29 Kislev 5785
As we all know, Riverdale is Jewish just about all the time! Our beloved show takes place in what some may call “”America’s favorite modern-day shtetl.”” But for your—and our—pleasure, we have systematically ranked here our top ten favorite moments that showcase the dazzling Jewish culture that creates a deep textural background to the “mishegoss” of Riverdale.
10) Sierra wearing a hamsa necklace
S03E04: Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club
In “The Midnight Club,” the parents of our lively heroes reenact their youthful, sexy, and deadly dabbling in Gryphons & Gargoyles in the fated halls of Riverdale High. The youthful Sierra, represented here by her daughter Josie, is spotted overtly wearing a necklace with a hamsa pendant, a hand-shaped amulet symbolizing protection (particularly from the Evil Eye), used by Jews throughout the centuries, as well as Muslims.
The Hamsa represents protection from the evil eye, or the ayin hara, which has been known to have various negative effects and connotations. “[One who has] an evil eye, a haughty spirit and a broad appetite - is from the students of Bilaam the evildoer.” (Pirkei Avot 5:19) More on the Ayin Hara here.
The Hamsa has also been known to represent the hand of G-d. We see this when the Israelites escape from Egypt as G-d helps them leave “with a strong hand and an outstretched arm.” (Deuteronomy 5:14) This helping hand is often represented via the symbol of the Hamsa.
The reason why this item is the last on this list is due to the Hamsa’s relevance to many other cultures. Without explicit understanding of the complexities of Sierra’s religious identity, we do not intend to determine her choice as solely a Jewish one, but only to establish it as a link to Riverdale’s Jewish universe, if only a weak one.
9) “I knew things weren’t Kosher in the state of Bughead.”
S02E14: Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hills Have Eyes
In Season 2, episode 14, Veronica, remarking on an argument between Betty and Jughead, states that she “knew things weren’t Kosher in the state of Bughead.” (Bughead refers to the iconic ship name of Betty and Jughead.) In making this statement, she demonstrates her understanding of both the common use of the word “kosher” in modern English vernacular, nodding to the subtle influences of Jewish culture on the American lifestyle, while also acknowledging the relevance of this phrase in accordance with Jughead’s practice of Kashrut (keeping Kosher; following Jewish dietary laws).
8) First appearance of Gladys Jones encourages self-hating Jewry
S03E08: Chapter Forty-Three: The Outbreak
We really hate Gladys. We hate whenever she shows up. We hate her botoxed face and the little stars next to her eyes. We hate her strange hairdos and her evil plots. We hate her “berets.” We hate how she manipulates Jughead and makes him lie to his family. “She is just infuriating,” says my faithful sibling, N, as we sit in the Whole Foods Cafe. Yet, as we recently discovered, Gladys is played by Gina Gershon, b. 1962, who is Jewish. For example, she performed the first Jew’s Harp solo in Carnegie Hall, for Sting’s Rainforest Benefit Concert. What is more Jewish than the self-hating Jew, we postulate, chiding ourselves for our seemingly self-directed resentment. Riverdale wants us to engage in the Jewish tradition of self-hatred, this bringing Judaism back into the narrative and our experience of the narrative, as Jews.
S02E14: Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hills Have Eyes
In Season 2, episode 14, Veronica, remarking on an argument between Betty and Jughead, states that she “knew things weren’t Kosher in the state of Bughead.” (Bughead refers to the iconic ship name of Betty and Jughead.) In making this statement, she demonstrates her understanding of both the common use of the word “kosher” in modern English vernacular, nodding to the subtle influences of Jewish culture on the American lifestyle, while also acknowledging the relevance of this phrase in accordance with Jughead’s practice of Kashrut (keeping Kosher; following Jewish dietary laws).
8) First appearance of Gladys Jones encourages self-hating Jewry
S03E08: Chapter Forty-Three: The Outbreak
We really hate Gladys. We hate whenever she shows up. We hate her botoxed face and the little stars next to her eyes. We hate her strange hairdos and her evil plots. We hate her “berets.” We hate how she manipulates Jughead and makes him lie to his family. “She is just infuriating,” says my faithful sibling, N, as we sit in the Whole Foods Cafe. Yet, as we recently discovered, Gladys is played by Gina Gershon, b. 1962, who is Jewish. For example, she performed the first Jew’s Harp solo in Carnegie Hall, for Sting’s Rainforest Benefit Concert. What is more Jewish than the self-hating Jew, we postulate, chiding ourselves for our seemingly self-directed resentment. Riverdale wants us to engage in the Jewish tradition of self-hatred, this bringing Judaism back into the narrative and our experience of the narrative, as Jews.
