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!
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 all started with a question posed by a group of Yeshiva students in Israel to a weekly bulletin on Jewish law. They expressed their concern about whether weekday consumption of cholent, the beef stew traditionally eaten on Shabbat, diminishes the sanctity of the day.
Feasting on cholent on Thursday nights has become a popular activity among Yeshiva students in Israel, and also in Yeshiva communities in the United States.
A charedi rabbi, Yitzchok Zilberstein, responded to the question with what appeared to be a ruling that the practice is forbidden.
Citing Talmudic, Kabbalistic and later rabbinic sources, Zilberstein
wrote that it is “very appropriate not to eat [cholent] on weekdays, so
that one can delight in it on Shabbat as is proper.” He went on to note
that cholent is not only spiritually designated for Shabbat, but that
its heavy ingredients may even pose a health risk when eaten without the
merit of the holy day.
The ruling was quickly picked up by haredi news outlets, with some
dramatic headlines interpreting the text as a formal prohibition.
The simmering public response about Zilberstein’s ruling was enough to provoke a partial retraction.
His grandson, Rabbi Chaim Malin, emphasized that the original response
was not meant to impose a universal ban, but was rather intended as a
recommendation for those seeking to elevate the uniqueness of Shabbat.
The statement noted that cholent served at mitzvah meals — weddings,
bar mitzvahs and other religious celebrations — is fully permitted, as
is the Thursday-night practice of serving it in yeshivas, with the rabbi
clarifying that students should follow the guidance of their yeshiva
leadership. The statement concluded: “Let the humble eat and be
satisfied.”
If you want to check out the best cholent spots in Israel, there's a YouTube channel called Cholent and Chill that rates the many restaurants that feature cholent in all of its varieties on Thursday nights.
Today we are joining Frieda Vizel, a former member of the Satmar Hasidic community who conducts tours of Hasidic neighborhoods in Brooklyn. In this video she goes looking
for the most exotic foods available in this Jewish neighborhood, or as she puts it, foods that have more of an acquired taste.
She tries
fargliverta fish zaft, yapchik, galareta, kishka, herring and even a
cake that in English translates to: "rag cake". It’s an unusual food
tour on the hunt for the food that will most challenge the faint of
heart!
1) 1:10 - Kuchinya [Hungarian] / Fargliverte Fish Zaft [Yiddish] / Fish Jelly
If you're a lover of Jewish delicatessen, you'll love the new exhibition opening this week at the New York Historical Society Museum on Central Park West, just a three minute walk from the American Museum of Natural History. The exhibition opens on Friday, November 11, and runs through April 2, 2023.
Organized by the Skirball Cultural Center, “I’ll Have What She’s Having”: The Jewish Deli
examines how Jewish immigrants, mostly from Central and Eastern Europe,
imported and adapted traditions to create a uniquely American
restaurant and reveals how Jewish delicatessens became a cornerstone of
American food culture.
The exhibition explores the food of
immigration, the heyday of the deli in the interwar period, delis and
Broadway, stories of Holocaust survivors and war refugees who worked in
delis, the shifting and shrinking landscapes of delis across the
country, and delis in popular culture. On display are neon signs, menus,
advertisements, deli workers’ uniforms, and video documentaries.
The exhibition was featured last week on CBS TV along with a tour of Zabar's, the iconic Manhattan deli, appetizing store, and bakery that was founded more than 80 years ago -- a family business that is still going strong.
Here's a video of the CBS program. Enjoy!
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In
its latest effort to strengthen the
bond between Israel and American Jewry, the Ruderman Family Foundation
launched a 10-part original video series, “Jewish Foodie.”
The series aims to encourage Israelis to deepen their knowledge about
U.S. Jewish communities, and Jewish Americans to become better
acquainted with their rich and diverse heritage and culture, all
accomplished through a rich and fascinating culinary journey of Jewish
food across the U.S.
