Here Come the Rosh Hashanah Videos - "Under the Sea" Parody - The Kosher Mermaid and Gefilte Fish

Tehila, the Kosher Diva, has posted Gefilte Fish, a video parody of the Disney Little Mermaid song Under the Sea just in time for us to share it with you as another funny Rosh Hashanah video.

 But just who is Tehila, the Kosher Diva? She is 34-year-old Yael Yekel, a fun and flirty Israeli actor-singer.

As Renee Ghert-Zand wrote in The Times of Israel,

Through her kitschy character, Yekel is on a mission to make the mammeloshen relevant and accessible to younger generations. 

“I grew up with secular kibbutznik parents. I only heard Yiddish spoken by my grandparents — Holocaust survivors from Poland and Lithuania who helped found Kibbbutz Lohamei HaGeta’ot in northern Israel — when they didn’t want us to understand what they were saying,” Yekel told The Times of Israel.

When not portraying the Kosher Diva, Yekel acts on stage and in commercials and television shows. Her studies at the Beit Zvi School of the Performing Arts focused on musical theater, through which she first became engaged with Yiddish.

Enjoy!

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

Kosherfest Discovery: Giant Leaping Asian Carp Find Home in Gefilte Fish

Back in 2010 we shared a video and a story about how giant flying Asian carp invaded the Great Lakes waters and were threatening the ecosystem by dominating lakes from Louisiana to Minnesota.

Last week at the Kosherfest 2018 expo in New Jersey we spotted some of these giants at a booth sponsored by Moon River Foods of Indianola, Mississippi. Speaking with Moon River president Andre Raghu, we found that Moon River was part of the solution to the problem by catching the flying carp and turning them into food, more specifically, gefilte fish.

So if you eat gefilte fish, you may be helping the environment by thinning the population of the giant carp. According to Andre, if you eat any brand of gefilte fish that contains carp (some are only whitefish and pike) it's very likely that you have tasted Moon River's silver carp, common carp, or the biggest of the species, the buffalo fish.

Here are videos of the flying carp and our interview from Kosherfest 2018.

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

Mexican Cantor Moshe Mendelson Sings a Song About Gefilte Fish

We have featured Cantor Moshe Mendelson from Mexico City singing Ein Keilokeinu with a full mariachi band. It was one of the most liked posts ever on Jewish Humor Central.

Because you liked it so much, we're posting another song by Cantor Mendelson. It's in Yiddish, but you don't have to speak the language to understand that he's singing the praises of gefilte fish.

Enjoy!

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

The Real Story Behind Hillary Clinton's Email About Gefilte Fish

When a new batch of Hillary Clinton's emails was released this week, much ado was made about one of the emails with the subject line "Gefilte Fish" and the full message saying "Where are we on this?"

To understand the deep meaning behind this email, we have to go back to February 5, 2010 and a congressional hearing about a shipment of carp that was farmed in Illinois and was the subject of a trade dispute between the U.S. and Israel.
 
Illinois Rep. Donald Manzullo asked Secretary of State Clinton to personally get involved in a trade dispute between an Illinois gefilte fish company and the Israeli government.
 
As Yair Rosenberg wrote this week in Tablet Magazine quoting former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren in his memoir Ally,

America signed its first-ever free-trade agreement with Israel back in 1985, but the treaty exempted certain Israeli products liable to be eradicated by their cheaper American counterparts. Apples, avocados, and oranges fell into this category, and so, too, did the carp cultivated by Galilean farmers. Which was why 400 pounds of the frozen Illinois fish were denied entry to the Promised Land.

We found a video clip from 2010 on the CNN Money channel of a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing where the subject was discussed to everyone's amusement and prompted congressman Elliot Engel of New York to place an order for two jars of the gefilte fish.

Enjoy!

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

A Bissel of Food from Seniors in Melbourne, Australia

The word bissel means "a little bit" in Yiddish. "A Bissel Of..." is a new series of short videos featuring residents of Jewish Care of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, who give us their answers to a range of questions. 

This Bissel of Food is the fourth video in the series. We previously posted "Bissel" videos with the seniors' answers to questions about Chanukah, Shabbat, and technology.

In this video the seniors tackle questions including:
1. Why are there carrots on top of gefilte fish?
2. What makes the perfect chicken soup?
3. Who makes the best chicken soup?

We are sure you will enjoy it as much as we do. It is sure to encourage discussion with your  friends and family and bring back memories of your own versions of traditional Jewish foods.

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

"Gefilte Fish Chronicles" Documentary Becomes a Musical in New York This Week

Three years ago we reported on a documentary called "The Gefilte Fish Chronicles," a film showing how the Dubroff sisters went about preparing a Passover seder for their very large family. 

The film focuses on  shopping for the perfect fish and meat through the cooking of enormous quantities of gefilte fish, cholent, and matzo brei, and celebrating the seder. It has been shown on PBS in the Pesach season for the last few years and has gotten rave reviews whenever it's shown on TV.

Whether or not you've seen this funny piece of nostalgia, you have another opportunity to see it in a new form, a musical, that was performed last year at the White House in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. It's coming to New York this week, and will be performed at the JCC in Manhattan on Wednesday evening, June 11, at 8 pm.

As Ted Merwin writes in the current edition of The Jewish Week,

With music and lyrics by Matty Selman, the buoyant show begins in the present and then flashes back to family seders in the 1940s and ’50s. One of the non-Jewish actors, Iris recalled, “never expected the show to pack such an emotional wallop.” Then again, she reflected, “People feel comforted by Jewish tradition; it makes them feel safe. They want to know the recipes, the music, and the stories from the past.”

Here's a preview of the show, with commentary by executive producer Iris Burnett and lyricist Matty Selman.

Enjoy!

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

EXCLUSIVE On-Site Report! Best In Show and Unusual New Products From Kosherfest 2012

Glatt kosher b facon, energy ballz, pareve chocolate peanut butter gelato, Passover granola, gefilte fish with pieces of carrot mixed in, and fish salami and franks.

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 2012 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey.
 

More than 325 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 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 half a 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 $80.

We interviewed a few of the exhibitors and got closeups of some of the more unusual delicacies in this video for you to savor.  Enjoy!

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

"What is Gefilte Fish?" Old Jews Telling Jokes Cast Member Looks For Answer in Times Square

Old Jews Telling Jokes is truly the gift that keeps on giving. First the web site, then the book, CD, and DVD, and finally the hit off-Broadway show, all have been a source of comic material for Jewish Humor Central since our first mention of them in our first blogging week in October 2009. And we're not finished with them yet.

Audrey Lynn Weston, a member of the cast of the off-Broadway hit show, took to the streets of New York this week to discover just what gefilte fish is all about.

Approaching men, women, children, and even a dog and pigeons in the pedestrial mall that Times Square has become, she asks bystanders what they know about gefilte fish, and attempts (with mixed results) to get them to taste the Rokeach Old Vienna version that's sold in jars.

Enjoy!

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