Karate,” says the impassioned sensei, “gave my life structure, function, purpose, and it’s doing the same for my students. I only want to spread its lessons further. Give every kid the chance to learn and grow through karate. Just like I did.”

Moving, isn’t it?

Enter the world of Cobra Kai, a spin-off of The Karate Kid, created, like so many other streaming series in the last five years to allow middle-aged parents to indulge in 1980s nostalgia with their teenage offspring.

Here, karate is the means for improvement and development of potentially wayward youth — along with their affluent peers. For poor Miguel Diaz, his sensei, original-karate-nemesis Johnny Lawrence, becomes the father Miguel never met; Johnny’s dojo, Cobra Kai, transforms into Miguel’s safe haven. Meanwhile, poor Robby Keene, Johnny’s neglected son, finds a different sensei: original karate kid Daniel LaRusso.

LaRusso is a stable, kind father figure, so unlike Robby’s biological father, and Daniel’s dojo, Miyagi-do, and home are open to Robby. Even the LaRusso children, born into a comfortable lifestyle provided by Daniel and his wife Amanda, who run a successful used car business, evolve through karate. The daughter, in particular, learns to summon her inner strength and stand up for herself.

Sticking closely to the original Karate Kid films, in each successive series of Cobra Kai we meet a bad guy who is worse than the last bad guy. Thought Johnny Lawrence, original-karate-kid-nemesis, was evil? Nah, turns out he just never got over having a mean stepfather. Also, he’s immature and maybe not that bright.

Instead, meet John Kreese, an unhinged Vietnam vet who’s really bad. But wait—maybe there’s a reason Kreese is bad?

Or reasons? Sure enough, as the series progresses, we develop sympathy for Kreese, who lost his mother to suicide, the love of his life to a car accident and, to add insult to injury, was forced to fight his fellow platoon soldier in a battle to the death on a platform suspended over a pit of venomous snakes! (Well, maybe the last bit isn’t so sympathy-inducing…

It turns out that the American army swooped in right before Kreese’s opponent fell into the cobras, but Kreese decided to sacrifice him anyway — and then name his dojo after the snake that finished the American soldier off!)

Finally, there’s Terry Silver. Silver first appeared in The Karate Kid Part III; he and Kreese created Cobra Kai dojo together, with Silver funding the enterprise. Silver is incredibly rich, powerful, cunning, and controlling.

No sob story in this man’s past; he’s always been the recipient of privilege. Hell, he is privilege personified. And don’t think his family, owner of “DynaTox Industries”, made their money doing good in the world.

Of course not — though it does turn out that dumping nuclear waste anywhere went out of fashion at some point, and Terry had to find new ways to make his millions. Whatever they were, he managed, and when we re-meet Silver in series four he’s entertaining obnoxiously posh guests at his massive beachfront mansion.

Silver is …How shall I put it? Comic-book cruel. Over the top. Everything Silver does is unethical. He doesn’t teach children how to foster their self-esteem or defend themselves, but to hurt.

He pays off referees. He buys his talent. He manipulates an elite international tournament into giving his dojo a coveted spot by promising corporate sponsorships and broadcast rights and says he has the resources and connections to make the small outfit into a household name.

His dojo’s motto? “Strike first, strike hard, no mercy.”

So, you can imagine that I gasped (and my 12-year-old burst out laughing) when, firing a sensei from a dojo he’s just purchased, Silver is suddenly outed as a Jew. The sensei, Rosenthal, aghast at Silver’s betrayal, whines, “You’re replacing me, Terry?” adding, “This wasn’t the deal we made at Shabbat services!”

Responds our Elder of Zion supervillain: “Topanga Karate has spent the last few years taking losses left and right. That ends today.” To Rosenthal’s class: “My new senseis will be moulding you all into winners…If you want to be taught by the best of the best, step up and take a gi from Sensei Odell.

If you want to quit, then at least take a complimentary thermos from Sensei Bacaria, as my gift to you.” How magnanimous.

Tense music, and we see none of the students has opted for the thermos. “Well,” Terry says to Rosenthal, “looks like your students made their decision. Shalom, Sensei.”

As Cobra Kai was created by Jews — all are eligible for Israel’s Law of Return — you have to see this exchange between Silver and Rosenthal as an in-joke.

At least I do. At the same time, you have to think, instead of karate giving Silver’s life “structure, function, and purpose” — it was Silver’s pronouncement with which I began this piece— maybe it should have been Yiddishkeit?

I can picture his new dojo now:

“Hillel Dojo: have rachmones. All the rest is commentary!”