Hosted by the well-known Israeli actor
and comedian Ori Laizerouvich, “Jewish Foodie” takes viewers on a
journey of the broad diversity of American Jewry as a whole and its
communities in particular through the innovative vehicle of food.
Focusing on the personal stories and cultural influences associated with
Jewish food in four American regions, the series explores the
Northeast, with its bagels and lox, knishes, delis, hot dogs, Chinese
food and vegan fare; the Southeast, including barbecue, bourbon and
baked goods; the Southwest, featuring tacos, Jewish-style burgers with
latkes (“Jew Boy Burger”), huevos rancheros and rodeo food; and the
Midwest, with pastrami sandwiches, bison burgers and Canukah
gelt-making.
Viewers not only discover American Jewish communities’ food
stories, but also the broader character of the communities themselves
and their members, including communities whose Jewish presence may be
surprising.
Actor and comedian Laizerouvich is a familiar face to fans of the Chai Flicks streaming series Shababnikim (The New Black) where he plays the role of Gedaliah, a very religious and very serious Yeshiva student.
In
this fifth episode of the series, Laizerouvich, still in Memphis, passes by Elvis Presley's mansion (Graceland) and visits a kosher home specializing in brisket where he encounters a kippah wearing "Jewish Elvis" and ends the day in a bourbon distillery.
(A note to our readers:
While all of the food establishments visited by Laizerouvich specialize
in Jewish food, only a few of them have kosher certification. In this Memphis video, Ori visits a kosher home and a distillery.)
The Sukkot holiday starts tonight. We will be observing it on Monday and Tuesday. We'll be back with our usual mix on Wednesday.
Enjoy, and Chag Sameach!
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In its latest effort to strengthen the
bond between Israel and American Jewry, the Ruderman Family Foundation launched a 10-part original video series, “Jewish Foodie.”
The series aims to encourage Israelis to deepen their knowledge about
U.S. Jewish communities, and Jewish Americans to become better
acquainted with their rich and diverse heritage and culture, all
accomplished through a rich and fascinating culinary journey of Jewish
food across the U.S.
Hosted by the well-known Israeli actor
and comedian Ori Laizerouvich, “Jewish Foodie” takes viewers on a
journey of the broad diversity of American Jewry as a whole and its
communities in particular through the innovative vehicle of food.
Focusing on the personal stories and cultural influences associated with
Jewish food in four American regions, the series explores the
Northeast, with its bagels and lox, knishes, delis, hot dogs, Chinese
food and vegan fare; the Southeast, including barbecue, bourbon and
baked goods; the Southwest, featuring tacos, Jewish-style burgers with
latkes (“Jew Boy Burger”), huevos rancheros and rodeo food; and the
Midwest, with pastrami sandwiches, bison burgers and Canukah
gelt-making.
Viewers not only discover American Jewish communities’ food
stories, but also the broader character of the communities themselves
and their members, including communities whose Jewish presence may be
surprising.
Actor and comedian Laizerouvich is a familiar face to fans of the Chai Flicks streaming series Shababnikim (The New Black) where he plays the role of Gedaliah, a very religious and very serious Yeshiva student.
In
this fourth episode of the series, Laizerouvich visits the Beauty Shop restaurant and Ricki's Cookie Corner in Memphis, Tennessee.
(A note to our readers:
While all of the food establishments visited by Laizerouvich specialize
in Jewish food, only a few of them have kosher certification. In this Memphis video, only Ricki's Cookie Corner is kosher.)
Be
sure to subscribe to Jewish Humor Central. Just enter your email
address in the box at the upper left of our home page for your automatic
free subscription. Or enter www.jewishhumorcentral.com into your browser each day. We'll be sharing the next nine episodes of this series with you each Sunday. Enjoy!
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In its latest effort to strengthen the
bond between Israel and American Jewry, the Ruderman Family Foundation
this month launched a 10-part original video series, “Jewish Foodie.”
The series aims to encourage Israelis to deepen their knowledge about
U.S. Jewish communities, and Jewish Americans to become better
acquainted with their rich and diverse heritage and culture, all
accomplished through a rich and fascinating culinary journey of Jewish
food across the U.S.
