Remembering Yaakov Kirschen, "Dry Bones" Political Cartoonist and Humorist

Israeli political cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen died on Monday at 87 at the Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, following a lengthy illness.

As Danielle Greyman-Kennard wrote in The Jerusalem Post,

The famed cartoonist, known for Dry Bones, has been published by many leading newspapers in both Israel and the Diaspora - including The Jerusalem Post, which was the first to enjoy publishing Kirschen’s work in January of 1973.

"Bones, as his friends and colleagues called him, was a wonderful artist
and satirist who always hit the nail on the head with his cartoons," former Post editor-in-chief Steve Linde shared. "He really was a national treasure."

No political leader in Israel or the US was safe from Kirschen's perceptive and satiric wit. In addition to his daily cartoons, he wrote humorous books, gave lectures, and delivered jokes about life in Israel and other Jewish subjects. One of his long-time aims was achieved a few years ago with the publication of The Dry Bones Haggadah.

Here's a video clip from a Kirschen presentation in which he tells a few jokes about life in the Nixon era.

Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Mel Blanc Tells Johnny Carson How He Created His Iconic Cartoon Voices

In May 1983 (40 years ago) Mel Blanc, the "Man of a Thousand Voices" appeared on the Tonight Show and explained to Johnny Carson how he got started in voicing cartoon characters.

Blanc has been called the first and best voice actor. He made it an art. His career spanned vaudeville, radio, movies and television starting in the late 1920s and continuing to this day, 34 years after his death. 

Blanc has been the voice behind more than 400 animated characters in over three thousand cartoons. In his 60 year career he has been the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Tweety, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, the Tasmanian Devil, and numerous other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons. 

 

He later voiced characters for Hanna-Barbera's television cartoons, including Barney Rubble and Dino on The Flintstones, Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons, Secret Squirrel on The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show, the title character of Speed Buggy, and Captain Caveman on Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels and The Flintstone Kids.

 

Enjoy!

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    #Throwback Thursday   #TBT

The Great Jewish Entertainers: Mel Blanc, Man of a Thousand Voices

We have been posting video clips of the great Jewish comedians and the great Jewish entertainers. We came across a video clip that tells the story of Mel Blanc, the voice of most of the Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Since there's no category of the great Jewish cartoon voices (Mel was unique) we're putting him in the entertainment category.

After beginning his over-60-year career performing in radio, he became known for his work in animation as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and most of the other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons during the golden age of American animation.

He later voiced characters for Hanna-Barbera's television cartoons, including Barney Rubble on The Flintstones and Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons. During the golden age of radio, Blanc also frequently performed on the programs of comedians from the era, including Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, Burns and Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, and Judy Canova.

Blanc died in 1989 and his Yahrzeit is coming up on July 10. Blanc's will stated his desire to have the inscription on his gravestone read, "That's all folks", the catchphrase that was the hallmark of Blanc's character, Porky Pig. 

This clip will take you back to the days when Blanc voiced so many cartoon characters.

Enjoy!

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Time for a New Haggadah? This Year There Are Lots of Good Choices

Are you tired of celebrating the Passover seder with the same old Haggadah each year?

This week you can break out of the old routine and liven up your seder with a new look, new points of view, and openings for discussions and lively conversation.

Jonathan Gorfinkel, a cartoonist whose work appears each week in The Jewish Week, and editor of Batman Comics for many years, has published Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, a 170 page volume that will greatly enhance your seder. 

Illustrated in gorgeous color by Israeli artist Erez Zadok, the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel integrates a brand-new, modern translation into sophisticated and super-fun sequential art that brings the epic story to life. The result of extensive historical and linguistic research, every gorgeous panel imbues the classic narrative with renewed relevance and excitement. 

The graphic novel pages are presented alongside the unabridged, traditional Seder service text, in Hebrew and transliteration, and accompanied by how to instructional cartoons depicting all of the rituals, as celebrated every year for the last 4000 years in Jewish homes around the world. 

Another Haggadah with a fresh viewpoint is Just One, a Haggadah created for the National Council for Synagogue Youth (NCSY) by Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin, is designed with a clear focus  on "just one" idea, making each page and moment in the Seder come alive. This Haggadah is perfect for a teen, college student, or any family that wants fresh new ideas to inspire their Passover experience.

