The Hebrew Hammer

The Hebrew Hammer is a film that was released in 2003. It stars Adam Goldberg, Judy Greer, Andy Dick, Mario Van Peebles, and Peter Coyote. The plot concerns a Jewish superhero known as The Hebrew Hammer who must save Hanukkah from an evil Santa Claus who wants to destroy Hanukkah and make everyone celebrate Christmas. The film is set up as a parody of blaxploitation films (Melvin Van Peebles even appears in it, as "Sweetback"). Director Jonathan Kesselman has jokingly dubbed it the first "Jewsploitation" or Jewish exploitation film ever.

Jewish in-jokes

While the movie is intended to be enjoyed by Jews and non-Jews alike, there are certain jokes that require some explanation if the viewer is not familiar with Judaism.

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• The name of the Hebrew Hammer is a reference to the story of Hanukkah, in which Judah Maccabee helped retake the Temple in Jersualem. "Judah Maccabee" literally means "Judah the Hammer".
• The two protagonists are named Mordechai and Esther, a reference to Purim.
• Both Mordechai and the Chief refer to God as "G-dash-D" when speaking. This is a play on the tendency of some Jews to write 'G-d' instead of 'God' when referring to the Lord. This is due to the Jewish belief that the name of God is holy, and should therefore not be written on a surface when it can be casually discarded or destroyed (e.g. a piece of paper). Although Jewish law technically only requires this level of care if the name of God is written in Hebrew, many Jews adopt this restriction in English discourse.
• The phrase "Shabbat shalom" literally means "peaceful Sabbath" in Hebrew, and is a commonly heard greeting among Jews on the Sabbath (some Jews prefer the Yiddish "Gut shabbes"). Several characters in the movie use this phrase in unusual ways: Mordechai uses it as an exclamation before attacking the neo-Nazis ("SHABBAT SHALOM, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!"), and Esther uses it flirtatiously before engaging in oral sex with Mordechai.
• When the Chief is trying to bring the meeting of the Jewish Justice League to order, he shouts, "Sheket B'vakasha!" repeatedly. This is Hebrew for "Quiet please!", and is familiar to unruly Hebrew school students everywhere as a teacher's admonition for the class to pipe down. At the meeting of the JJL, a seat placed behind the microphone on the dais allocated to the "League of Jewish Athletes" is conspicuously vacant, a self-deprecatory gag based on the supposed reluctance of American Jews to engage in competitive sports in favor of "intellectual" pursuits (a gag repeated in another scene as one of Damian/Santa's lascivious female assistants, introduced to Mordechai, says that she loves Jewish men because they are so intellectual, a stereotype that Mordechai plays to by commencing a pseudo-intellectual conversation intended to impress her further (he stops when he notices the jewelled cross lying in her cleavage and is suddenly brought to his senses since no Jewish man would ever date a "shiksa", a Gentile woman).
• While disguised as a Gentile couple, Mordechai and Esther are offered a free sample of bacon cheeseburgers, which violate several of the laws of kosher, namely the prohibition against pork and the prohibition against mixing meat and dairy.
• While storming Santa's hideout, Mordechai uses a tallit as a headband and tefillin as a climbing rope.
• When Mordechai is praying before breaking into Santa's hideout, he says the following prayer: "Baruch atai adonai...I don't know what the hell I'm saying...". This is a parody of the Hebrew phrase "Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech ha'alom", which means "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe". This phrase begins many Hebrew berakhot (blessings). As Mordechai is using the phrase while praying before the wall of the hideout, the scene is a send-up of many Jews who recite the prayer without understanding its meaning, and those who visit Israel and begin praying in Hebrew before the Wailing Wall, only to realize that they do not have the slightest idea how to say a single complete prayer in Hebrew.