Now Streaming: "Kugel" - a Prequel to the Beloved Israeli Series "Shtisel"

If you loved Shtisel, the Israeli TV series that ran for three seasons a few years ago, you'll be glad to know that the same writers and production team that created it have released a new eight-episode series called Kugel. The new series is a prequel to Shtisel and takes place in Antwerp, Belgium, the home of Nuchem Shtisel and his daughter Libbi.

So it's a delicious return to where it all began, but you won't see Dov'aleh Glickman, Michael Aloni, Neta Riskin and Shira Haas, who played the memorable roles of Shulem, Akiva, Giti, and Ruchama in the original. Sasson Gabay and Hadas Yaron have the leading roles in this prequel, and award-winning Israeli actress Mili Avital also has a major role.

Years before Akiva Shtisel and Libbi crossed paths, Kugel takes us to Antwerp, Belgium, where Nuchem, a charming yet rule-bending jewelry dealer, juggles ambition, love, and family drama. As his marriage crumbles, his daughter Libbi dreams of becoming a writer—until a chance encounter on an Antwerp tram changes everything. Told with the humor and heart that made Shtisel a global sensation, Kugel explores love, ambition, and the delicate balance between tradition and individuality. From the creators of Shtisel, this is a deliciously complex story you won’t want to miss!

Shtisel is still streaming on Netflix, but to watch Kugel you'll have to subscribe to IZZY, the Israeli streaming service. IZZY costs $15 a month, but they're offering an annual subscription that brings the monthly cost down to $7.

Here's the trailer for the 8-episode series. Enjoy!

Hasidic Singer Shulem Lemmer Engages in "Real Talk" with Israel National News

Shulem Lemmer, known professionally simply as "Shulem," is an American Belz Hasidic singer from Borough Park, Brooklyn, in New York City. He is the first born-and-raised Haredi Jew to sign a major record contract with a leading label, Universal Music Group, under its classical music Decca Gold imprint.

Before becoming a full-time singer, Lemmer was marketing director at a technology firm start-up based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He also works as a cantor during the High Holidays at Congregation Ahavath Torah, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Englewood, New Jersey.

In April 2019, Lemmer sang “God Bless America” at Citi Field. He has toured in American and Israeli cities and sung in London, Krakow, Frankfurt, and Zurich.

The music on his November 2019 major label debut album, The Perfect Dream, is produced by Jon Cohen and accompanied by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It consists of English, Hebrew, and Yiddish songs, including the Israeli song Jerusalem of Gold, and Bring Him Home from the Broadway musical Les Misérables. The title track of the album, The Perfect Dream, is an original song written for Lemmer by lyricist Don Black.

We saw Shulem perform in concert in February 2020, just as the pandemic was starting, at Anshei Emuna, our synagogue in Delray Beach, Florida.

Here is the Arutz 7 "Real Talk" interview followed by Shulem singing A Million Dreams, from the film The Greatest Showman.

Enjoy!

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From Shtisel to Unorthodox and Beyond: A Wave of Binge-Worthy Haredi TV Series and Films is Coming

It’s easy to think that Haredi (“ultra-Orthodox”) communities are all black and white. But the increase in TV shows and films that portray the complexities of Orthodox Jewish, especially Haredi, life in the past ten years has allowed us to catch a glimpse into what life in these communities is really like.

The video below will take you through some of pop culture's favorite Haredi characters, like Esty from Unorthodox and Akiva from Shtisel.

And now comes the news that Shtisel is being adapted into an American version.

The show, which besides the name will share a few thematic elements with the original, is being written by Lauren Gussis and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, who is best known for his Oscar-winning drama “Manchester By the Sea.” 

We will be tracking this version and other upcoming binge-watching candidates from Israel and share the trailers with you as soon as they become available.

Enjoy!

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Haredi Comedy: Disturbing Daveners

Did you know that there is Jewish humor even in the solemn study halls in Haredi yeshivot? Yes, even the most serious students find room for fun, as we can see in this funny short called Disturbing Daveners.

Davening, or prayer, is supposed to be an intense encounter with God, but there are times when the fervor can overwhelm a person to the point where he loses touch with the world and the people around him.

The disturbing daveners include the Head Banger, Shtender Stealer, and Talis Eye Gouger.

This short film is a product of the Yeshiva of Waterbury in Connecticut, which has a group of amateur filmmakers who bring humor into their lives and share it on YouTube.

Enjoy!

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Black Hat Humor in Boro Park, Brooklyn: The Hatzolah Doctor Makes His Rounds

The Haredi (Ultra Orthodox) community of Brooklyn is well served by Hatzolah, a local volunteer Emergency Medical Service (EMS) organization.

Hatzolah/Hatzalah ("rescue" or "relief" in Hebrew: הצלה‎) serves mostly Jewish communities around the world. Most local branches operate independently of each other, but use the common name. The Hebrew spelling of the name is always the same, but there are many variations in transliteration, such as Hatzolah, Hatzoloh, Hatzalah, and Hatzola.

