Norbert a jew?
Norbert a jew?
Chorus Member Joined: 6/1/05
Norbert a jew?#0
Posted: 6/1/05 at 2:46amI know Norbert played a jew in Last Five Years but does anyone know if he is jewish in real life?
re: Norbert a jew?#1
Posted: 6/1/05 at 3:03am...
Broadway Star Joined: 3/19/04
re: Norbert a jew?#3
Posted: 6/1/05 at 3:47amOne may think so- but no, he's not Jewish. I believe he was raised Catholic.
re: Norbert a jew?#4
Posted: 6/1/05 at 4:09amOMG! Are you going to ask next whether he is circumsized? I mean really..what difference could it make? LOL!
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Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
re: Norbert a jew?#5
Posted: 6/1/05 at 4:49am
Norbert is actually a pretty popular name among German Catholics.
St. Norbert (c. 1080 - 1034) was born in Xanten, in what is now Germany, he turned from a worldly life, became a monk and an itinerant preacher, and later founded the Premonstratensians. Through his example and preaching, he worked very hard to implant the religious and moral reforms of Pope Gregory VII. He died Archbishop of Magdeburg.
The feast day of St. Norbert is coming up on June 6.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/16/03
re: Norbert a jew?#6
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:06am
Did St. Norbert ever sing I AM THE QUEEN OF THE GYPSYS?
re: Norbert a jew?#9
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:34am
Capital J, please. Jew, not jew. Thanks.
And while I know you don't mean to sound racist or offensive, many Jewish people get a little antsy when referred to as "a Jew." It's usually considered a bit more polite to ask "Is he Jewish?" rather than "Is he a Jew?"
Just FYI...
"Well, maybe they should."
--Kiss of the Spider Woman (cut line)
Broadway Star Joined: 5/9/04
re: Norbert a jew?#10
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:37am
Really?-Mel Brooks always refers to himself as a Jew. I saw Henry Winkler on TV last nite do the same.
Regardless, I have feeling Norbert will be "honored" on June 5.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Norbert a jew?#11
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:37am
I for one find this thread a refreshing change from the usual "Is Soandso Gay?"
re: Norbert a jew?#12
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:43amDon't be silly - everyone knows that soandso is gay - it's whatshisname that people are talking about.
re: Norbert a jew?#13
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:44am
more than you ever wanted to know....
St. Norbert was born at Xanten in the Rhineland, about the year 1080. The early part of his life was devoted to the world and its pleasures. He entered upon the ecclesiastical state in a worldly spirit.
The thunderstorm had boiled up suddenly as Norbert was out riding. Norbert, who had always chosen the easy way, would never have deliberately gone on a journey that promised danger, risk, or discomfort. He had moved easily from the comforts of the noble family he was born into at about 1080 to the pleasure-loving German court. He had no hesitations about joining in any opportunity to enjoy himself, no matter what the source of that pleasure. To ensure his success at court, he also had no qualms about accepting holy orders as a canon and whatever financial benefices that came with that position, although he did hesitate at becoming a priest and the implied responsibilities that came with that vocation.
But now high winds pushed and pulled at his fashionable coif, rain slashed at his fancy clothes, and dark roiling clouds pressed night down upon his light thoughts. A sudden flash of lightning split the dark and his horse bucked, throwing Norbert to the ground.
For almost an hour, the still form of the courtier lay unmoving. Even the rain soaking his clothes and the howl of thunder did not bring him back to consciousness and life. When he awoke his first words were, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" -- the same words Saul spoke on the road to Damascus. In response Norbert heard in his heart, "Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it."
He immediately returned to the place of his birth, Xanten, to devote himself to prayer and penance. He now embraced the instruction for the priesthood he had avoided and was ordained in 1115. His complete conversion and new ways caused some to denounce the former courtier as a hypocrite. Norbert's response was to give everything he owned to the poor an d to go to the pope for permission to preach.
With this commission in hand, he became an itinerant preacher, traveling through Europe with his two companions. In an extreme response to his old ways, he now chose the most difficult ways to travel -- walking barefoot in the middle of winter through snow and ice. Unfortunately the two companions who followed him died from the ill-effects of exposure. But Norbert was gaining the respect of those sincere clerics who had despised him before. The bishop of Laon wanted Norbert to help reform the canons in his see, but the canons wanted nothing to do with Norbert's type of reform which they saw as far too strict. The bishop, not wanting to lose this holy man, offered Norbert land where he could start his own community. In a lonely valley called Pr‚montr‚, began his community with thirteen canons. Despite the strictness of his regulation, or perhaps because it, his reforms attracted many disciples until eight abbeys and two convents were involved. Even the canons who had originally rejected him asked to be part of the reform.
