There are currently four Igbo Jewish synagogues in Abuja: Gihon Synagogue, headed by Elder Ovadia Agbai; Tikvat Israel Synagogue, headed by Sar Habakkuk Nwafor; Plant for the Growth of Israel Synagogue, headed by Remy Ilona; and Igbo Israel Heritage Synagogue, headed by Dr. Michael Caliben. All four congregations have been studying and practicing Judaism for some years.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
The festival lasted only for a few days but the museum is open during the summer on Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. It's closed on Mondays.
The museum is currently featuring a new exhibit called Catskills Romance: Love and Desire in the Borscht Belt.
It traces the relationships — both conventional and otherwise — that unfolded across the grand hotels and humble bungalow colonies. It celebrates the resort owners, maitre d’s, social directors (tummlers), dance instructors, and staff who masterminded countless successful matches, and explores the beautiful rituals of courtship that defined Catskills summer. The exhibit highlights the essential spaces, activities, and ingredients that sparked connection: the poolside scene, the Mambo nights and Champagne Hour competitions, and the world-class entertainment that made the resorts irresistible to singles and couples alike.
Beyond the nostalgia, the exhibition uncovers more complex narratives: tales of hidden desire, lost innocence, and the enduring memories guests carried home long after the season ended. Drawing on rare artifacts, vintage photography, oral histories, and the iconic popular culture the era inspired, Catskills Romance offers an intimate, elegant look at a world where tradition and transgression mingled poolside — and a single dance could change a life forever.
The exhibition contains mature content and is not suitable for all ages. Parental discretion is advised.
Here is a the 3-min film that the museum is showing that describes the history of the Catskills resort era.
Enjoy!
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.
Sixty years ago the Candid Camera producers set up an office situation with a door that people were supposed to knock on before entering. But none of the realized how strong they were.
Enjoy!
Today we're starting a series of videos by Sasson, also known as Sass, giving you the inside scoop on the Hebrew that most Israelis speak among themselves. Today you’ll learn 7 untranslatable Hebrew words that reveal how Israelis really think, speak, and connect. These are not just vocabulary words - they carry culture, attitude, and personality.
In this video, you’ll learn:
Old Jews Telling Jokes started out as a website created in 2009 by Sam Hoffman and Eric Spiegelman. The website and subsequent book, CD, and DVD were the result of their renting a storefront in Highland Park, New Jersey, and videotaping the old jokes told by their parents and friends.
The jokes, told by Jews 65 and older, have been widely reprinted and reposted on the Internet. At Jewish Humor Central, we have used some of the video clips in our Joke to Start the Week on Mondays. Now that we've found a new collection of these jokes, we will be posting them in the coming weeks as our Monday offering.
Here's one joke told by gynecological surgeon Michael Goldberg.
Enjoy!
In 1967 legendary comedians Jack Benny and George Burns, who evolved from the vaudeville stage to television, stepped into the roles of bickering comedic brothers Tom and Dick Smothers on this sketch from the classic hit comedy show and topped it off with the song "I Taught Him Everything He Knows."
Enjoy!
Israeli pop artist Rivka Zohar is a great performer. Her music fits
under the popular pop category, which is distinguished by catchy
melodies and approachable lyrics. Rivka's music is joyful and emotional
at the same time, focusing on universal themes and personal experiences
that connect with listeners.
Rivka has a special talent for
engaging her listeners with her music. Her music is filled with an
openness and sincerity that speaks to the human condition. Rivka's music
is consistently relevant and extraordinarily touching, whether she is
singing about love, loss, or personal development.
Known
as the 42-letter Name of God, Ana Bekoach is a unique formula
built of 42 letters written in seven sentences of six words each. Each
of the seven sentences correspond to the seven days of the week, seven
specific angels, and to a particular heavenly body. The letters that
make up Ana Bekoach are encoded within the first 42 letters of the book of Genesis.