The outpouring of praise for the Netflix series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel has resulted in a partnership between Amazon.com and Maxwell House to produce Midge Maisel's Haggadah, a limited edition version of the Haggadah that Maxwell House has been distributing for 85 years with the purchase of one of their coffee products. 

The Haggadah, with a pink cover, has illustrations depicting the members of Midge's family and a drawing of her agent Susie Myerson as Elijah the Prophet. It includes the complete traditional text in Hebrew and English.

In this video interview, Jordan Gorfinkel explains why and how he started the graphic novel project and talks about the relationship between comics, superheros, and faith.

Enjoy!

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Bob Mankoff, New Yorker Cartoon Editor, Picks His Favorite Jewish Cartoons

Last week JTA profiled Bob Mankoff, retiring cartoon editor at The New Yorker, and asked him to pick his favorite Jewish-themed cartoons from over the years, and he was happy to oblige.

As Gabe Friedman wrote for JTA,

Bob Mankoff has been the cartoon editor at The New Yorker for 20 years. But he’s been a Jew for 72.

The celebrated cartoonist, who is stepping down from his prestigious perch in May, has therefore had a long time to formulate his thoughts on Judaism and Jewish humor. For example, he once wrote an essay about how Jews have become the “People of the Joke,” as opposed to the “People of the Book.”

“The Jews of the Bible aren’t funny,” he told JTA. “[Judaism] is a decent first draft of how to behave. It’s a really good try for 4,000 years ago.”

In this video clip from a Moment magazine symposium, Mankoff shares his observations on Jewish humor. His seven favorite Jewish cartoons appear below the video.

Enjoy!

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Dry Bones Cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen Releases Book of Yiddish Curses

Yaakov Kirschen, the political cartoonist whose daily Dry Bones comic strips have appeared in The Jerusalem Post since January 1973, has been using his talents to present wry observations on world events especially as they relate to Israel and the Jewish people.

In addition to his cartoons, which are also published in his daily blog, Kirschen has started on a new project -- a series of Grandpa's Jewish Cartoon Coloring Books. The first two in the series are The Dry Bones Jewish Holiday Traditions Coloring Book and Jewish Curses: A Guide and Coloring Book.

We ordered both books from Amazon.com and enjoyed their funny depictions of Jewish life.

Wry Jewish humor is a feature of both books. We especially enjoyed the illustrations of the 29 Yiddish curses in the Jewish Curses book. We think it should have been titled Yiddish Curses and should have included the curses in their original language and English transliteration. We hope that Yaakov will issue an expanded and updated version with the original curses in Yiddish.

Here are two of the pages of this large format 36 page book. Enjoy!

The Man Who Buried His Own Leg - An Animated Lesson

G-dcast has been offering Jewish learning in a few minutes at a time with videos, apps and interactive experiences for everyone. In 2009 they presented a four minute animated narrative of each of the 54 Torah portions.

Now, G-dcast has produced its first original narrative short, The Man Who Buried His Own Leg.

The topic may not sound humorous at first glance, but it's an important lesson in Jewish law that's presented in a very entertaining way.

 It was inspired by a story Sarah Lefton heard on the street almost ten years ago. It teaches about Jewish views on the body without getting into the details of source texts and whatnot...and might just send you off on a journey of your own.

It was an official selection at the Palm Springs Shortfest, LA Jewish Film Festival, San Diego Jewish Film Festival, Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, Washington DC Jewish Film Festival, and the DAM Short Film Festival.

Enjoy!

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On Tu B'Shvat, a Modern Retelling of the Story of Honi the Circle Maker (Honi HaM'agel)

 

Today is the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shvat, also known as Tu B'Shvat.  No, it's not another fast day.  It's a real holiday, but one without any restrictions.  

 

The holiday is known as Jewish Arbor Day and the New Year for trees.  It's a day to feel good about the bounty of nature, including trees, fruits and nuts, and to enjoy the bounty of Israel, including dates, figs, pomegranates, olives, and carob.

 

The creative educators at G-dcast.com have produced a short video telling the tale of Honi the Circle Maker (Honi HaM'agel) that appears in the Talmud (Tractate Taanit, page 19a).