But even something as serious as medical assistance can have its funny moments, especially in the hands of a production company like On Time Studios, which uses humor to promote local Orthodox services and businesses.

In this clip (The Doctor) we follow a Hatzolah doctor as he puts some unconventional implements into his black doctor's bag and makes his rounds on a scooter that he uses to visit patients in his community.

Enjoy!

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Sukkot in Jerusalem: The Joy of Simchat Beit Hashoeivah in a Chasidic Yeshiva

When the Temple in Jerusalem stood, a unique service was performed every morning throughout the Sukkot holiday: the Nisuch ha-Mayim (lit. "Pouring of the water") or Water Libation Ceremony. 

According to the Talmud, Sukkot is the time of year in which God judges the world for rainfall; therefore this ceremony, like the taking of the Four Species, invokes God's blessing for rain in its proper time. The water for the libation ceremony was drawn from the Pool of Siloam (Hebrew: Breikhat HaShiloah‎‎) in the City of David and carried up the Jerusalem pilgrim road to the Temple. The joy that accompanied this procedure was palpable. 

Afterwards, every night in the outer Temple courtyard, tens of thousands of spectators would gather to watch the Simchat Beit HaShoeivah (Rejoicing at the Place of the Water-Drawing), as the most pious members of the community danced and sang songs of praise to God. The dancers would carry lit torches, and were accompanied by the harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets of the Levites. According to the Mishnah, (Tractate Sukkah), "He who has not seen the rejoicing at the Place of the Water-Drawing has never seen rejoicing in his life." Throughout Sukkot, the city of Jerusalem teemed with Jewish families who came on the holiday pilgrimage and joined together for feasting and Torah study. A partition separating men and women was erected for this occasion. Nowadays, this event is recalled via a Simchat Beit HaShoeivah gathering of music, dance, and refreshments. This event takes place in a central location such as a synagogue, yeshiva, or place of study. Refreshments are served in the adjoining sukkah. Live bands often accompany the dancers. The festivities usually begin late in the evening, and can last long into the night.

Join us for a few minutes of Sukkot rejoicing at a Simchat Beit HaShoeivah at the Toldos Aharon center in Jerusalem.  The Toldos Aharon sect, based in Jerusalem's Meah Shearim neighborhood is one of the most extreme in the Haredi world, but certainly one of the most fascinating as well as devout.

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Now There's a Haredi Orthodox Version of "Shark Tank" Online

ABC TV's Shark Tank features The Sharks -- tough, self-made, multi-millionaire and billionaire tycoons -- as they invest in America's best businesses and products. The Sharks give people from all walks of life the chance to chase the American dream, and potentially secure business deals that could make them millionaires.

Now there's an online version called BizTank aimed at the Haredi Orthodox Jewish community. 

As John Aidan Byrne wrote in the New York Post,

This unusual clone of the hit reality television series is Web-only — it can be seen online at biztankmoguls.com — and is the brainchild of Joel Klein, a former rabbi turned chief executive of Immediate Marketing & Business Consulting. And the purpose of his Brooklyn-based program isn’t to generate a mass audience, he says — it’s to connect entrepreneurs of the conservative Jewish Haredi community with mostly Jewish investors.

Launched last year, and hosted out of Klein’s offices in Williamsburg, “BizTank” brings in Jewish entrepreneurs who pitch a panel of seasoned investors, known as the “moguls.” The investments range from $50,000 to $5,000,000 — and so far $4 million in deals have been arranged.

Check out this video to see the moguls in action, and a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor and inventor who pitched his product to them.

Enjoy!

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Haredi Kids Pursue Fitness With Yiddish Exercise in Summer Camp

Yeshiva students, especially Haredi boys studying for long hours each day, need stamina to pursue their learning goals. After all, turning pages demands a high degree of physical fitness.

It's always been a mystery to us as to how these young men are able to maintain their study regimen, day in and day out.

Now the secret has been revealed in a video just posted on YouTube. It gives us an inside look at some of these kids in summer camp Ohel Baruch Krasna in Monticello, NY performing gymnastics with an exciting and interactive exercise song in Yiddish, led by their physical education instructor.

Enjoy!

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Israeli Rabbi is Internet Business and Social Media Advisor to Google

Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg, who looks like he stepped out of a set filming Fiddler on the Roof, has been fiddling in major corporate business circles. 

The scion of a prominent rabbinic family, he worked his way up from giving advice on obtaining credit for business to advising Google, Yahoo, IBM, and other corporations large and small on the use of the Internet and social media in business.

Starting out in Brooklyn, he now lives in Israel, and travels the world advising his clients, writing columns, and conducting seminars and programs. In this video, he describes his journey to a most unexpected vocation.

Enjoy!

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From the "Unbelievable But True" Dept. - Haredi Newspaper Erases Angela Merkel and Other Women From Paris March Photo

Every once in a while we come across an unbelievable but true news story that makes us say "You just can't make this stuff up." Over the last few days such a story has been making headlines worldwide.