The
kabbalists explain that this combination of letters takes us back to
the time of Creation, and each time we meditate on a particular
sequence, we return to the original uncorrupted energy that built the
world. By performing the Ana Bekoach meditation, we enrich our lives with unadulterated spiritual Light and positive energy.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
In today's video, two consultants are hosted by a client who takes them to a kosher restaurant for the first time. Okay, it's a parody and an exaggeration, but last winter we encountered a restaurant in Florida that was very much like this one, including the mashgiach and the upcharge for water. No kidding.
Enjoy!
The show involved concealed 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 were told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." The catchphrase became a song with music and lyrics by Sid Ramin.
In this classic episode, shoppers at department stores in New York City encounter a sales clerk who repeatedly abandons her duties to take an immediate coffee break. As unsuspecting customers interact with the employee, the situation escalates, testing the patience of those attempting to make a purchase. The role of the sales clerk is played by actress Vivian Vance, who was best known for playing landlady Ethel Mertz on the sitcom I Love Lucy.
This Candid Camera episode took place 64 years ago in 1962.
Enjoy!
Today we're starting a series of videos by Sasson, also known as Sass, giving you the inside scoop on the Hebrew that most Israelis speak among themselves. Today we're starting with ten slang expressions that you'll hear all the time in Israel.
Enjoy!
Old Jews Telling Jokes started out as a website created in 2009 by Sam Hoffman and Eric Spiegelman. The website and subsequent book, CD, and DVD were the result of their renting a storefront in Highland Park, New Jersey, and videotaping the old jokes told by their parents and friends.
The jokes, told by Jews 65 and older, have been widely reprinted and reposted on the Internet. At Jewish Humor Central, we have used some of the video clips in our Joke to Start the Week on Mondays. Now that we've found a new collection of these jokes, we will be posting them in the coming weeks as our Monday offering.
Here's one joke told by NYU professor Larry Zicklin.
Enjoy!
The honoree was Mason's older brother Rabbi Bernard Maza. Mason used his classic observational humor to poke fun at cultural quirks, assimilation, and traditional Jewish life, while praising the vital work of instilling Jewish identity in youth.
His unique background as an ordained rabbi allowed him to connect deeply with the crowd, delivering rapid-fire punchlines that kept the room laughing.
Here is Mason's speech at the event honoring his brother. Enjoy!
Cantor Sydney Michaeli served for two years as the Student Cantor at Temple Shaaray Tefila, and two years as the Cantorial Intern at Park Avenue Synagogue, both on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. While in school, Cantor Michaeli was a JDC Weitzman Fellow for Global Jewish Leadership and a UJA Federation Graduate Fellow. She has led multiple Birthright trips and participated in the iCenter’s Birthright Israel Fellowship. Cantor Michaeli was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in May 2023 upon completing her thesis and recital about the intersection of baroque oratorio and Jewish music.
Today we join Temple Rodef Shalom in welcoming Shabbat with a jazzy version of V'Shamru, part of the Friday evening service.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
In this Throwback Thursday musical special, Claire and Merna perform wrote "All of Me", a popular song writtten in 1931 by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons. They performed it on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1962.
Enjoy!
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 Candid Camera classic stunt set in a shopping mall, staffer Jose posed as a driver of a parking lot shuttle. Customers thought that the shuttle would take them to the mall entrance, but the sign on the shuttle said "Park and Ride" and that's exactly what it did -- after they parked they were taken on a ride around the parking lot.
Enjoy!
Having gained a massive following on social media, Sponder most recently finished up a sold-out tour in Europe with his new show "Self Loving Jew".
In June Sponder toured the USA with shows in Boston, Philadelphia, and Fort Lauderdale.
In this video clip from a recent performance, Sponder reflects on Jewish attitudes toward comedy in a time of war.
Enjoy!
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: Gittel would nag her husband Moshe all the time. The only relief he would get was when he would go away with the mule and be a buyer and seller of scrap metal. From this he made a living. And then...
Enjoy!