Often called the Jewish Rip Van Winkle story, one element of the story is Honi falling asleep and awakening 70 years later to see the fruits of the tree that he planted.

Enjoy! Happy Tu B'Shvat!

 

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Sholem Aleichem Variety Show: Five Minutes of Smiles

Here's a bit of Jewish humor that we find hard to characterize, except to say that we think it's funny and it will keep you laughing or at least smiling for five minutes.

The editors of Jewish Currents, a printed and online magazine that labels itself "A Progressive, Secular Voice" have come up with a collection of quotations from the famous Jewish storyteller, Sholem Aleichem, interwoven with an eclectic group of cartoons, mock baseball cards, and graphic comments and observations on Jewish life. The slide show is set to music with a distincive Jewish feel.

While we would never consider ourselves progressive or secular, and we don't agree with some of the political views expressed in this video, we're always delighted to see any segment of the Jewish community, wherever they are on the scale of observance or belief, devoting resources to creating and sharing Jewish humor in any form.

The cartoons are from Richard Codor's funny collection of illustrations, Babushkin's Catalog of Jewish Inventions, edited by Lawrence Bush. The baseball cards are fanciful imaginings of Biblical scenes featuring real baseball players with names like Tom Edens, Curt Flood, Les Cain, and Gerry Moses.

Enjoy!

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Di Mamme Iz Gegangen - Delightful Animation of a Classic Yiddish Song

"Almonds and Wine" brings a Yiddish folk song to life, as the animated journey of a young bride and groom from Eastern Europe to North America is set to rollicking klezmer music. 

Fleeing the threat of war, the couple arrive in Canada, establish a new life together and hand down their traditions to the generations that follow. This film is set to a classic Yiddish folk song, Di Mamme iz Gegangen in Mark Arayn (My Mother Went to Market.) It was produced, directed and animated by Arnie Lipsey.

The animation is inspired, but the characters move through the story so fast that you'll have to watch it more than once or keep your finger on the pause button to catch all of the details and read what's written on the store signs and protest signs. 

How do we know that the couple settles in Canada and not the U.S.? Notice that the boy is running around with a hockey stick, not a baseball bat.

The depiction of the Jewish wedding ceremony is very detailed. Be sure to watch for the expression on the bride's and groom's faces when they are lifted onto chairs for the traditional handkerchief dance.

The Yiddish lyrics and English translation appear below the video. Enjoy!

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Oy di mamme iz gegangen in mark arayn noch keyln,

Oy hot zi mir tzurik gebracht a meydele fun Peyln.

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy Mit di shvartse eygelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

Oy di mamme iz gegangen in mark arayn noch kreyt,

Oy hot zi mir tzurik gebracht a meydele fun beyt,

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy mit di shvartse eygelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

Oy di mamme is gegangen in mark noch a katchke

Oy hot zi mir tzurik gebracht a meydele, a tzatzke

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy mit di vayse tzeyndelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

Ich hob gegesn mandlen, ich hob getrunken vayn,

Ich hob gelibt a meydele un ken on ir nisht zayn,

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy mit di roite bekelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

My mother went to market to buy some coal,
She brought me back a lovely girl from Poland.
Oh what a girl she was, how beautiful and fine,
Ah, those black eyes of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

My mother went to market to buy some cabbage,
She brought me back a girl just off a coach.
Oh what a girl she was, how beautiful and fine,
Ah, those black eyes of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

My mother went to market to buy a duck,

She brought me back a girl - what a handful! 

Oh what a girl she was, how beautiful and fine,

Ah, those white teeth of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

I have been eating almonds, I have been drinking wine,
And I have loved a lass and could not part from her.
O what a lass she was, how lovely and how fine,
Ah, those red cheeks of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

(A tip of the kippah to Malka Edelman for bringing this video to our attention.)

Matzah, Maror, and the Four Cups of Wine Tell Their Own Stories

Matzah. Maror (Bitter Herb). The Four Cups of Wine. Every year we place them on the seder table and talk about them, explaining their roles as we read the Haggadah. But do we ever give them a chance to speak up for themselves and express their feelings?