Hosted by the well-known Israeli actor
and comedian Ori Laizerouvich, “Jewish Foodie” takes viewers on a
journey of the broad diversity of American Jewry as a whole and its
communities in particular through the innovative vehicle of food.
Focusing on the personal stories and cultural influences associated with
Jewish food in four American regions, the series explores the
Northeast, with its bagels and lox, knishes, delis, hot dogs, Chinese
food and vegan fare; the Southeast, including barbecue, bourbon and
baked goods; the Southwest, featuring tacos, Jewish-style burgers with
latkes (“Jew Boy Burger”), huevos rancheros and rodeo food; and the
Midwest, with pastrami sandwiches, bison burgers and Canukah
gelt-making.
Viewers not only discover American Jewish communities’ food
stories, but also the broader character of the communities themselves
and their members, including communities whose Jewish presence may be
surprising.
Actor and comedian Laizerouvich is a familiar face to fans of the Chai Flicks streaming series Shababnikim (The New Black) where he plays the role of Gedaliah, a very religious and very serious Yeshiva student.
In
this third episode of the series, Laizerouvich visits the Miss Ada Israeli restaurant and the home of Rabbi Manis Friedman, a well-known Hassid, rabbi, author, social philosopher and public speaker.
(A note to our readers:
While all of the food establishments visited by Laizerouvich specialize
in Jewish food, only a few of them have kosher certification. In this Brooklyn video, only the Friedman home is kosher.)
Be
sure to subscribe to Jewish Humor Central. Just enter your email
address in the box at the upper left of our home page for your automatic
free subscription. Or enter www.jewishhumorcentral.com into your browser each day. We'll be sharing the next nine episodes of this series with you each Sunday. Enjoy!
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In its latest effort to strengthen the
bond between Israel and American Jewry, the Ruderman Family Foundation
this month launched a 10-part original video series, “Jewish Foodie.”
The series aims to encourage Israelis to deepen their knowledge about
U.S. Jewish communities, and Jewish Americans to become better
acquainted with their rich and diverse heritage and culture, all
accomplished through a rich and fascinating culinary journey of Jewish
food across the U.S.
Hosted by the well-known Israeli actor
and comedian Ori Laizerouvich, “Jewish Foodie” takes viewers on a
journey of the broad diversity of American Jewry as a whole and its
communities in particular through the innovative vehicle of food.
Focusing on the personal stories and cultural influences associated with
Jewish food in four American regions, the series explores the
Northeast, with its bagels and lox, knishes, delis, hot dogs, Chinese
food and vegan fare; the Southeast, including barbecue, bourbon and
baked goods; the Southwest, featuring tacos, Jewish-style burgers with
latkes (“Jew Boy Burger”), huevos rancheros and rodeo food; and the
Midwest, with pastrami sandwiches, bison burgers and Canukah
gelt-making.
Viewers not only discover American Jewish communities’ food
stories, but also the broader character of the communities themselves
and their members, including communities whose Jewish presence may be
surprising.
Actor and comedian Laizerouvich is a familiar face to fans of the Chai Flicks streaming series Shababnikim (The New Black) where he plays the role of Gedaliah, a very religious and very serious Yeshiva student.
In this second episode of the series, Laizerouvich visits Nathan's Famous in Coney Island, Buddha Bodai One in Chinatown, and the vegan Orchard Grocer on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
(A note to our readers:
While all of the food establishments visited by Laizerouvich specialize
in Jewish food, only a few of them have kosher certification. In this
New York video, only Buddha Bodai One is certified kosher.)
Be
sure to subscribe to Jewish Humor Central. Just enter your email
address in the box at the upper left of our home page for your automatic
free subscription. Or enter www.jewishhumorcentral.com into your browser each day. We'll be sharing the next nine episodes of this series with you each Sunday. Enjoy!
A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:
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In its latest effort to strengthen the
bond between Israel and American Jewry, the Ruderman Family Foundation
this month launched a 10-part original video series, “Jewish Foodie.”
