{"id":3487,"date":"2010-04-19T23:52:09","date_gmt":"2010-04-20T07:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reallifesuperheroes.org\/?p=3487"},"modified":"2010-04-19T23:52:09","modified_gmt":"2010-04-20T07:52:09","slug":"3487","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/2010\/04\/19\/3487\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish Superhero, Protecting the Weak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Originally posted: <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.forward.com\/the-shmooze\/127378\/\">http:\/\/blogs.forward.com\/the-shmooze\/127378\/<\/a><br \/>\nApril 19, 2010, 6:30pm<br \/>\nBy Shoshana Olidort<br \/>\nChaim Lazaros is a real-life superhero. Several nights a week he transforms into an alterego named Life. Donning a black domino mask, fedora and skinny tie, he stuffs a backpack full of drinks and snacks, and patrols the streets of New York City while distributing the life-saving goods to the homeless.<br \/>\nLife, 25, is one of half dozen real-life superheroes in New York, and 250-300 worldwide. In 2007, he and Ben Goldman, 23 \u2014 who goes by the moniker Cameraman and who documents the superhero movement on a video camera \u2014 founded Superheroes Anonymous, an organization that provides support for the real-life superheroes who dress up in costumes and walk the streets, protecting the vulnerable and warding off crime.<br \/>\nEach superhero takes on a unique role. Chris Pollak \u201cDark Guardian,\u201d 25, rallies against drug dealers in Washington Square Park, while Arjuna Ladino, 42, and Shanti Owen, 50 \u2014 an engaged pair of relationship counselors known collectively as the Transformational Warriors \u2014 dress up in patriotic spandex outfits and spread the word of love.<br \/>\nLife, who wears tzitzit and covers his head, says he draws on the Jewish values he was raised with \u2014 his parents are Chabad emissaries in Framingham, Mass. \u2014 while performing his superhero duties. As a peyes-sporting kid in a New England suburb, Life says he learned early on to be comfortable with \u201clooking different\u201d and with having people look to him as \u201ca symbol of something.\u201d<br \/>\nIn addition to garnering publicity, the costumes that Life and his cohorts wear serve as a reminder. Each time he puts on his costume, says Life, \u201cI have to say to myself now I\u2019m a superhero, I have to have higher ideals\u2026 I\u2019m not just Chaim.\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Life interviewed by the Jewish Daily<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[592,625,1508,1828,1840,1841,2181,2556,2795,2894],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}