7) The Serpents as Landsmanshaft
S03E10: Chapter Forty-Five: The Stranger
Jewish mutual aid societies, or landsmanshaft, were gatherings of Jews who had immigrated from the same Eastern European towns to the United States. Particularly predominant in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these societies provided support for recently arrived immigrant Jews who did not already have familial networks. Communication was often in Yiddish. These mutual aid societies had collective funds to pay needy families a benefit when necessary, and also sometimes took the form of burial societies or workers circles. In many ways, we can see the Southside Serpents gang operating within their Jewish tradition: as their motto goes, “in unity there is strength; in strength there is unity.” We particularly see this as true given that Jughead, their leader, is Jewish. The Serpents take care of their members by providing each other with jobs and community, just as the landmanshaften did. Additionally, one of their main tenets is that if a Serpent is killed or imprisoned, their family will be taken care of, harkening back to the collective funds of the landsmanshaft. In an evocative moment of Jewish collectivity in Chapter 45, Jughead, Sweetpea, and Fangs bury Tall Boy together, embodying the chevra kadisha, an organization of Jewish men, women, and beyond who mobilized to organize the burials of their Jewish kin.
6) The Farm testimony as Teshuvah
S03E03: Chapter Thirty-Nine: As Above, So Below
In “As Above, So Below,” Betty is asked to perform the ritual of Teshuvah, or repentance, (“Cause us to return, our Father, to Your Torah and bring us near, our King, to Your service; and bring us back in whole-hearted repentance before You Blessed are You, Adonoy, Who desires penitence” -Mishneh Torah, Repentance 2:2) by confessing her sins to members of the Farm.
Her mother, who has already performed this ritual, encourages her to take part, but she remains wary. Betty frequently faces disconnection from her Jewish heritage, so her reaction is expected and can be seen as another example of her religious denial. “Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Great is repentance, which lengthens the years of a person’s life, as it is stated: ‘When the wicked man turns from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he will preserve his life’ (Ezekiel 18:27).” -Yoma 86b:1-4
Evelyn: Today can be your first testimony.
Betty: Testimony?
Alice: It's just a conversation.
Evelyn: An open, nonjudgmental conversation about all the bad things you've done in your life.
5) Appropriation of Kiddush Cups as G&G Vessels
S03E04: Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club
Throughout Season 2 and 3, we see the recurring images of two kiddush cups, repurposed (and profaned) by players of the game Gryphons & Gargoyles as vessels for the infamous “Fresh-Aid” poison after players “Flip For Their Fate.” The goyim adherents of Gryphons & Gargoyles coopt these gleaming cups to be representative of death and ascenscion, instead of the movement of Jewish time towards olam haba, and the earthly gift of grapes. These cups used in this episode, then hidden in plain sight in the trophy case at Riverdale High, are beautifully engraved, and would look stunning on any Shabbos spread.
Below: Betty prepares for her Shabbos meal.
S03E10: Chapter Forty-Five: The Stranger
Jewish mutual aid societies, or landsmanshaft, were gatherings of Jews who had immigrated from the same Eastern European towns to the United States. Particularly predominant in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, these societies provided support for recently arrived immigrant Jews who did not already have familial networks. Communication was often in Yiddish. These mutual aid societies had collective funds to pay needy families a benefit when necessary, and also sometimes took the form of burial societies or workers circles. In many ways, we can see the Southside Serpents gang operating within their Jewish tradition: as their motto goes, “in unity there is strength; in strength there is unity.” We particularly see this as true given that Jughead, their leader, is Jewish. The Serpents take care of their members by providing each other with jobs and community, just as the landmanshaften did. Additionally, one of their main tenets is that if a Serpent is killed or imprisoned, their family will be taken care of, harkening back to the collective funds of the landsmanshaft. In an evocative moment of Jewish collectivity in Chapter 45, Jughead, Sweetpea, and Fangs bury Tall Boy together, embodying the chevra kadisha, an organization of Jewish men, women, and beyond who mobilized to organize the burials of their Jewish kin.
