Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Life

Springtime for Schlubby Jewish Guys: A Forward Legend Follows in Seth Rogen’s Footsteps

Former Forward staffer Max Gross is not only my friend. He is also my hero.

When he wasn’t busy writing some of the strangest stories ever published in a Jewish newspaper, Max was kind enough to give Forward readers a glimpse into his exciting personal life. As his not-so-alter ego “the Hapless Jewish Writer,” Max would relate his adventures learning how to cook, playing poker (and even beating the occasional poker ace) and miraculously winning horse races — often in the interest of impressing the fairer sex. Few topics were too private to share. He even wrote about his experiences going to a matchmaker.

Now Max has brought his shtick to his new employer, the New York Post. And for his latest escapade, Max is emulating fellow Jewfro’d schlub “Knocked Up” star Seth Rogen. Max writes:

No one in the world wants you to see the new comedy “Knocked Up” more than I do.

For years I’ve been a schlubby ne’er-do-well sporting an unwieldy Jewfro. I spent nearly three decades fighting off double-chins and man-boobs. My style of dress is an embarrassment to anybody except a stoned college student. But every doofus has his day, and when I saw the smash comedy last week, for a gleaming, shining moment I thought:

Because of Seth Rogen, I’m so getting laid.

The Post devoted almost two full pages (complete with pictures) to Max’s account of his efforts to work his Rogen-esque charms on some lovely ladies. The full story is here.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.