Welcoming Shabbat with Beit T'shuvah Congregation and Shalom Aleichem a la Frank Sinatra

Beit T'shuvah in Los Angeles calls itself "a Congregation Like No Other" and certainly organizes Kabbalat Shabbat services like no other congregation.

Over the years we have posted some of their liturgical selections set to tunes of the Beatles and Country and Western stars. They specialize in Shabbat services of other popular culture genres as well.

Last July they conducted a service with most of the tefilot set to songs made famous by Frank Sinatra. Would you believe Fly Me to the Moon as Shalom Aleichem?

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Victor Borge Plays Happy Birthday in Classical Composer Styles

We never get tired of watching the mischievous piano comedy antics of the great Victor Borge, the Danish comedian, conductor and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the United States and Europe.

His blend of music and comedy earned him the nickname "The Clown Prince of Denmark","The Unmelancholy Dane", and "The Great Dane."
 
He was born as Borge Rosenbaum to a Jewish family in Copenhagen. His parents were both musicians. He began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy.

In this video clip from 1951, Borge played Happy Birthday in the styles of Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Brahms, Wagner, Beethoven, Strauss, Mozart, Irving Berlin, and Shostakovich.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

Comedy Showcase: British Comedian Ashley Blaker on Circumcision

We've become big fans of Ashley Blaker, the British Orthodox comedian who's been getting rave reviews on his stand-up tours and requests for more video clips from our readers.

He has previously performed two sell-out tours of the UK (Ungefiltered and Meshuga Frum) to great acclaim and toured his comedy across Israel and South Africa. He started performing in USA with a sold-out show at New York's Gramercy Theatre.

In June Ashley performed in London and included a bit about the circumcision of his son, explaining the little known custom of burying the foreskin under a tree.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Inside Nigeria's Jewish Community

There are currently 26 synagogues of various sizes in Nigeria. An estimated 30,000 Igbos were practicing some form of Judaism in 2008.

Some Nigerian communities with Judaic practices have been receiving help from individual Israelis and American Jews who work in Nigeria, out-reach organizations like Kulanu, and African-American Jewish communities in America. Jews from outside Nigeria founded two synagogues in Nigeria, which are attended and maintained by Igbos. Because no formal census has been taken in the region, the number of Igbos in Nigeria who identify as either Israelites or Jews is not known. 

Seven years ago we posted a portion of a documentary called Re-emerging: The Jews of Nigeria.

The Israeli TV Station i24 News recently broadcast an update on the Jews of Nigeria. Here is their video on the subject.

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Almost"

We were lucky to discover a collection of more jokes from the talented Toronto joke tellers who put on a performance of Jewish Folks Telling Jokes, a night of comedy to benefit Jewish Family and Child, one of the foremost Jewish service agencies in North America.

We previously posted a few jokes that were told at the event, a Canadian contribution to the world of Jewish humor, probably inspired by the off-Broadway show Old Jews Telling Jokes, still touring around the USA.

We'll be posting some of these jokes on upcoming Mondays. Here's another oldie but goodie.
Here's the setup: An artist's studio served hors d'oeuvres and wine at night. So I said to the couple we're with "Let's go in." So we go in. And then...

Enjoy!

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Hava Nagila Around the World: Yoonseok Lee Plays Onstage in South Korea

Harmonica music is not usually performed by a solo performer in concert. Its unique style is not only present in original compositions but throughout many different genres.

Yoonseok Lee, a Korean harmonica virtuoso, has a repertoire that ranges from popular and folk music to original compositions and contemporary music, from Bach to the Beatles.

And now he has incorporated Hava Nagila into his recitals.

Born in 1992 in South Korea, Yoonseok Lee started learning the harmonica at the age of 11 and majored in musicology at the Seoul National University where he graduated in 2017. In 2012, he gave his first public recital and orchestral debut.

In this video, Yoonseok Lee plays Hava Nagila with piano accompaniment. 

