By: Jonathan S. Tobin – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org
A “New York Times” article raised questions about whether the actress was “neutral” enough to lead the TV institution. But the focus on her support for Israel raises more questions about the newspaper than Bialik.
It may turn out that a lot of Americans are devoting more thought to the question of who will ultimately succeed the late Alex Trebek as the host of “Jeopardy!” than they do about far weightier issues. When Trebek, who had been the face of the venerable quiz show for 36 years, died last year at the age of 80 it set off a much-ballyhooed search for a successor. The competition was intense and ultimately involved a broad range of celebrities who aspired to the job.
But now, after a series of twists and turns that was the stuff of soap operas, a tentative, if not permanent choice has been made—in the person of actress Mayim Bialik—some people seem to be asking whether it’s kosher for “Jeopardy!” to be led by someone so open about both her Jewish faith and her support for the Jewish state.
America in 2021 is a place where anti-Semitism is quite real. But it’s also a country where Jews have been accepted in just about every sector of culture, industry and government. Indeed, it may be that the only job titles that can be said to be off-limits to Jews are those like, say, Catholic Archbishop of New York, which are reserved for believers of a different faith.
https://www.jns.org/opinion/is-mayim-bialik-too-jewish-for-jeopardy/