Jewish Humor Central is a daily publication to start your day with news of the Jewish world that's likely to produce a knowing smile and some Yiddishe nachas. It's also a collection of sources of Jewish humor--anything that brings a grin, chuckle, laugh, guffaw, or just a warm feeling to readers.
Our posts include jokes, satire, books, music, films, videos, food, Unbelievable But True, and In the News. Some are new, and some are classics. We post every morning, Sunday through Friday. Enjoy!
Shahak Shapira is an Israel-born, Berlin-based comedian. His comedy show on German TV got canceled so fast, most people didn’t even notice he had one. He recorded a stand up special for Comedy Central, which would have been awesome, but it was Comedy Central Germany.
He also wrote two best sellers, which would be very impressive if this was a poetry slam. New York, Tokyo, Cape Town, Paris, London, LA, Barcelona - Shahak has successfully bamboozled audiences around the world into thinking he’s funny and even tricked world class comedians like Jim Gaffigan, Iliza Shlesinger, Maz Jobrani, Ari Shaffir and Joe List into letting him open for them.
In this banter with his audience, Shahak gets an education about the jumping click beetle larvae attacking potatoes.
It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.
Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory.
With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.
Mickey
also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's
the setup: Sol and Sophie are both 62 years old. They're celebrating
their 35th wedding anniversary in a very romantic restaurant. It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.
Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory.
With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.
Mickey
also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one. Here's the setup: Ed was in big trouble. He had forgotten his wedding anniversary. His wife was furious. And then...
Some
of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we
continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines
by iconic comedians on
Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central.
Born
in Queens with the name Rikhters to a Yiddish-speaking family, Don Rickles began
doing stand-up comedy performing in hotels in the Catskill Mountains in
New York.
He became known as an insult comedian by responding to his
hecklers. The audience enjoyed these insults more than his prepared
material, and he incorporated them into his act.
Here's a segment of Rickles roasting Ronald Reagan on the Dean Martin Show in 1973 when Reagan was governor of California. Let's turn the clock back 52 years and enjoy the video clip.
Ein Lanu Zman
(We Have No Time) is the name of the house band of Agudas Achim
Congregation of Northern Virginia. Together with Hazzan Elisheva
Dienstfrey they play and sing a wide variety of songs as part of Shabbat
and Holiday services.
Led
by Rabbi Steven Rein and based in Alexandria, Virginia, the
congregation describes itself as a community built on covenantal
relationships, generating the connections that bind one individual to
another and one generation to the next.
Today
we're welcoming Shabbat with Hazzan Dienstfrey and the band easing into
the Kabbalat Shabbat service with a version of Yedid Nefesh by Josh Warshawsky.
Jerry Lewis' gift
of comedy lasted about 85 years, from his stage debut at age 5 in the
Catskills until his death in 2017. Over the years we have posted video
clips of some of his best shtick.
On this Throwback Thursday, we're sharing a segment of the Martin and Lewis show from 1953, when Jerry was featured in a production of the song Never Been Kissed.
In 2020 the Forverts launched a daily series of
short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.
The series,
written and narrated by Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter, aims to give
non-Yiddish speakers an introduction to familiar Yiddish words and phrases and
how they might be used in everyday situations.
Schaechter, who was appointed the new editor of the Forverts in 2016, is
the first woman to helm the paper in its 119-year history, its first
editor to have been born in the United States, and likely its first editor
who is shomeret Shabbat.
We posted the
first
of this series in May 2020. Now that the Forverts is continuing the
series, we'll continue sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of
Jewish Humor Central. Today
we get to learn some common Yiddish exclamations, some consisting of only one syllable.
A group of American friends sample Israeli snacks and drinks, rating each item on a scale of 1-10.
They discuss the flavors and textures of each item, with some favorites being instant coffee, a smoky-flavored pasta snack, and a peanut butter-flavored puffed snack.
The friends disagree on their ratings, with some finding items to be too sweet or salty while others enjoy the unique flavors.
