Jewish in America

Edition excerpt from Jewish in America (2012): Award-winning comics writer Neil Kleid explores two aspects of being Jewish in America in this banded set of his highly praised graphic novels: Brownsville and The Big Kahn. Brownsville is set in 1930s Brooklyn and follows the intertwined lives of Jewish gangsters Allie Tanennbaum, Abe Reles, and scores of hoods organized by Louis Lepke Buchalter as they undertake the deadliest hit in Mafia history, “Murder, Inc.” As they escape the mean streets and lonely tenements of East New York and make themselves into the most dangerous men in America, they eventually send their best friends and closest allies up the river. In The Big Kahn, Rabbi David Kahn has lived a 40-year lie: he is not, nor has he ever been, Jewish. At his funeral, the “rabbi’s” brother reveals the truth, forcing the Kahn family to struggle with grief and betrayal as their congregation questions their very faith. A drama about loss, lies, belief, and renewal, this graphic account of a family secret explores the very nature of faith.