As Uriel Heilman wrote in The Jerusalem Post,
A Korean-American musical prodigy who plays everything from violin to guitar to piano, Dieker was raised in a devout Catholic home where she played church music every Sunday with her three siblings.
But after a rebellious stint in her 20s in which she struggled with addiction and depression and gave up religion, Dieker stumbled into an unusual gig with a traveling Jewish prayer band in Kansas City.
Dieker got sucked into the world of bar mitzvahs, Jewish holidays and Shabbat, and before she knew it was rediscovering spirituality – this time from a Jewish vantage point.
Dieker started working at a Reform synagogue in 2012 as a pianist, quickly picking up Hebrew and helping lead songs during services. A year later she became the musical director at The Temple-Congregation B’nai Jehuda in Overland Park, Kansas, working with the rabbi to redesign the congregation’s High Holiday services.
Her interest in Judaism deepened, and she took her first trip to Israel.
On Hanukkah 2016 she formally converted to Judaism. She chose for herself the Hebrew name Rafaela Zimra.
In this video, Dieker joins the clergy of Temple Israel in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in welcoming Shabbat in a most unusual way with Lecha Dodi.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
If you were expecting a joke today, we're sorry to disappoint you. Today is Tisha B'Av,
an annual fast day in Judaism which commemorates the destruction of the
First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the
Jews from the Land of Israel.
The day also commemorates other tragedies which occurred on the same
day, including the Roman massacre of over 100,000 Jews at Betar in 132 CE. Instituted by the rabbis of 2nd-century Palestine, Tisha B'Av
is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, a day in which
all pleasurable activity is forbidden, and is marked by synagogue
attendance the night before and during the day. But that doesn't mean
there's no singing, or more accurately, chanting.
The highlight of the day's service is the chanting of the megillah of Eicha (Lamentations), written by the prophet Jeremiah. Eicha is read in synagogues and in groups meeting indoors and outdoors.
If
Eicha's dirge-like melody and mournful lyrics don't speak to you,
there's another musical way to get into the mood. In 1975 Don McLean performed his hit song Babylon in front of a live audience in Dublin and had them singing along with him. The lyrics are just perfect for Tisha B'Av, adapted from Psalm 137 in Tehilim (The Book of Psalms).
The show involved concealed 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 were told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." The catchphrase became a song with music and lyrics by Sid Ramin.
In this classic episode the Candid Camera team rigged an office to look like a robbery had just taken place. Allen Funt played the role of the victim who was bound and gagged. This prank was designed to explore social behavior, examining whether individuals choose to intervene or ignore someone seemingly in distress. What would you do if you walked into the office and witnessed the scene? Unbind him? Call the police? Or just walk away?
Enjoy!
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 singer Lana Del Ray's hit song Summertime Sadness and ridicules its premise.
He says "Summertime sadness? Summertime is the best time ever. The only time you have summertime sadness is if you order watermelon and it's not sweet enough. The only time you have summertime sadness is if you don't have air conditioning in your house."
Enjoy!
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: Rabbi Mendel Kaplan is at home and the phone rings. He picks up the phone and says "Hello." And at the other end the man says "This is the Internal Revenue Service." And then...
Enjoy!
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.
A native of Montreal, Canada, Cantor Jason Green (lyric tenor) began singing at age 6 as a child soprano in his Synagogue’s choir. He became its conductor at age 15, under the tutelage of Stephen Glass. He continued his vocal development and knowledge of repertoire by joining the Shaar Hashomayim Synagogue Choir in 1992, soon afterwards becoming its associate conductor.
In this video Cantor Green sings V'Shamru, part of the Friday night service.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
"Makin' Whoopee" is a song first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics and Walter Donaldson composed the music for the song as well as for the entire musical.
We just came across a rare video of Sherman singing "Taking Lessons," a parody of "Makin' Whoopee" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967. Here is the video of him singing the song, followed by a video clip of Eddie Cantor singing "Makin' Whoopee", the basis for Sherman's takeoff.
Enjoy!
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