Of course not. They can't speak. Or can they? Chabad.org has put together a video starring these three characters from the Passover seder. In their animated versions, they talk about their childhood and why they are best suited to win the competition for which one will inspire you the most and become champion of the seder table. 

It's fun to watch, if you can stand the constant stream of Passover puns. Enjoy!

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Esther Goes Western: The Purim Megillah as Cowboy Epic

We've all seen classic plays such as Shakespearean tragedies restaged with modern sets and costumes and the morality and ethics of the basic story retold in a contemporary light. But until now we haven't seen the Book of Esther as an animated saga of the wild west, with nods to Clint Eastwood and the spaghetti western, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Here is a video retelling the whole Esther story in western style, with appropriate background music. Written and directed by Shlomo Blass, the commentary is based on traditional Jewish sources and an essay written by Rabbi Jonathan Blass: "Pluralism, Antisemtism, and man's strive to divinity".

Rabbi Blass, Rosh Kollel of Ratzon Yehuda and its founder, is a graduate of Mercaz Harav Kook and Kollel Shevet Mehokek in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Blass made aliyah in 1970 from the US where he had studied at Yeshiva University and Mesivta Tiferes Yerushalayim. He served as an officer in the IDF as rabbi of a tank brigade and currently also serves as the rabbi of Neve Tzuf, a religious community in the Shomron. In addition to numerous articles on halachic subjects, Rabbi Blass has written two books, one in comparative law, and the other in Jewish philosophy on Rambam's Guide to the Perplexed.

The video is dedicated in memory of the director's friend Udi Fogel, who last March was killed with members of his family in a terrorist attack in Itamar.

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Babushkin's Catalogue: A Fanciful Collection of Jewish Inventions

We've all heard of Jewish inventors. Laszlo Biro invented the Bic ballpoint pen in 1943. Louis Henry Pearlman invented the spare tire in 1906, and Edwin Land invented the Polaroid instant camera in 1947. But these inventions can't compare with the inventions of L. D. Babushkin, whose Babushkin's Catalogue of Jewish Inventions has just been published.

Of course, Babushkin's inventions are more fanciful than real. You can't buy them in retail stores or online. But just imagine how much better off the world would be if everyone could get their hands on them.

The book, illustrated by Richard Codor and edited by Lawrence Bush, presents 80 pages of funny don't-you-wish-they-were-real inventions such as wi-fi tzitzit, genetically bred gefilte fish, and extra large grandparents.

The cartoons are self-explanatory and should bring smiles to anyone familiar with a Jewish lifestyle. We included a few examples in this blog post and in the following video.  Enjoy!

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Rosh Hashanah: A Time For Rabbis' Sermons (and Rabbis' Bloopers)

Pulpit rabbis all over the world are busy this week writing and rehearsing their sermons for the largest audiences they are likely to have all year -- on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

Because most of them are delivering their sermons live, they'll only have one chance to get their message across.  But some rabbis will be creating video sermons, which will likely go through multiple takes to produce an acceptable final version.

Chabad Multimedia takes a funny look at what might happen if Rabbi Itche Kadoozy stood before the video camera and needed 255 takes to end up with a winning video.  Enjoy!

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Maurice Sendak is Back at 83 With Bumble-Ardy, New Book Based on Sesame Street Cartoon

Remember Maurice Sendak, the writer and artist who gave us Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen?  At the age of 83, he's back with a new children's book, Bumble-Ardy, which will be released on September 6.

Best known for his children's classics, Sendak is a multi-faceted artist whose work also includes stage sets and costume design for both opera and ballet. Born in Brooklyn in 1928 to Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Sendak grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust, during which many members of his family were lost. Three main themes pervade his work: the Old World of East European Jewry; Sendak's own experiences growing up Jewish in Brooklyn, influenced by American popular culture; and the artist's desire to process the horrors of the Holocaust while reconciling with Germanic culture by embracing its richness, bringing the artist back full circle to his own past. 

The August issue of Vanity Fair has a story about Sendak and his works, focusing on his latest book, whose main character, a nine-year-old boy, first appeared in a Jim Henson-produced cartoon on Sesame Street in the 1970s.

