Kirk Douglas’ Bloody Nose
It’s hard to picture Spartacus taking snark from anyone.
But in a a personal essay in the Huffington Post, Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovtch) recalls how as a young child, he ran home to mommy with a bloody nose given to him by Yanak, a childhood friend who punched him after accusing him of killing Jesus Christ.
This was Douglas’ first encounter with anti-Semitism. And as he mentions, it wasn’t his last. But, he insists, he didn’t then, and never has blamed. Nor does he blame young Yanack’s father.”It wasn’t his fault,” he explains, “because that was what he had been taught to believe by his father.”
Hate, Douglas writes, is taught, and can be untaught — that is why he is full of hope for the future.
“I’ve lived a long time. Almost 97 years. I’ve seen a lot of fear-mongering, bigotry and discrimination. But now I’m also seeing a modern generation of children who view the world very differently than their parents and grandparents. For them, no amount of teaching will make them hate people simply because they’re different. That gives me hope.
Meanwhile, I will never forget my first bloody nose. It always reminds me of why I’m proud to be a Jew. As Mark Twain wrote, “[the Jew] has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him.”
Read the full essay here.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30