Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem in Toronto's Temple Sinai

Today we welcome Shabbat with a choir from Temple Sinai in Toronto, Ontario. Their version of Shalom Aleichem is the 36th that we've posted in our welcoming Shabbat series.

It was recorded last November at the installation of Rabbi Jordan Shaner and Cantor Sharon Brown-Levy.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Throwback Thursday at the Oscars: Norma Shearer and Carl Laemmle - Jewish Winners in 1930

With all the glitz and glamour associated with the Academy Awards coming up on February 9, we're going back 90 years to take a look at the laid back awards announcement that was made in awarding the Oscars for best performances in 1930. 

It was a year that saw two Jewish nominees walk away with the coveted gold statuette. Norma Shearer received the Oscar for her Best Actress performance in The Divorcee. And Producer Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, took home the award for All Quiet on the Western Front as Best Picture.

As P.J. Grisar wrote in The Forward,

Norma Shearer, a Canadian-American actress who converted to Judaism in 1927 to marry MGM mogul Irving Thalberg, holds the distinction of being not only the first Jewish woman to win an Oscar, but the first performer overall. (Writers Benjamin Glazer, Ben Hecht, Joseph W. Farnham, né Frohman, and director Lewis Milestone, né Lieb Milstein, were the first Jewish winners in the first Oscars ceremony.)

Oscar winner producer Carl Laemmle was born in 1867 to a Jewish family in Laupheim, in the German Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1906, Laemmle quit his job and started one of the first motion picture theaters in Chicago.

Laemmle remained connected to his home town of Laupheim throughout his life, providing financial support to it and also by sponsoring hundreds of Jews from Laupheim and Württemberg to emigrate from Nazi Germany to the United States in the 1930s, paying both emigration and immigration fees, thus saving them from the Holocaust.

Let's go back to 1930 and watch these two members of the entertainment world receive their awards. 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO

#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Delight: Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar and the Invention of Music

In Sefer Beresheet (Genesis 4:21) we read that Jubal (Yuval) was the ancestor of all who played the lyre, which is a stringed instrument, and the pipe. 

In his History of the World: Part 1, his hilarious take on world history, Mel Brooks came up with an alternate version of how music was created. 

Casting comedian Sid Caesar as an early caveman, Brooks has him accidentally discovering music by dropping a large rock on the foot of a fellow caveman and observing the "notes" that come out of his mouth as he screams with pain.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Introducing Frumprov - Montreal's Home for Religious Comedy Tryouts

The center of Montreal's Jewish comedy scene is a comedy club called Frumprov. It's a monthly gathering spot for Kosher, Frum entertainment. A safe space where musicians, comedians, & artists can try new material.

Videos are starting to appear on the Internet with short standup comedy performances by a number of up and coming new Jewish comedians who focus on clean comedy with an emphasis on religious rituals and experiences.

We are monitoring the site, looking for funny episodes that would be seen as funny by the more general Jewish audience. So far we find most of the standup routines too particular for general audiences. But a few have potential. So dear readers, please let us know in your comments what you think about Frumprov.

Here is an example by Levi Goldstein with a set about Meshulachim, sometimes known as schnorrers or fundraisers who won't take no for an answer.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

A Joke to Start the Week - "On the Bus"

It's another Monday, and it's time for another joke to start the week. Here comes another one from Toronto's 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 more of these jokes on upcoming Mondays. Here's another one, told by Arthur Stern.

Here's the setup: A small, elderly Jewish woman gets on a bus at Bathurst and Wilson in Toronto. She's shlepping her bags from the No Frills and she gets on the bus. She makes absolutely no attempt to pay. And then...

Enjoy!


A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

More Israeli Standup Comedy From Shahar Hason and Yossi Tarablus

Comedians Yohay Sponder and Shahar Hason got their start as comedians in Israel catering exclusively to Hebrew-speaking audiences. As the two became more and more well-known to Hebrew speakers throughout Israel, they noticed a huge demographic in the country that was missing out on the laughs. 

Sponder and Hason took the risk of crafting and re-writing their material from Hebrew to English (and from Israeli humor to American humor), all the while unsure whether or not they would even get a laugh out of an English speaking crowd. Their hard work and dedication to broadening the audience of one of Israel’s most unique cultural elements has launched the growing scene of Israeli Stand-up in English.

Last year Sponder, Hason, Yossi Tarablus, and some of their friends took their show, Funny Monday, on a tour of Europe and visited Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, London, and Manchester. Here is another video highlight of the tour.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

 

Welcoming Shabbat with the Jerusalem Cantors Choir Singing Shir Hamaalot

On Shabbat and Festivals, Shir Hamaalot (Psalm 126), foretelling the restoration of Zion, is sung before Birkat HaMazon, the Grace After Meals.

Today we welcome Shabbat with this beautiful version sung by the Jerusalem Cantors Choir, as performed at Mercaz Moreshet Begin, Jerusalem. The choir is conducted by Paul Salter, with Rita Feldman at the piano.

The Jerusalem Cantors Choir was established in 1972 by a select group of students of the late Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Rivlin of Blessed Memory. Rabbi Rivlin was the founder of the Shirat Yisrael Musical Institute. The first conductor of the choir for many years was Binyamin Glickman. 

The choir's goal is to both preserve and modernize the music of our ancient prayers and songs. Its repertoire includes Cantorial, liturgical, Yiddish, Chassidic and Israeli works.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

Throwback Thursday Stage Clip: Ron Moody as Fagin in "Oliver!"

Oliver!, the musical play and film created by Lionel Bart (born Lionel Begleiter) and based on Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist has always been one of our favorites. We have a personal connection with the production because our grandson Gil played the title role in the Encore Theatre production in Jerusalem in May 2014.

The role of Fagin was played by Ron Moody in the original London production and the movie. In the preface to the novel, Fagin is described as a "receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children who he teaches to make their living by pickpocketing and other criminal activities, in exchange for shelter.

Moody, who was born Ronald Moodnick, was a second-generation native Briton whose father came over from Russia and whose mother was proud of her Vilna roots. A very Jewish bachelor, he shared his house with his mother and other family members in the Jewish North London suburb of Southgate.

Moody's portrayal of Fagin just oozes with Jewishness, but not in the anti-semitic way that Dickens portrayed him. On the contrary, he is humanized as a lovable crook who shows real affection for his pickpocketing children.

He reprised his role as Fagin at the 1985 Royal Variety Performance in Theatre Royal, Drury Lane before Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Here is a clip from this performance in which Moody sings Reviewing the Situation, where he considers his past life and wonders about his future.

Enjoy!


A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.




#Throwback Thursday    #TBT