If you've been to Israel you probably have tasted all of these:
It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. This week we're posting another joke from Dr. Jay Orlikoff, a retired dentist from Centereach, New York, a community on Long
Island in Suffolk County.
After
a distinguished and meritorious dental career, he is shifting his focus
to telling and posting jokes on YouTube. We were fortunate to find some
of his jokes and we're sharing one of the family-friendly ones with you
today.
Here's
the setup: A Texan is visiting Israel. He's driving down the road and he stops at a house and knocks on the door. The Israeli comes to the door. And then...
Some
of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we
continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines
by iconic comedians on
Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central.
Alan King
(1927-2004) was synonymous with classic Jewish comedy during his career
which lasted about 50 years starting in 1955. He had roles in many
movies, but we remember him most vividly for his stand-up comedy
routines in the Catskills and on television. King began his comedy career with one-liner routines and other material
concerning mothers-in-law and Jews. King's style of comedy changed when
he saw Danny Thomas performing in the early 1950s. He realized that
Thomas was talking to his audience, not at them, and was getting a
better response. King changed his own style from one-liners to a more
conversational style that used everyday life for humor. His comedy
inspired other comedians such as Joan Rivers, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry
David, Billy Crystal, Robert Klein, and Bill Cosby. In one of his earliest appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1965, with his wife and two sons in the audience, King talks about married life.
Cantor
Abbie Strauss is a renowned composer, multi-instrumentalist, and
recording artist, with her works being enjoyed worldwide.
Abbie founded
the music school, The Institute of Jewish Rock and Judaism: Inside Out,
driven by her desire to bring all people together as one in love and
joy through music. She is a proud member of the Grammy's Recording
Academy and an advocate for the arts.
Abbie is a Cantorial Soloist at Temple Judea, a Reform congregation in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where her husband, Feivel Strauss is a rabbi.
In today's video, she sings a lively version of L'cha Dodi.
Before he became the world’s greatest superhero, Superman was a villainous, bald telepath bent on world domination.
But his transformation into the iconic protector of justice was shaped by two Jewish teenagers from Cleveland, whose lives of poverty and prejudice gave birth to the ultimate immigrant success story.
Superman's roots, like those of his creators, are a story of struggle, resilience, and the power of reinvention.
The story of how Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster used their imagination to create Superman. His origin story, and theirs, is told on the Unpacked website.
Shahar
Hasson is one of the leading stand-up comedians in Israel, appearing on
Israeli stages for over 25 years, He is a graduate of Yoram
Levinstein's acting school.
Shahar
is an entertainer who paved his way through the best entertainment
programs in Israel: Eretz Nehederet, Zahirut TV, TV at its best,
Laughter from Work, Limited Edition, Fun Night, Express Hearts and more.
In
this performance before a live audience, Shahar takes a deep dive into the Eurovision song contest, mocking some of the choices by Estonia and Italy and praising the hopeful Israeli entry, "New Day Will Rise" as performed by Yuval Raphael.
"The Winner Takes It All" was a major success for ABBA, hitting No. 1 in
Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
It reached the Top 5 in Austria, Finland, France, West Germany, Norway,
Sweden, Switzerland and Zimbabwe.
It peaked in the Top 10 in
Australia, Canada, Italy, Spain and the United States (where it became
ABBA's fourth and final American Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 8. The song
spent 26 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, more than any other ABBA single).
The song was performed in many languages, so why not in Yiddish? Singer and song collector Ludmila Shapira took up the challenge and created a music video with Yiddish lyrics by Lenny Misikoff.
It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.
Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory.
With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.
Mickey
also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's
the setup: The father tucked in his 3-year-old daughter, told her a story, and then it was time for her prayers. She said "God bless Mommy, God bless Daddy, God bless grandma and goodbye grandpa." And then...