6) The Farm testimony as Teshuvah
S03E03: Chapter Thirty-Nine: As Above, So Below
In “As Above, So Below,” Betty is asked to perform the ritual of Teshuvah, or repentance, (“Cause us to return, our Father, to Your Torah and bring us near, our King, to Your service; and bring us back in whole-hearted repentance before You Blessed are You, Adonoy, Who desires penitence” -Mishneh Torah, Repentance 2:2) by confessing her sins to members of the Farm.
Her mother, who has already performed this ritual, encourages her to take part, but she remains wary. Betty frequently faces disconnection from her Jewish heritage, so her reaction is expected and can be seen as another example of her religious denial. “Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Great is repentance, which lengthens the years of a person’s life, as it is stated: ‘When the wicked man turns from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he will preserve his life’ (Ezekiel 18:27).” -Yoma 86b:1-4
Evelyn: Today can be your first testimony.
Betty: Testimony?
Alice: It's just a conversation.
Evelyn: An open, nonjudgmental conversation about all the bad things you've done in your life.
Below: They also do Mikvehs…
5) Appropriation of Kiddush Cups as G&G Vessels
S03E04: Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Midnight Club
Throughout Season 2 and 3, we see the recurring images of two kiddush cups, repurposed (and profaned) by players of the game Gryphons & Gargoyles as vessels for the infamous “Fresh-Aid” poison after players “Flip For Their Fate.” The goyim adherents of Gryphons & Gargoyles coopt these gleaming cups to be representative of death and ascenscion, instead of the movement of Jewish time towards olam haba, and the earthly gift of grapes. These cups used in this episode, then hidden in plain sight in the trophy case at Riverdale High, are beautifully engraved, and would look stunning on any Shabbos spread.
Below: Betty prepares for her Shabbos meal.
4) Betty’s Bat Mitzvah
S01E13: Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter
Here, Betty wears a Bat Mitzvah dress, complete with a light pink hue and “scalloped” sleeves, in Chapter 13, when she gives a stirring speech on Riverdale’s 75th anniversary. Betty is unable to escape her Jewish roots, which she turns to, as many of us often do, in a time of tumult, to ground her and her community in a lineage of Jewish survivance This allusion to the Bat Mitzvah is furthered by Alice’s comment, “Don’t be nervous about your speech,” an oft-stated reassurance of mothers to Jewish children on the brink of becoming Jewish adults. Betty’s speech at the town hall essentially acts here as a d’var torah.
N.B.: The dress highly resembles one of the author’s dresses at their Bat Mitzvah in May 2015 / Iyar 5775.
3) “He says he admires your chutzpah…” - Mary Andrews
S01E11: Chapter Eleven: To Riverdale and Back Again
During a “spur-of-the-moment visit,” Mary Andrews and Hermione Lodge share a tense exchange over the collaboration between Fred and Hermione on Fred’s construction business. Mary states that Fred said he “admires [Hermione’s] chutzpah.” Mary speaks chutzpah into existence with the proper glottal stoppage of the “ch,” alluding to her youth growing up in a Yiddish, and by extension, Jewish household. This exchange also reveals Fred’s Judaism, as he was the one who originally attributed the chutzpah to Hermione…particularly due to the fact that Hermione’s response is “that’s a very Fred thing to say, huh.”
This moment is a powerful one as it reveals the Judaism of the hero of our show, Archie, and the Yiddish-infused household he has grown up in.
Thank G-d our favorite character is Jewish, and his father bursting with classic Yiddishisms! And thank G-d we can now add Riverdale to a list of TV shows doing the hard but necessary work of language revitalization.
“Chutzpah” is a Yiddish word that stems from the Hebrew חֻצְפָּה, and has been incorporated into everyday use by Jews and goyim alike. It refers to a certain sense of audacity, impudence, nerve—such as the self-starting mafioso girlpower that Hermione embodies.
Chutzpah can be bad—or good. The Mishnah states: “be fierce as a leopard.” Leopards have an essential sense of chutzpah to them. Like the leopard, we are commanded to be proud, powerful, and even impudent in our Judaism, despite any antisemitism or oppression we may face. Although he attributes chutzpah to Hermione, it’s really Fred who is full of it, embracing his Judaism through powerful colloquialisms, raising a strong as well as nice Jewish boy (Archie), and even running for mayor to give back to his beloved Riverdale. As Rabbi Yischak Ben Refida said in a midrash, “There is no nation with more chutzpah than the Jews,” which is actually “nothing but praise.”
