Although a "show about nothing" may seem to offer us little
to ponder theologically, we need only look at the Jewish tradition of seeking wisdom to
see connections to Seinfeld. Even one of its main writers, Larry Charles, compares Seinfeld
to "a dark Talmud" with "brilliant minds examining a thought or ethical
question from every possible angle." Jerry Seinfeld himself admits to a higher
purpose: "Comedy is my mission. That's what I can do to make the world a little
less bad."
Seinfeld is, in many ways, the Ecclesiastes of sitcoms. In the
Hebrew wisdom book of Ecclesiastes, the author, Qohelet, laments that "all is
futility." The more common translations give us the famous catchphrase as
"Vanity of vanities. All is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Hebrew scholars say that
this key word translated as "vanity" can also be interpreted as
"futility." Either way, Seinfeld qualifies. The characters in Seinfeld
are vain, and their lives seem futile. In their worldview, human beings are victims of the
forces of fate that constantly put their lives in danger. Suffering seems to define human
life. Therefore, meaning can be sought or contained only within the very small, mundane
things that make up everyday life. Just like Qohelet, the characters in Seinfeld
decide it is best to enjoy life's little pleasures, such as the humor in the nagging
irritants of modern life. And why not? Death, or failure, is right around the corner. Also
like Qohelet, the show depicts a God who is far away and unengaged. Both Seinfeld and the
author of Ecclesiastes are solitary men....
The characters in this show find their salvation in the material things
and activities that make up a mundane life: a nice car, going to the movies, eating out,
having coffee with friends. In some ways, it would be "salvation" for many
people to find significance, meaning, or even just humor in the ordinary, much as Jerry
and his friends do. The ordinary can be a window into the divine. When people seek
religious experience to lift them from their mundane existence, they refuse to see that
God communicates in the dull and everyday probably more often than in mystical vision or
rapture. Once a person has a mystical experience in the ordinary, he or she is much more
able to laugh at and reject the bloatedness of our culture's need to acquire things. Seinfeld
succeeds in stripping away the allure of materialism and self-centeredness by showing us
how ridiculous it looks.
The producers of Seinfeld seem to say to us that life is full of
suffering. Accept it, and get over it—you are not entitled to a worry-free life, so
get on with your day-to-day routine and seek whatever happiness you can grab for yourself
along the way (the Qohelet message updated). It is a bleak picture of society, but it
captures that which is terribly bleak about contemporary life in urban
America—its narcissism and nihilism. There may not be a hug in that message, but
there certainly is a lesson.
Used by permission of Geneva Press. Available November 2001. To
order call 1-800-227-2872.
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