Some
of the best standup comedy was on TV shows and comedy specials in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Today we
continue our Sunday Standup series, sharing some of the classic routines
by iconic comedians on
Sunday editions of Jewish Humor Central.
We've been big fans of Rita Rudner ever since she started to appear on late night TV in the 1980s. One
of the hallmarks of her comedy is that it's clean, free from the
vulgarity and shouting that many stand-up comics find necessary. Her
delivery is demure, tasteful, full of wry observations, and
very funny.
Rudner
started her career as a dancer, then switched to stand-up comedy about
her dating experiences. She married British producer Martin Bergman 37 years ago and they have a daughter. She is fond of Jewish
humor but generally reserves it for when she performs for Jewish
audiences. Rita is 71 now and still performing in South Florida and other locations.
In this piece from 1989, Rita Rudner's stand-up comedy is focused on relationships, family and herself with one-liners and stories delivered in her unique matter-of-fact way that has made her an audience favorite.
Rick Recht is one of the top touring musicians in Jewish music playing
over 150 dates each year in the US and abroad. Rick has revolutionized
and elevated the genre of Jewish rock music as a powerful and effective
tool for developing Jewish pride and identity in youth and adults across
the US. Rick
is the national celebrity spokesman for the PJ Library and is the
Executive Director of Songleader Boot Camp – a national songleader
training immersion program held in various cities around the U.S. Rick and his band have played at literally hundreds of
URJ, Ramah, JCC and private camps around the country. Rick has been
featured in concert and as scholar in residence at the NFTY, BBYO, and
USY International conventions, the URJ Biennial, the American Conference
of Cantors, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and Jewish
communities across the US. Rick has 13 top selling Jewish albums
including his most recent release, Halleluyah. Let's welcome this Shabbat with Rick singing L'cha Dodi at A Friday night service at United Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis. Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
For
almost half a century, from the 1930s to 1976, The Barry Sisters,
Claire and Merna, were the voice of Jewish jazz in recordings, nightclub
acts, and television appearances on The Jack Paar Show, The Tonight
Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. Born
in the Bronx to Yiddish speaking immigrants from Kiev, Clara and Minnie
Bagelman started out in show business using their real names as The
Bagelman Sisters, but after awhile, Clara became Claire, Minnie became
Merna, and Bagelman became Barry. They performed songs in nine
languages. Looking
glamorous and sparing no expense for their orchestrations, they sang to
a full house at the Concord and other Catskills resorts.
In this Throwback Thursday special, Claire and Merna perform "Ev'ry Street's a Boulevard", on The Ed Sullivan Show. The song was written by Jule Styne and Bob Hilliard. It was featured in the 1954 movie Living It Up.
Candid
Camera
was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series
created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as
The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947.
After a series of theatrical
film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone,
Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued
into the 1970s. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being
confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props,
such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car
with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would
be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."
Peter
Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host
with
his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS
television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which
he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show
full-time.
The
show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was
a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted
over 200 episodes.
Twenty-five years ago the Candid Camera crew posed as workers who were told to install a fire hydrant in the middle of homeowners' front lawns. Let's
watch
their reactions to the situation and when they were told they're
on
Candid Camera.
One
of the joys of posting videos on Jewish Humor Central is discovering
new versions of traditional Jewish and Hebrew songs as they are
performed around the world, often in unexpected places.
Since we started Jewish Humor Central in 2009 we have posted 129 different versions of Hava Nagila. The song
has shown up in many countries, including some unexpected ones (Scroll
down the left column on this page and click on Hava Nagila in the
Keywords list and you'll see what we mean.) Today
we're posting a version of Hava Nagila that was performed by the Ukrainian band Kommuna Lux.
It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. This week we're posting another joke from Dr. Jay Orlikoff, a retired dentist from Centereach, New York, a community on Long
Island in Suffolk County.
After
a distinguished and meritorious dental career, he is shifting his focus
to telling and posting jokes on YouTube. We were fortunate to find some
of his jokes and we're sharing one of the family-friendly ones with you
today.