The first reference in the Mishnah to “chutzpah” is in the statement “in the messianic period chutzpah will prevail” (יסגא חוצפא משיחא בעקבות). Here’s to endless chutzpah-filled milkshakes in the Sweet Hereafter!
Below: Josie displays her leopard-like ferocity during a cantillation delivered to the Jewish community of Riverdale.
S01E13: Chapter Thirteen: The Sweet Hereafter
Here, Betty wears a Bat Mitzvah dress, complete with a light pink hue and “scalloped” sleeves, in Chapter 13, when she gives a stirring speech on Riverdale’s 75th anniversary. Betty is unable to escape her Jewish roots, which she turns to, as many of us often do, in a time of tumult, to ground her and her community in a lineage of Jewish survivance This allusion to the Bat Mitzvah is furthered by Alice’s comment, “Don’t be nervous about your speech,” an oft-stated reassurance of mothers to Jewish children on the brink of becoming Jewish adults. Betty’s speech at the town hall essentially acts here as a d’var torah.
N.B.: The dress highly resembles one of the author’s dresses at their Bat Mitzvah in May 2015 / Iyar 5775.
3) “He says he admires your chutzpah…” - Mary Andrews
S01E11: Chapter Eleven: To Riverdale and Back Again
During a “spur-of-the-moment visit,” Mary Andrews and Hermione Lodge share a tense exchange over the collaboration between Fred and Hermione on Fred’s construction business. Mary states that Fred said he “admires [Hermione’s] chutzpah.” Mary speaks chutzpah into existence with the proper glottal stoppage of the “ch,” alluding to her youth growing up in a Yiddish, and by extension, Jewish household. This exchange also reveals Fred’s Judaism, as he was the one who originally attributed the chutzpah to Hermione…particularly due to the fact that Hermione’s response is “that’s a very Fred thing to say, huh.”
This moment is a powerful one as it reveals the Judaism of the hero of our show, Archie, and the Yiddish-infused household he has grown up in.
Thank G-d our favorite character is Jewish, and his father bursting with classic Yiddishisms! And thank G-d we can now add Riverdale to a list of TV shows doing the hard but necessary work of language revitalization.
“Chutzpah” is a Yiddish word that stems from the Hebrew חֻצְפָּה, and has been incorporated into everyday use by Jews and goyim alike. It refers to a certain sense of audacity, impudence, nerve—such as the self-starting mafioso girlpower that Hermione embodies.
Chutzpah can be bad—or good. The Mishnah states: “be fierce as a leopard.” Leopards have an essential sense of chutzpah to them. Like the leopard, we are commanded to be proud, powerful, and even impudent in our Judaism, despite any antisemitism or oppression we may face. Although he attributes chutzpah to Hermione, it’s really Fred who is full of it, embracing his Judaism through powerful colloquialisms, raising a strong as well as nice Jewish boy (Archie), and even running for mayor to give back to his beloved Riverdale. As Rabbi Yischak Ben Refida said in a midrash, “There is no nation with more chutzpah than the Jews,” which is actually “nothing but praise.”
The first reference in the Mishnah to “chutzpah” is in the statement “in the messianic period chutzpah will prevail” (יסגא חוצפא משיחא בעקבות). Here’s to endless chutzpah-filled milkshakes in the Sweet Hereafter!
Below: Josie displays her leopard-like ferocity during a cantillation delivered to the Jewish community of Riverdale.
2) Jughead’s hat as a kippah
S01E01: Chapter One: The River’s Edge (first sighting)
Jughead once again takes the role of reinventing traditional Jewish values by subverting the common conceptions of the kippah, also known as the yarmulke. According to the Jewish Museum of London,
"The kippah is traditionally worn by Jewish men but in some streams of Judaism both men and women wear kippot (kippah in plural). Jewish people may wear the kippah because of the line in the Shulchan Aruch (a code of Jewish Law) which says “it is forbidden to walk four cubits without a head covering.” For many Jews wearing a kippah is part of showing respect to God…"
While kippot, stemming from the word “dome,” are generally known to be small coverings worn atop the head, Jughead once again shows his reverence of the subversive by forging his own path. His kippah is an altered beanie, cut to look almost like a crown. He wears this beanie constantly, as a testament to his Judaism. This symbol constantly reminds us of his Jewish pride, as well as his willingness to reinvent and recreate his own ritual, a Jewish value that has deep roots in the ever-changing nature of modern Judaism. The iconic Jughead hat has been around for the Jughead character since his debut in Archie comics in 1941 and has become his iconic symbol, further distinguishing his Judaism as the core tenet of his identity.
