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Huffington Post Readers' Picks: 9 Favorite Jewish Characters In Novels (PHOTOS)

First Posted: 09/16/10 07:46 AM ET   Updated: 05/25/11 06:40 PM ET

Last week, to celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, we published "8 Favorite Fictional Jewish Characters In Books". Readers responded in droves, suggesting many more memorable Jews in literature.

Here are some of the responses, in time for Yom Kippur:

Marjorie Morningstar
1 of 10
"Marjorie Morningstar" by Herman Wouk
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Last week, to celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, we published "8 Favorite Fictional Jewish Characters In Books". Readers responded in droves, suggesting many more memorable Jews in literatu...
Last week, to celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, we published "8 Favorite Fictional Jewish Characters In Books". Readers responded in droves, suggesting many more memorable Jews in literatu...
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Michael Owens
6 Fans
09:50 AM on 11/05/2010
I don't understand that most of the Jewish Section is closed for entry?
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fataggie
35 Fans
12:03 PM on 09/20/2010
Colossal Boy in the Legion of Super-Heroes. A heroic Jew in the 30th century. Very cool.
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MIKEinNYC
648 Fans
09:35 AM on 09/20/2010
My favorite Jewish character in a work of fiction is Moses.
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owenband
67 Fans
10:24 AM on 09/19/2010
And besides Portnoy, a shout out to Moe Green (The Godfather--Mario Puzo) and Otto "Abbadabba" Berman (Billy Bathgate--E.L. Doctorow) who said, "it's nothing personal, it's just business."
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floater
28 Fans
09:12 AM on 09/18/2010
very tricky, I thought why is Alan shown in the photograph, On the Road? No, I have no idea why.
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meowser
120 Fans
11:51 PM on 09/16/2010
I love, love, LOVE Chaim Potok. I read "The Chosen" in high school - in a comparative religions class (Catholic high school). I've been reading and rereading his books ever since.

There will always be space on my bookshelf for Reuven and Danny, Asher Lev, David Lurie, Gershon and Arthur. I'll be reading these books for the rest of my life.
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meowser
120 Fans
11:12 PM on 09/16/2010
I love, love, LOVE Chaim Potok. I read "The Chosen" in high school - in a comparative religions class (Catholic high school). I've been reading and rereading his books ever since.

There will always be space on my bookshelf for Reuven and Danny, Asher Lev, David Lurie, Gershon and Arthur. I'll be reading these books for the rest of my life.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
YABookShelf
331 Fans
 
01:20 PM on 09/16/2010
What about Shmuel from John Boyne's The Boy In The Stripped Pajamas?
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BlackJAC
It's better to be a black king than a white knight
1108 Fans
12:50 PM on 09/16/2010
What about Sammy Glick of What Makes Sammy Run?
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Steamboater
Forget hope. Agitate.
2860 Fans
 
11:38 PM on 09/16/2010
Easy. Assimilation. :)
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owenband
67 Fans
10:16 AM on 09/16/2010
How can you leave out Philip Roth's character Alex Portnoy? After reading "Portoy's Complaint" I never looked at liver the same way again...
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Dharmakitri
56 Fans
12:58 PM on 09/16/2010
LOL
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TheBaffler
a long the riverrun
450 Fans
12:34 AM on 09/17/2010
This is a follow-up poll of readers' suggestions for characters that were omitted from the following poll:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/09/rosh-hashanah-jewish-characters_n_709296.html

Portnoy was on the original poll.
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KalNJ
424 Fans
 
09:58 AM on 09/16/2010
I always liked Rebecca, daughter of Isaac of York in Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe".

http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
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naschkatze
A free man creates himself.
2054 Fans
10:47 AM on 09/16/2010
Oh good choice. I loved Rebecca over Lady Rowena big time.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
YABookShelf
331 Fans
 
01:18 PM on 09/16/2010
Great pick! Wouldn't have thought of it as I haven't read Ivanhoe in 7 years, but she's great.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
bessielil
trying to organize hummingbirds
382 Fans
07:47 AM on 09/16/2010
The title character Stern, by Bruce J. Friedman deserves another look.

Now....a look at the movies: Larry Gopnik in the Coen Brothers film A Serious Man (2009)
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HUFFPOST BLOGGER
Gabe Habash
3 Fans
01:24 PM on 09/16/2010
I love love love A Serious Man.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
raven119
356 Fans
07:42 AM on 09/16/2010
My pick would be Moe Prager in Reed Farrel Coleman's detective series (Walking the Perfect Square, The James Deans, Redemption Street, Empty Ever After, Soul Patch and, coming this month, Innocent Monster). Moe is a brooding kind of guy, a nonobservant Jew in a noirish world trying to rectify the mistakes in his life. Coleman's plots start in the 1970s and move toward the new millennium at a furious pace, yet they are thoughtful, original and always expertly written. Why Coleman hasn't turned up as a top-10 writer is beyond me.
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