The series aims to encourage Israelis to deepen their knowledge about
U.S. Jewish communities, and Jewish Americans to become better
acquainted with their rich and diverse heritage and culture, all
accomplished through a rich and fascinating culinary journey of Jewish
food across the U.S.
Hosted by the well-known Israeli actor
and comedian Ori Laizerouvich, “Jewish Foodie” takes viewers on a
journey of the broad diversity of American Jewry as a whole and its
communities in particular through the innovative vehicle of food.
Focusing on the personal stories and cultural influences associated with
Jewish food in four American regions, the series explores the
Northeast, with its bagels and lox, knishes, delis, hot dogs, Chinese
food and vegan fare; the Southeast, including barbecue, bourbon and
baked goods; the Southwest, featuring tacos, Jewish-style burgers with
latkes (“Jew Boy Burger”), huevos rancheros and rodeo food; and the
Midwest, with pastrami sandwiches, bison burgers and Canukah
gelt-making.
Viewers not only discover American Jewish communities’ food
stories, but also the broader character of the communities themselves
and their members, including communities whose Jewish presence may be
surprising.
Actor and comedian Laizerouvich is a familiar face to fans of the Chai Flicks streaming series Shababnikim (The New Black) where he plays the role of Gedaliah, a very religious and very serious Yeshiva student.
The Jewish Foodie series begins with Laizerouvich in New York City, where he makes
stops at iconic restaurants such as Katz’s Delicatessen, Russ &
Daughters and Yonah Schimmel’s Knish Bakery.
(A note to our readers: While all of the food establishments visited by Laizerouvich specialize in Jewish food, only a few of them have kosher certification. In this New York video, only Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery is certified kosher.)
Be sure to subscribe to Jewish Humor Central. Just enter your email address in the box at the upper left of our home page for your automatic free subscription. Or enter www.jewishhumorcentral.com into your browser each day. We'll be sharing the next nine episodes of this series with you each Sunday. Enjoy!
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When it comes to delicious Jewish baked goods, it's hard to beat the goodies offered up by the bakeries of Montreal, Canada.
Whether its the Montreal style bagel, babka, ruggelach, cheesecake, or black and white cookies, Montrealers and visitors line up at the front doors of Cheskie's Boulangerie, or the competing 24 hour bagel bakeries, Fairmount and Ste. Viateur.
This love letter to the bakeries of Montreal uses video clips from Seinfeld episodes, the Yiddish shtick of the YidLife Crisis guys, and the carb-loving praises of a pair of Montrealers, one covered with tattoos and one with a long beard.
Enjoy!
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A tip of the kippah to Mannie Young of the Men's Club of Cote St.-Luc, Montreal for bringing this video to our attention.
Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrachi Jews have many language and cultural barriers to bridge. This video, posted by the outreach organization Aish HaTorah features great banter and comedy as Ashkenazim have to guess the
meaning of Arabic and other Sephardi (in the loose sense of Sephardi)
words, while their counterparts have to struggle with Yiddish! Who will
win the war of words?
Beneath the fun and games, Eli Birnbaum, Moshe Levy, Shloimie Gertner,
Mark Jacobs and some Chassidic guests from Stamford Hill navigate:
Feshnogges (an Ashkenazi Jewish Jelly delicacy), Allah Ma'ak (Middle
Eastern blessing), Schmaltz herring (European Jewish fish delicacy), Ich
faf dich uhn (Yiddish for 'I whistle on you!'), Mabrouk (Arabic version
of 'Mazel Tov'), Mimulaim (Syrian Jewish stuffed cabbage), Ich hob dich
in dem boidem (even one of the Ashkenzis struggles with that one!)