Below: Jughead reminds us of the faith associated with his kippah. (Archie Comics, 2019) His friends are Jews…
1) “I have $18 to my name” - Jughead Jones
S02E07: Chapter Twenty: Tales from the Darkside
In a conversation with the nefarious Penny Peabody, as she tries to shake Jughead down for money in exchange for helping get FP out of jail, Jughead states, blatantly and explicitly, “I have $18 to my name.” Jughead is Jewish.
The number 18 is incredibly significant within Jewish kabbalah, a mystic strain of Judaism with a particular focus on numerology. In kabbalah, the number 18 represents good luck. Jews today often give gifts of money in multiples of 18. Why is that?
In kabbalah, numbers correspond with different letters of the Jewish alphabet; this is known as gematria. For example, eighteen is a combination of the number eight - which corresponds to chet - and ten corresponds to yud. Together, these letters spell chai, which means “alive.”
The most central of the Jewish prayers, the Amidah, was originally made up of 18 blessings and is sometimes referred to as the “Shemonah Esreh” - the Eighteen.
This moment is also particularly significant because it calls upon not only the kabbalistic importance of the number 18, but also engages with a Jewish monetary tradition with which Jughead is now engaging. By exposing himself as Jewish in this moment with Penny Peabody, Jughead is baring his soul, laying all his cards out on the table in order to save his father. He calls upon the number eighteen to bring him luck in this moment of intense negotiation, essentially to ensure the protection of his father’s life. This moment is truly a revelation, in which Jughead is revealed to be Jewish. L’chaim!
Sincerely, Nao and Zoe
S01E01: Chapter One: The River’s Edge (first sighting)
Jughead once again takes the role of reinventing traditional Jewish values by subverting the common conceptions of the kippah, also known as the yarmulke. According to the Jewish Museum of London,
"The kippah is traditionally worn by Jewish men but in some streams of Judaism both men and women wear kippot (kippah in plural). Jewish people may wear the kippah because of the line in the Shulchan Aruch (a code of Jewish Law) which says “it is forbidden to walk four cubits without a head covering.” For many Jews wearing a kippah is part of showing respect to God…"
While kippot, stemming from the word “dome,” are generally known to be small coverings worn atop the head, Jughead once again shows his reverence of the subversive by forging his own path. His kippah is an altered beanie, cut to look almost like a crown. He wears this beanie constantly, as a testament to his Judaism. This symbol constantly reminds us of his Jewish pride, as well as his willingness to reinvent and recreate his own ritual, a Jewish value that has deep roots in the ever-changing nature of modern Judaism. The iconic Jughead hat has been around for the Jughead character since his debut in Archie comics in 1941 and has become his iconic symbol, further distinguishing his Judaism as the core tenet of his identity.
Below: Jughead reminds us of the faith associated with his kippah. (Archie Comics, 2019) His friends are Jews…
1) “I have $18 to my name” - Jughead Jones
S02E07: Chapter Twenty: Tales from the Darkside
In a conversation with the nefarious Penny Peabody, as she tries to shake Jughead down for money in exchange for helping get FP out of jail, Jughead states, blatantly and explicitly, “I have $18 to my name.” Jughead is Jewish.
The number 18 is incredibly significant within Jewish kabbalah, a mystic strain of Judaism with a particular focus on numerology. In kabbalah, the number 18 represents good luck. Jews today often give gifts of money in multiples of 18. Why is that?
In kabbalah, numbers correspond with different letters of the Jewish alphabet; this is known as gematria. For example, eighteen is a combination of the number eight - which corresponds to chet - and ten corresponds to yud. Together, these letters spell chai, which means “alive.”
The most central of the Jewish prayers, the Amidah, was originally made up of 18 blessings and is sometimes referred to as the “Shemonah Esreh” - the Eighteen.
This moment is also particularly significant because it calls upon not only the kabbalistic importance of the number 18, but also engages with a Jewish monetary tradition with which Jughead is now engaging. By exposing himself as Jewish in this moment with Penny Peabody, Jughead is baring his soul, laying all his cards out on the table in order to save his father. He calls upon the number eighteen to bring him luck in this moment of intense negotiation, essentially to ensure the protection of his father’s life. This moment is truly a revelation, in which Jughead is revealed to be Jewish. L’chaim!
Sincerely, Nao and Zoe