Here's
the setup: An employer puts an ad in the paper. He's looking for someone who can type, can operate a computer, and is also bilingual. And then...
Netflix has just released a new very Jewish 10-episode animated comedy drama created by Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob Waksberg. We think it's worth watching the 25 minute episodes.
As Mira Fox, PJ Grisar, Olivia Haynie and Nora Berman wrote in The Forward,
The Schwooper family, the central figures in the new animated Netflix series Long Story Short,
are diverse and unique — religious and atheist, gay and straight,
farmers and businesswomen. Simultaneously, they are basically like every
Jewish family you’ve ever met.
Naomi (Lisa Edelstein), the family’s domineering matriarch, is
constantly nagging her kids to do better — her youngest son Yoshi (Max
Greenfield) should be more professional; Shira (Abbi Jacobson), the
middle child, should wear more dresses; her oldest, Avi (Ben Feldman)
should be more observant. Her kids are constantly rolling their eyes and
responding with sarcastic jabs. You’ve certainly seen this family.
Maybe you’ve lived it.
Madeleine LeBeau is a cantorial student at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music of Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. Her love of Jewish music and passion for the Jewish community took root in her home congregation, Temple Rodef Shalom in Northern Virginia.
From age four through her graduation from high school, Madeleine took every opportunity to be engaged with Jewish life, from singing in multiple choirs to performing in Purim Shpiels to taking on leadership opportunities in her synagogue community.Through these experiences, Madeleine began to appreciate how building community – a true sense of connection and belonging – is essential to sustaining Judaism.
In this video, Madeleine leads the congregation in singing Yismechu.
Social media sensation Yohay Sponder has gone viral with his charming
and unapologetic comments on Jews in general, Israeli Jews
specifically, and overall audience interaction on topics ranging from
political correctness (or not), Muslims, women, terrorists, gays, and
the Holocaust — many things people are feeling, but stand back from
expressing.
Since 2016, Sponder has been producing “Funny Monday,” an Israeli standup comedy
show in English that, among other things, touches upon current events
from an Israeli-Jewish point of view.
In
this video, Sponder engages in banter with non-Jewish members of his Funny Monday audience from Panama and China.
Candid
Camera
was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series
created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as
The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947.
After a series of theatrical
film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone,
Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued
into the 1970s. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being
confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props,
such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car
with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would
be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."
Peter
Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host
with
his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS
television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which
he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show
full-time.
The
show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was
a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted
over 200 episodes.
In this episode the Candid Camera crew raised a house 10 feet off the ground and waited while a succession of delivery people became frustrated in their attempts to deliver pizza, a taxi, flowers, Chinese food, and a singing telegram.
Paul Reiser is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He comes from a Romanian Jewish family and attended the East Side Hebrew Institute, a Jewish Day School which merged with the Park East Synagogue in the early 1980s to become the Park East Day School.
He played the roles of Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom My Two Dads, Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom Mad About You, Modell in the 1982 film Diner, and Detective Jeffrey Friedman in the Beverly Hills Cop franchise. He has gained recognition for his roles as Jim Neiman in the 2014 film Whiplash and Dr. Sam Owens in the Netflix series Stranger Things.
Reiser
is ranked 77th on Comedy Central's 2004 list of the "100 Greatest
Stand-ups of All Time". The name of his production company, Nuance
Productions, is inspired by one of his lines in the film Diner, where his character explains his discomfort with the word "nuance".
In
this excerpt from his first standup special in over 30 years, Reiser talks about the consequences of lying about our age as we get older.
It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.
Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory.
With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.
Mickey
also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's
the setup: Sol and Sophie are both 62 years old. They're celebrating
their 35th wedding anniversary in a very romantic restaurant. It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.
Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory.
With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.
Mickey
also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one. Here's the setup: A man was walking through a park in Paris and he saw a little girl playing with her dog, a Rottweiler. All of a sudden the dog attacked the girl and started to bite her. And then...