In Norbert's community we have the first evidence of lay affiliation with a religious order. This came about when a count Theobald wanted to join Norbert. Norbert realized that Theobald was not called to holy orders but to marriage and worldly duties. But he did not entirely reject Theobald, giving him a rule and devotions as well as a scapular to wear to identify him as part of the community.
It was on the trip accompanying Theobald to his marriage, that Norbert was spotted by Emperor Lothair and chosen as bishop of Magdebourg. Legend has it the porter refused to let Norbert into his new residence, assuming he was a beggar. When the crowd pointed out to the flustered porter that this was the new bishop Norbert told the porter, "You were right the first time." Norbert carried the love of reform that he had found in his own life to his new diocese. As usual, this made him many enemies and he was almost assassinated. Disgusted with the citizens desire to keep to their old ways, he left the city, but was soon called back -- not because the citizens missed him but because the emperor and the pope pressured them.
When two rival popes were elected after the death of Honorius II, Norbert helped try to heal the Church by getting his admirer the emperor to support the first elected, Innocent II. At the end of his life he was made an archbishop but he died soon after on June 6, 1134 at the age of 53.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Norbert a jew?#14
Posted: 6/1/05 at 9:50am
I LOVE the lives of the Saints! I used to have Saint of the Day as my homepage, but they were getting sloppy about changing saints. I'm inordinately fond of St. Martin Des Porres, who is the patron saint of Mulattos & Hairdressers and invoked against Rats.
Of course St. Christopher, who was 8 feet tall and had the head of a Dog lived a pretty amazing (if non-existant) life!
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/12/03
re: Norbert a jew?#15
Posted: 6/1/05 at 10:06am
Here's St. Norbert himself!
"What the #$%&@*??! Somebody left me a monstrance at the Stage Door!"
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Norbert a jew?#16
Posted: 6/1/05 at 10:47am
The only thing I love more than the lives of the saints is the life of Tallulah Bankhead, eccentric stage actress. In the spirit of baroque catholocism I present the following (no doubt apocryphal) anecdote:
Tallulah decided to attend Midnight Mass at the Cathedral! So after the show, she had a few drinks and sometime after midnight, made her way to mass. The Bishop was making his grand entrance, with entourage and incense, but Tallulah made her way down the aisle none the less. As she passed the Bishop, she commented to him, loudly "I love your hat, honey, but your purse is on fire!"
re: Norbert a jew?#19
Posted: 6/1/05 at 12:37pm
"Really?-Mel Brooks always refers to himself as a Jew. I saw Henry Winkler on TV last nite do the same. "
thats because theyre crazy. and alot of Jews (i am one, dont freak out) feel they can refer to themselves as Jews, but no one else can. I honestly don't care if people call me Jewish or a Jew.
re: Norbert a jew?#20
Posted: 6/1/05 at 12:42pm
I think this whole thread is stupid, but...
What is the difference between someone being called "a christian" and someone being called "a jew."
re: Norbert a jew?#21
Posted: 6/1/05 at 12:52pm
But, if you're Jewish and people call you a "Jew" then what the heck is the problem?!
It's just bypassing one question...ugh. Don't play stupid semantics.
Understudy Joined: 1/5/05
re: Norbert a jew?#22
Posted: 6/1/05 at 12:56pmI think the difference is that putting the article "a" in front of it objectifies the person - as if "a Jew" is what you are/all you are. Using the adjective "Jewish" suggests that it's one of many things you are. It feels rude to call someone "a gay" or "a Mexican" or even "a Christian". It's cooler to use the adjective.
re: Norbert a jew?#23
Posted: 6/1/05 at 1:04pm
I think we must have a big celebration on June 6th, which we all now know is the Feast of St. Nobert.
P.S. I don't think at all that IloveNorbert meant to express anything offensive or racist. InfiniteGirl's explantion of the subtle difference, though, is a good one, IMO.
re: Norbert a jew?#24
Posted: 6/1/05 at 1:29pmIt is interesting that Norbert played a Jewish character in "The Last 5 Years" and is playing one again now in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels". (well, at least I assumed the character was Jewish based on the line in Great Big Stuff about "every night is my Bar Mitzvah")
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