Back when a Jew had to hide behind a nom de plume, there was actually an identity hidden behind the mask. Today however, the vast majority of Jews are not uniquly Jewish. With nothing but an empty face behind their veil, their veil becomes their face. He is John Stewart because he is not John Leibowitz. While it is true that Leibowitz expresses Stewart’s ancestry, if his heritage does not mean anything to him (and—judging by the constant anti-Israel segments on his show—it does not) why should it mean anything to the rest of us? He is John Stewart. There is no pretense. And don’t you feed me the line, “He embraces his Jewish ancestry through his uniquely Jewish humor.” Thanks to the brilliant work of Stewart’s professional ancestors (not all of whom changed their names, by the way) Jewish humor has had such an impact on general American humor that—like the bagel—it can no longer be said to be uniquly Jewish. America runs on Dunkin Donuts bagels more than it runs on their donuts.

That said, names can be powerful things. If readopting the name of his fathers brings him just an inch closer to his Jewish brothers, more power to him!

Wait--you can't value your jewish ancestry and criticize Israel? And I thought the dietary rules were demanding!

Agreed. I can't imagine every Jew living in Israel agrees 100% with every action of the government of Israel. Else why would they bother having elections? Is a Jew who votes against the current government somehow not being true to his "heritage"? Since when does belonging to an ethnic/religious group mean you have to think in a single, monolithic block?

As for there being a steady stream of "anti-Israeli" material on his show, people see what they want to see. If Stewart or, more accurately, the writers on his show, do more than one segment a month that addresses Israel, much less critcizes it, I'd be amazed. The show in general is much more focused on American policy than anything else.

Actually, America is now running on those Canadian Tim Horton's donuts and bagels. I'm not sure about Tim Horton's Jewishness.