiochus: “A Macca-baby’s gotta do what a Macca-baby’s gotta do!” What a mensch.

Four Characters You Never Knew Were Jewish

Paulie Bleeker, “Juno”

Freeze-frame the scenes in Paulie’s bedroom. You’ll find a dreidel, a bar mitzvah certificate and a Hebrew alphabet poster. One more reason for all nice Jewish girls to swoon over Michael Cera.

Jane Smith, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”
In the car chase scene, as the couple realizes that much of their past is a lie, they begin sharing pieces of the truth with each other. John says, “We have to redo every conversation we’ve ever had,” to which Jane replies, “I’m Jewish.” Angelina Jolie as a Jew. That’s a shocker.

Betty Boop
When the Fleischer brothers introduced Betty Boop to audiences in the 1930s, the big-headed bombshell instantly became a hit. In the cartoon “Minnie the Moocher,” Betty’s heavily-accented parents yell at her to eat her hasenpfeffer and sauerbraten. Eastern European immigrant audiences connected to Jewish references like these.

The Genie, “Aladdin”
Eric Goldberg, the Genie’s animator, uses the bonus material section of the 2004
“Aladdin” DVD to make a confession: Goldberg designed the Genie as a Jew. Robin Williams provided the inspiration by adding a dash of Yiddish here (“You little punim”) and a pinch there (His first word in the movie? “Oy.”). Add to that the fact that Aladdin is Arabian, and you have a kids’ film that tackles Arab-Jewish relations. Who knew Disney was so profound?

Text By: Alison Goldman