Kubaneh (OK, that's actually Yemenite, a traditional yeast bread), Ful
Medames (so is that, and its a bean dish) Pashkevilim (Yiddish poster
announcement), Yoch (East European Jewish word for soup), Farglivet
(Yiddish for 'greasy'), Farblondjet (Yiddish for 'lost' or 'hopeless'),
Mahasha (Indian stuffed peppers),
But behind the hilarious struggles to understand each others words, is a
message of Jewish unity. Whatever the words, and whatever cultural
differences Asheknazi Jews and Sephardi / Mizrahi/ Yemenite Jews have
developed, we can laugh together, and celebrate that what unites us is
far greater than those funny moments that make our communities unique.
Enjoy!
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Meet Cookie Kibbitznik – your favorite Jewish mother! She's a technically-challenged Boomer fashionista – a tell-it-like-it-is, unfiltered, power-walking, pool-jogging, brisket-making giver of sage advice! She's here to teach you Yiddish, and you'll be plotzing from laughter! Brav-OY, Cookie, on your new hit comedy show!
These
videos are not meant to compete with serious Yiddish language tutorials
such as the new Duolingo course or Rukhl Schaechter's Word of the Day
lessons from the Forward. They focus on Yiddish words that you probably
already know, but illustrate their use in hilarious ways. They are
produced and
acted out by a woman who reveals only her first name, Perri. In today's
video and other that we will be sharing in the coming weeks, she
assumes the identity of Cookie Kibitznik, a yenta if we ever saw won.
In
this episode, Cookie explains that the Yiddish word chozzerai describes not only different kinds of junk food but also lots of the entertainment that we're being fed today on TV.
Enjoy!
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HiHo Kids
is a YouTube channel with lots of short videos of kids doing funny
things. Many of the videos involve kids tasting foods of different
countries and ethnic groups.
This week they posted a video of kids learning some Yiddish words and trying out some typical Jewish grandma recipes, including bagels & lox with a schmear, matzo ball soup, kugel, brisket, and babka.
Enjoy!
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Now that we're into
the fourth day of Passover, have you had your fill of chicken soup with
matzo balls? Probably not, since this quintessential Jewish dish has
found a place in American cuisine far beyond its original presence on
the Pesach table.
This week CBS Sunday Morning had a special segment on Chicken Soup: The Story of Jewish Penicillin that traced its origins and validated its place as a treatment for colds and other ailments.
For centuries chicken soup has been prescribed by grandmothers and doctors alike for all manner of ailments, but many believe there really is evidence to support the prescription. Correspondent Nancy Giles talked with food historian and cookbook author Joan Nathan, and with New York's 2nd Ave. Deli owner Jack Lebewohl and executive chef David Teyf about the universal love for chicken soup.
Enjoy!
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Tonight we light the eighth and last Hanukkah candle. By now we've all had our fill of latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (filled donuts).
Israeli bakeries compete each year in creating the best and most elaborate sufganiyot. This year the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) sponsored an Ultimate Mystery Donut Challenge, enlisting pairs of soldiers to taste donuts with some very untraditional fillings.
Mayonnaise, anyone? How about ketchup or wasabi? Watch the soldiers' reactions after taking a bite.
Enjoy, laugh, and start the diet tomorrow.
Chag Chanukah sameach!
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As people
continue to spend their days and evenings at home, due to coronavirus social
distancing restrictions, the Forverts has 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. Now that the Forverts is continuing the
series, we'll be sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of
Jewish Humor Central.
Today as we look forward to holiday tables full of Rosh Hashanah delicacies, Rukhl gives us the Yiddish words for eating and overeating. Enjoy!
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The Jewish Agency for Israel asked some Israelis to explain American traditions and foods served on Thanksgiving Day. The responses are interesting and funny. Why did the Pilgrims come to America? The gold rush? Listen to some of the explanations of the origin and traditions of the holiday. Watch the Israelis struggle with opening and eating a can of jellied cranberry sauce, and enjoying pumpkin pie with whipped cream. For 90 years, The Jewish Agency for Israel (Hasochnut HaYehudit) has worked to overcome the biggest challenges facing the Jewish people. It played a major role in building the State of Israel, and it continues to create links globally—bringing Jews to Israel and Israel to Jews.