In this portrait of the author, Dave Eggers writes:

Bumble-Ardy has a characteristically grim beginning. The young protagonist, a pig, suffers through the first eight years of his life without his family recognizing, let alone celebrating, his birthday. Then his parents are eaten, leaving him alone in the world. Would it be fair to say that childhood neglect and parental disappearance are favorite Sendak themes? “That’s all I’ve ever written about. As a kid, all I thought about was death. But you can’t tell your parents that.”

Bumble-Ardy goes to live with his aunt Adeline, and when she fails to throw him a party on his ninth birthday, he throws one for himself. Like all Sendakian rumpuses, it gets out of hand, and for 10 pages we’re treated to the most bizarre tableau of celebrants, all in costume: pigs dressed as monsters, pigs dressed as cowboys and Indians, pigs dressed as old ladies painted garishly. As with any Sendak book, the pictures are full of references and echoes. One pig is reading a newspaper that says, WE READ BANNED BOOKS. A sheriff’s yellow badge calls back to the Warsaw Ghetto. Messages are written in Hebrew, Italian, Russian. One placard, held by a yellow pig in overalls, asks, WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Here's the original cartoon from Sesame Street, followed by an interview with Maurice Sendak in his studio, in which he talks about the joy of work, upcoming projects, and his love of bad TV.  Enjoy!

(A tip of the kippah to Fay Grajower for bringing this story to our attention.)

Captain America, Another Jewish Superhero Creation, Opens in Theaters This Weekend

Superman is not the only super hero to be created by Jewish cartoonists.  Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's man of steel appeared in comic book form in 1938. Three years later, in March 1941, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created Captain America, the first superhero to enlist in World War II. 

Now, Captain America is coming to a theater near you this weekend, but like Superman before him, his all-American character has been diluted to de-emphasize American exceptionalism. 

In an article released yesterday by JTA, Simcha Weinstein writes:

The famous front cover of "Captain America #1" showed its titular hero punching Hitler straight in the face, sending the ridiculous looking Fuerher tumbling backward.

With that single unforgettable image, the Nazi ideal of the Aryan ubermensch was dealt a fatal blow, as was what remained of the once respectable American “isolationist” movement.

As the first comic book character to enlist in World War II, Captain America was an instant success, selling nearly 1 million copies per issue. In a way that’s not surprising, considering the character’s pedigree. Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, second-generation Jews who made no secret of their source of inspiration.

The character of Captain America, Simon said, “was our way of lashing out at the Nazi menace.”

In that first issue of the Marvel comic, readers meet the superhero’s “everyman” alter ego, Steve Rogers. A sickly Depression-era child, Rogers loses his parents at a young age, then tries to enlist in the military. Too feeble to join the regular forces, Rogers volunteers for a top-secret military medical experiment known as “Operation Rebirth,” being overseen by one Dr. Reinstein. (Note the character’s Jewish name, one that sounds suspiciously like “Albert Einstein.” In 1941, Einstein was a wildly popular -- if little understood -- cultural icon in the real world.)

In need of a human “guinea pig” to test his formula, Dr. Reinstein injects Rogers with his Secret-Soldier Serum. Unfortunately, a Nazi spy infiltrates the experiment and kills Dr. Reinstein, leaving the newly empowered Rogers as the serum’s sole beneficiary.

Hailed by the U.S. military as a superhuman savior, Rogers dons a patriotic costume of red, white and blue, with a star on his chest and stripes on his waist. Captain America is quickly dispatched to his most important early assignment: destroy his evil “super soldier” counterpart, a Nazi agent called the Red Skull.

Fast forward to 2011: This summer, Captain America returns to the big screen. Unfortunately, the spirit of 1941 (let alone 1776) is a long way off. In an era of anti-Americanism -- at home and abroad -- the movie’s director and star have been playing down the character’s American identity.

Director Joe Johnston insists that “this is not about America so much as it is about the spirit of doing the right thing.” Chris Evans, who plays the title character, echoes the sentiment, saying that “I’m not trying to get too lost in the American side of it. This isn’t a flag-waving movie.”

To find out why, read the full article here. With a cast that includes Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, and Samuel L. Jackson, the movie is poised to be a big box office hit. Check out the trailer below. Enjoy!