Der Yiddishe Mandalorian

I finished Season 3 of The Mandalorian.

There are many angles from which to discuss it. I could delve into why I really enjoyed it. Or how Elia Kane was awful and never had a resolution to her arc. Those are worth dissecting, yet I’d rather discuss something personal. This was originally suggested by Jewish Twitter (Jwitter), but it’s grown on me: The Mandalorians are Jewish-coded. Here are 5 reasons why I think that.

1. They wear distinct garb that they value dearly:

Let’s get the obvious one out first. It’s clear that a Mandalorian’s armour’s something they value. While armour isn’t new in Star Wars, many individuals wear it, Mandalorian garb follows the same pattern: a helmet with slits for the eyes and an opening for the mouth. Body armour that covers the hands, feet, elbows, knees, shoulders and chest. And a backpack that carries their weapons and lets them fly.

It's a stretch, but there are some parallels between Mandalorian garb and traditional Jewish attire. The helmet’s comparable to wearing a yarmulke for a male or a sheitel for a female. The body armour is a modest dress code, hinting at Tzitzit, Tallitot and the Tefillin Jews wear in prayer. And the Beskar metal can be read into as Techelet, the blue dye some Jews wear on the fringes of their Tzitzit.

Even the insignias on their garments evoke Jewish imagery. Whether it’s the Mythosaur being Judah’s lion, or their emblem looking like their version of a Star of David, Mandalorians pride themselves on identifiers. Like how Jews today are unified by the Jewish Star, the emblems of Mandalorians symbolize their shared history. It’s almost a guarantee that if you see any Mandalorians, you’ll immediately recognize them. It’s the same for Jews.

2. They adhere to an ancient tradition, yet differ in how it’s practiced:

The Mandalorian creed is rooted in an ancient tradition, arguably one of the oldest in the Star Wars universe. They’re closely-knit and communal, and they adhere to a strict code. They also have rules on how they present in public, including whether or not they remove their helmets. To some Mandalorians, showing your face is heresy, and you must bathe in their ritual waters to atone. For others, the helmet’s not that important.

It's easy to see this parallel the plurality of Jewish practice. Like Mandalorians, Jews have rituals, or Mitzvot, that they adhere to. But even then, there’s no consensus on practicing them. Whether it’s religious sects, religious sub-sects, or regional differences, Jews, like Mandalorians, have different ways of practicing and interpreting customs. It’s that diversity that often makes them at odds.

Additionally, Mandalorians, like Jews, allow converts. But it’s not openly-advertised. Conversion draws ire from those who born into the club, but it’s also what separates them from Jedi, who are born with their abilities. It also keeps them small in numbers. But I guess that’s the trade-off.

3. They have a strong attachment to an ancient homeland, one they yearn for:

Like Jews and Israel, The Mandalorians have a strong connection to Mandalore and its system of planets. The Mandalorian System’s basically Star Wars’ Israel, with each planet being a different city. Mandalore, therefore, is Jerusalem. And it’s rich with history, like how Jerusalem is. This even plays a central theme in stories that feature Mandalorians, like The Mandalorian.

Unfortunately, Mandalore’s been subject to attacks and invasions by foreign entities. Whether it be The CIS, Death Watch, The Galactic Republic or even The Galactic Empire, Mandalore’s seen plenty of war and bloodshed, culminating in it being carpet-bombed by Imperial forces and made uninhabitable. Sound familiar? It should.

That hasn’t stopped Mandalorians from yearning for a return to Mandalore. As Bo-Katan Kryze, this universe’s Davidic leader, states, the yearning for Mandalore’s something many Mandalorians share. It unites them even during disagreements. And they’ll die to achieve it. It isn’t unlike what happened with Jews and re-establishing The State of Israel. (And no, I don’t want to argue semantics.)

4. They’ve been persecuted for thousands of years by foreign entities:

This is easily the biggest link. Similarly to how Jews have been attacked by foreign entities like The Romans and The Babylonians, The Mandalorians been routinely attacked by foreign entities. Yet similarly to Jews, The Mandalorians endured. It’s a cycle of attack, persecution and endurance. And it’ll keep going.

This is best summed up when Paz Vizsla mentions that The Mandalorians have been on the brink of extinction for thousands of years. He mentions they’ve survived all odds, and it’s made them strong. Similarly, despite being .25% of the global population, Jews have defied the odds, and their adversity’s made them stronger. This despite Jews frequently being subservient to foreign nations, sometimes with dire consequences. That’s enough to break any nation, but not Jews.

This paradox makes Jews and Mandalorians most-alike. Much like Jews have been persecuted, so too have Mandalorians. Much like how Jews have come back stronger, so too have Mandalorians. And much like how the Jews’ enemies have failed at eliminating them, so too have The Mandalorians’ enemies. You can’t get more-blatant than that.

5. Their biggest threat is their disunity:

If enduring near-extinction’s the strongest comparison between Mandalorians and Jews, their tendency to in-fight and squabble’s the second-strongest. As Bo-Katan Kryze points out, Mandalorians can only be defeated when they’re not united. Sadly, that happens quite frequently. It probably happens too frequently! Bo-Katan knows from experience, having been part of Death Watch at one point…

This is equally true of Jews. Jews are frequently disunited despite their size, leading to them routinely being at the mercy of foreigners. This disunity’s most-apparent with the destruction of both their Temples, the first by Babylon and the second by Rome. The reason given by tradition for why is different for both, but there’s a common-thread: disunity and disrespect for one-another. And in both cases, it ended poorly.

If disunity makes Jews and Mandalorians weak, then unity makes them stronger. Like the Jewish desire for self-determination that led to a modern-resurgence of Zionism, so too does Mandalorian yearning to reclaim Mandalore lead to them reclaiming it. And under Bo-Katan’s leadership, they’re eventually able to do that in Season 3 of The Mandalorian. It’s a gruelling experience, with many losses, but hey! That’s also how it was with the Jewish people.

There you have it: 5 reasons why The Mandalorians are Jewish-coded in the Star Wars universe. Perhaps all these parallels are presumptuous, but would you have preferred a Shonen connection?