Enjoy, and have a happy Thanksgiving! A
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Meatless BBQ brisket, burgers and bacon, kosher charcuterie, adult alcohol flavored push pops, and Korean rice noodles. These are some
of the prize winning and unusual products on display yesterday and today for
the thousands of visitors representing all aspects of the food industry at Kosherfest 2019 at the Meadowlands
Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. More than 400
exhibitors lining both sides of seven aisles are vying for the attention
of visitors (trade only -- but some kiddush aficionados seem to have found
their way into the hall) who try to manage noshing and stuffing literature into
the bags provided by some vendors (and rolling suitcases brought by
attendees). And there's plenty to nosh and to stuff. Some of the
samples are meat, some are dairy, and some are pareve. But all three
types are scattered around the show floor, so anyone trying to keep kosher has
to make careful choices. The vendors are
hoping that visitors will make bulk purchases, and some of the newer, smaller,
and foreign companies exhibiting for the first time are hoping to find
distributors who will bring their wares to your local supermarket. If you love
kiddush, can make a case for being in some kind of food-related business, have
a few hours to spare and don't mind walking a a quarter mile to a parking lot,
this is the place for you. It's still open all day today, Wednesday, from
10 am to 4 pm. The on-site registration fee is $110. We interviewed
a few of the exhibitors and got closeups of some of the more unusual delicacies
in this video for you to savor. We apologize
for the loud background noise from the 6,000 attendees milling about the
exhibit space while we were conducting the interviews. Listening with earbuds
or headphones is recommended.
For more information about the products in this video, be sure to visit their websites: Meatless Nation Emes Charcuterie Buzz Pop Cocktails Kosher Korean Enjoy! A
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It wouldn't be Passover without traditional chametz-free foods. Love them or hate them, we have to tolerate them for eight days (seven if you're in Israel).
The ultimate test of a Passover food is how children will react to the taste and texture of many foods that are so different from what they are used to year-round. The Nosher, a feature of MyJewishLearning.com decided to have some fun by letting some children taste and comment on these Pesach foods. As Shannon Sarna wrote on The Nosher,
We decided to put the ultimate critics to the test to give reviews of traditional Passover foods: adorable children.
The foods featured in this video include horseradish, gefilte fish, stuffed dates, matzah ball soup, coconut macaroons,
store-bought jelly slices, chocolate covered matzah, and even scallions
which some Sephardim include on their seder plates, and then later use
to whip one another during the singing of Dayenu to emulate the slaves in Egypt.
Enjoy, and watch for more Passover videos that we'll be posting soon.
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Just Published: The Kustanowitz Kronikle - 35 Years of Purim Parody
Every Purim for the past 35 years we have published a Purim parody edition of The Kustanowitz Kronikle, covering virtually every aspect of Jewish life, and including parodies of hundreds of popular movies. This year we decided to retire the series and capture all the fun in a book that's just been published and is available at Amazon.com. It has every Purim issue of The Kustanowitz Kronikle from 1988 through 2022 in a full-color, full-size paperback book with hilarious headline stories and parody movie picks. Here are a few examples: TRUMP, NETANYAHU SWAP ROLES, COUNTRIES; NEW TALMUD VOLUME "VOTIN" FOUND IN IRAQ; JOINS "FRESSIN", "NAPPIN", TANTZEN","PATCHEN"; "JUDAICARE" PROGRAM PLANNED TO ENSURE THAT ALL JEWS HAVE SYNAGOGUE MEMBERSHIP; RABBIS CREATE TALMUD AMERICANI; NEW LAWS EXTEND HALACHA TO THANKSGIVING AND JULY 4; JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS WORLDWIDE UNITE TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING; FOCUS ON REDUCING HOT AIR; RABBIS TO REQUIRE SHECHITA FOR MANY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Jewish Humor Central Staff
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief:
Al Kustanowitz Food and Wine Editor:
Aviva Weinberg Israel Food and Wine Consultant Penina Kustanowitz Reporter and Photographer:
Meyer Berkowitz Reporter Phyllis Flancbaum
Now You Can Book Program and Lecture Dates for 2025 and 2026 in Person and Via ZOOM
Now is the time to book our Jewish humor programs and lectures for your 2025 and 2026 events in person and via ZOOM anywhere in the world. Book any of our 22 popular programs including "The Great Jewish Comedians", “Israel is a Funny Country”, and "Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places." Click above for details and videos. To book a program with Al, e-mail: dan@hudakonhollywood.com
"Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places" is now available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle editions
This book presents 150 anecdotes and associated video clips that reveal the myriad ways that Jewish culture, religion, humor, music, song, and dance have found expression in parts of the world that, at first glance, might not seem supportive of Jewish Life. It includes 50 videos of Hava Nagila being performed from Texas to Thailand, from India to Iran, and from Buenos Aires to British Columbia. Also highlighted are 34 international versions of Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, Adon Olam, Abanibi, and Tumbalalaika. Whether you’re reading the print version and typing in the video URLs or reading the e-book version and clicking on the links, you’ll have access to 150 video clips totaling more than 10 hours of video. Enjoy!