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Welcoming Shabbat at Emanuel Synagogue in Sydney, Australia

For today's welcoming Shabbat video, let's take a trip to Sydney, Australia and the Emanuel Synagogue's Shabbat Live service, which is conducted every Friday evening at 6:15 pm.

Established in 1938, Emanuel Synagogue is a pluralist community affiliated with the Masorti, Progressive and Renewal movements.

The Shabbat service in this video was recorded on November 29, 2013. It welcomed USA guest star Joshua Nelson "The Prince of Kosher Gospel", along with Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio, Martin Yafe and the Shabbat Live Band. Martin Yafe now directs programs at the YM-YMHA in Washington Heights, New York.

While attending Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Nelson started blending Hebrew texts with gospel melodies and arranging Jewish hymns in gospel style, resulting in solo CDs like "Hebrew Soul" (2004) and "Mi Chamocha" (2005). 

Both of Nelson’s parents are Jewish, and his family attended temple at a black synagogue in Brooklyn, then switched to Sharey Tefilo-Israel, in South Orange, New Jersey, a reform synagogue with a liberal reputation.
Together with the synagogue rabbi and cantor Nelson leads the congregation in Shalom Aleichem and Motown versions of Mi Chamocha and Adon Olam.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Classics: Sid Caesar in Gallipacci, a Spoof of the Opera Pagliacci

First telecast on Caesar's Hour on October 10, 1955 on NBC, this kinescoped sketch is a take-off on the Italian opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Sid plays the role of "Gallipacci" ("Canio" in the real opera) an actor in a traveling Italian comedia dell'arte troupe during the late 19th century. 

His wife "Rosa" ("Nedda" in the actual opera), who is played by singer and comedienne Nanette Fabray, falls in love with fellow actor "Emilio" (the opera's "Silvio" character), performed by Carl Reiner, and they make plans to elope. Sid sings a rendition of songs in a gibberish Italian dialect which he picked up in his youth from waiting tables at his father's 24-hour blue-collar diner in Yonkers, New York. 

Straying off of the real opera's musical score just a bit, we hear hilariously bastardized renditions of Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine, and Take Me Out to the Ball Game among others. Howie Morris (Ernest T. Bass from "The Andy Griffith Show") is "Vesuvio" (whose real opera character is "Tonio") and he performs a parody song and dance rountine to the tune If I Know What You Know. 

In one of the most famous "saves" in the history of live television, Sid was supposed to paint a teardrop on his cheek when the mascara pencil broke at the beginning of his nonsense rendition of Just One of Those Things. Not breaking his stride, Sid proceeds to pick up one of Nanette's lip brushes and paints an unscripted tic-tac-toe board on his face.  

The grand finale concluded with a variation of the song The Yellow Rose of Texas after Gallipacci takes care of the situation along the lines of a Mafia hit. Also, in the early days of live television, one time "specials" which pre-empted regular series programs were initially called "spectaculars". Listen for a young Don Pardo introducing the sketch.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Comedy Showcase: Meet SJ Tannenbaum, Stand-up Comedian and Impressionist

SJ Tannenbaum is a 22-year-old comedian, impressionist, rapper, and entertainer. His specialty is celebrity impressions. 

He was a participant in the Funniest Jewish Comedian Contest at the Broadway Comedy Club in June.

In this video clip, he reflects on the different treatments coach and first-class airline passengers get from flight attendants, and imagines a gemara learning session with Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Australian Comic Michael Shafar on Unexpected Ratings and Reviews

The Melbourne Jewish Comedy Festival is a showcase of the very best of Jewish humour in Australia. One of Australia's best Jewish comedians is Michael Shafar.

Michael started out with a law degree, but decided he didn't want to work in an office all day. So he became a standup comedian.

We recently posted a clip of Michael contrasting Jewish holidays with Australian holidays. Here's another clip with Michael reading unexpected online ratings and reviews by vistors at the JFK gravesite and the Holocaust Museum.

Enjoy!

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