The comics industry is no stranger to Jewish writers and artists, namely the creators of Captain America and Superman, but while their creations are not necessarily Jewish, Shaloman is the pointed exception. Proudly Jewish and created by Al Weisner, Shaloman wears his inspiration on his sleeve, or rather on his chest. A pro-Jewish, pro-Israel hero, Shaloman is a superhero that deserves to be remembered.
A veteran who served in the United States Air Force, Al Weisner worked as a hairdresser for 40 years, but he always wanted to be a cartoonist. In the 1980s, with Israel becoming a powerful and safe country, Weisman felt that people could envision a truly Jewish superhero with strength and intelligence. He set to work creating said hero, and Shaloman was born in 1988. Kippah-clad and possessing a Golden Age-esque art style and visage similar to Superman, Shaloman was created by the three wise men Justice, Equity, and Wisdom (JEW).
Shaloman is not a human superhero, but a creature created out of stone, in a direct parallel to the Jewish legend of the Golem of Prague. While Superman is widely known as the Man of Steel, Weisner chose stone instead because "...stone is permanent and stone is here to stay." When citizens in distress shout "Oy vey!", their cries travel to the fictitious Mt. Israel, where a "Shin Rock" (the Hebrew letter שָׁ is the first word in שָׁלוֹם, meaning peace) transforms into the Man of Stone. Shaloman possess most of the powers of Superman, including flight, super strength, super speed, nigh-invulnerability, super-breath, and and host of other abilities.
Shaloman embarked on mostly-comedic adventures facing mostly-comedic foes, including the nefarious Dr. Traif (a Yiddish word meaning non-kosher). But Shaloman's most memorable and poignant story is told in The Saga of Shaloman #8, in which Shaloman meets his most human foe: Donald Nyer (D. Nyer), a Holocaust denier with an unmistakable Hitler-esque mustache. Nyer speaks to crowds regarding his disbelief that the Holocaust ever took place, but Shaloman takes Nyer back in time to witness the atrocities of the Holocaust for himself. "I really had no idea they were so cruel!" despairs Nyer. "The people who recruited me for the job of street corner talks assured me it was all a Zionist hoax! Now I can see it was true and just as bad as survivors say!" While usually cartoonish, the artwork in the issue is quite realistic, including imagery of Jews behind barb-wire fencing at Nazi concentration camps.
Al Weisner, now 91, lived through World War II and thus was alive for the greatest tragedies and triumphs of the Jewish people (the Holocaust, the founding of Israel), but he always wanted to see a superhero embody Judasim in ways that Superman and others did not. With Shaloman, Weisner and others like him had their answer. While the adventures of Shaloman have ceased and the character no longer appears in comics, the Kosher Crusader stands as the Jewish superhero, and certainly one to be remembered.