Les Misérables and the Jewish problem I know what you’re
thinking. You saw Les Misérables. You loved the play, adored the
movie. You don’t remember any Jewish characters and you’re
thinking, “Please don’t ruin it for me by saying it’s
antisemitic.” Of course, you’re right. There are no Jewish
characters – none of the unsavoury stock figures of European
literature, such as Shakespeare’s Shylock or Charles Dickens’
Fagin. But as I left the movie theatre, I turned to my husband
and said, “This is about the Jews.” I immediately thought about
the joke recounted by author Hugh Nissenson to explain the title
of his collection of short stories, The Elephant and My Jewish
Problem. Nissenson wrote: “The zoology class is assigned a paper
on the elephant. The Englishman writes ‘Hunting the Elephant.’
The Frenchman, ‘The Love Life of the Elephant.’ The Jewish
student turns in a paper, ‘The Elephant and the Jewish
Problem.’” Her husband, Nissenson’s wife noted, was “like the
Jewish zoology student.” With a nod toward Nisse