"Israel is a Funny Country" is now available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle editions
This book explores the multifaceted nature of humor in Israel, some of which is intentional and some of which is unintentional. Either way, the quirks of Israeli life contribute to making that life interesting and fulfilling. In the pages of this volume, we take a look at humorous slices of Israeli life, Israeli comedy, satire and parody, funny TV commercials, unusual stories about food, surprising rabbinic bans on daily activities, simchas as they can only be celebrated in Israel, and endearing aspects of Israeli culture. There are more than 120 anecdotes and links to video clips totaling more than six hours of video. We hope that these anecdotes and video clips give you a new and different insight into life in Israel, and encourage you to join in the fun by planning a visit to the land flowing with milk and honey.
Now is the time to book our Jewish Humor Shows and Lectures in person or on ZOOM.
Bring Al's Jewish humor lectures and comedy programs with the funniest videos on the Internet to your community and your synagogue, club, JCC, organization or private event in person or via ZOOM. We're taking reservations now for 2025 and 2026 dates in your community. Click above for details. To book a program with Al, e-mail: dan@hudakonhollywood.com.
Now Open: The Jewish Humor Central Gift Shop
Jewish Humor Central logo merchandise is now available. Click on the image above to see the complete collection -- More than 100 items from tote bags, baseball caps, mugs, aprons, drinkware, T-shirts and sweatshirts, to pajamas and underwear.
The Best of Jewish Humor Central - Now Available in eBook and Paperback at Amazon.com
The Best of Jewish Humor Central - More than 400 video clips, including music and comedy videos for all the Jewish holidays. View them on Your PC, Mac, Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Android Tablet and Smartphone. Click on the image above to peek inside and download a free sample. And now, a paperback edition for anyone who prefers a traditional book and doesn't mind typing the URLs instead of clicking on them.
About the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
A long-term devotee of Jewish humor, Al Kustanowitz has been collecting and sharing it even before there was an internet. In 2009, after a 36-year career at IBM managing new technology projects, he founded Jewish Humor Central (jewishhumorcentral.com. Through the blog he brings a daily dose of fun and positive energy to readers who would otherwise start the day reading news that is often drab, dreary, and depressing (subscribing is free). He has published 12 books on humor based on his more than 4,000 blog postings, each of which includes a video clip and his commentary.
He has presented more than 100 programs in South Florida and the Northeast on topics that include the great comedians and entertainers of the 20th century, funniest moments in film and television, flash mobs around the world, and composers and lyricists of the Great American Songbook.
He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the City University of New York and taught computer science courses at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Association of Yiddish Clubs.
You can contact Al via email at akustan@gmail.com.
Audio Roundup 2025:345
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by Joel Rich Hakira volune 37, summer 2025 has a fascinating series of
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[image: Story 375601404]
We just recently were able to find the latest version of my fathers, Rabbi
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