Limmud Chicago 2015

Teen television programs, while often written off as trashy or low-brow, tend to be very popular across generations, and the cultural impact of programs aimed at teens still in the process of developing their identities is significant. While the focus of many teen television programs is romantic relationships, these programs also take on real-world issues (even if they take them on in a hyperbolic or moralistic fashion), such as sex and sexuality, drug use, and mental illness. Among the issues that are addressed, though, development of identity through faith, spirituality, or religious practice is often overlooked, and yet almost all popular American teen television programs have one or more Jewish character in the main cast. This session will consider what the significance of these characters are and what role they may in the perception of Jewish identity for both Jewish and non-Jewish viewers.