A small Haredi newspaper in Israel called HaMevaser is getting lots of exposure that they probably weren't looking for when they published an edited version of the now iconic photo of 40 world leaders marching arm in arm at the Paris rally against terrorism on Sunday.

The front row of marchers included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini. But you wouldn't know it from the HaMevaser photo because the images of all three women were erased.

Papers such as HaMevaser rarely include any women in their photos. The editor was quoted as saying "including a picture of a woman into something so sacred can desecrate the memory of the martyrs." But some members of the Haredi community, like Shmuel Pappenhym, an ultra-Orthodox commentator and educator, said that while the community must preserve its values, the newspaper had gone too far. 

"The Hamevaser newspaper does a thing like this, tomorrow it appears in Germany, it appears all over Europe, the rest of the world. It mocks the Jewish Orthodox community. It makes us look narrow minded. It makes us look obtuse," he said. 

Any obtuseness was compounded by the shoddy photo manipulation. A close look at the photo shows that part of a woman's blue scarf was left on a man's coat and one man's hand is actually a disembodied woman's gloved hand.

The photo gave an opening to an Irish satirical website, Waterford Whispers, to post a version of the photo below with all men cropped out. 

The whole story was told on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell. The video clip below sums it all up. Enjoy, laugh, or cry. We're doing a little of each.

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El Al Haredi Seating Incident Inspires Parody In-Flight Safety Video

After a wave of news reports about a group of Haredi El Al passengers refusing to sit next to women on a flight from New York to Israel, Joel and Stephen Levinson, comedy writers and video producers from Dayton, Ohio saw an opportunity. 

Writing in Tablet, the on-line Jewish magazine, they created and shared a parody of the in-flight safety video that airlines use to make passengers aware of the airline's safety features and demonstrate their use.

Unlike actual videos shown pre-flight, this one advises "Should you discover that you are seated next to a woman, release your seat belt and proceed to any of the male congregation areas."

Enjoy!

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Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: Hasidic Musicians Sing Pink Floyd in Jerusalem

About five weeks ago we shared a video of two Hasidic guitarists playing a Beatles song in a Jerusalem mall. We since learned their names, at least their first names. They're Gil and Arie, and one source says they're Breslover Hasidim. That's all we know about them.

They play in the Mamilla Mall, but mainly on Yafo Street along the route of the new light rail system. Whenever they play, they attract tourists, many of whom record their jam sessions on their cameras and smartphones. As a result, we're able to share some pretty good music, from unexpected sources.

Today's video shows them playing Wish You Were Here, a song by the 1960s psychedelic British group Pink Floyd.

We're usually surprised to find traces of Jewish life in far-flung places around the globe, which we call Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places. But we find it equally surprising to find very non-Jewish traces in musical performances by deeply religious Jews in Jerusalem, something we call Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places.

If you'd like to hear the original song by Pink Floyd with lyrics included, it's right below the Hasidic version.

Enjoy!

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Italian Secular Jewish Photographer Casts Ultra-Orthodox Women in a New Light

The world of ultra-Orthodox women can seem to be a mysterious one, when seen from the outside looking in. For documentary photographer Federica Valabrega, a secular Jew herself, her interest in this world led to a photo project which would ultimately challenge her own assumptions about these women.

Valabrega, originally from Rome, Italy, moved to Brooklyn in 2009 to photograph the women in a project that she calls Bat Melech (Daughter of the King). She was surprised to find that "Jewish women are not just at home making soup and cooking matzo balls and changing diapers. I met women who work at Goldman Sachs. I met women who have their own business."

She also traveled to Israel and France, and plans to visit Morocco and Tunisia to include photographs of religious communities in those countries.

The project will be on display in Italy and Israel later this year. She is also working on a book to accompany the exhibit.

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Hasidic Singers Kick Off Baseball Game With National Anthem and God Bless America

A group of Hasidic singers took to the field last week in Coney Island to kick off the annual baseball game between the New York Police Department team and a team of players from the Flatbush Hatzolah volunteeer ambulance service of Brooklyn, New York.

At first the singers ran into difficulties with the microphone and the words, but then the leader of the group whipped out his smartphone to read the lyrics and belted out the National Anthem while the backup singers hummed along.

They followed up by singing another patriotic song, God Bless America, and this time they knew the words. We think Irving Berlin would have been proud.

P.S. As reported by The Yeshiva World News, the Hatzolah team beat the NYPD team, 8-6.

The game was tied at 2/2 until the 8th inning, when the NYPD took the lead by 2 runs. The following inning, Flatbush Hatzolah scored 6 runs, and the NYPD scored another 2 in the top of the ninth. The final score was 8-6 Hatzolah. - See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=21146#sthash.YSb1Duy3.dpuf

The game was tied at 2/2 until the 8th inning, when the NYPD took the lead by 2 runs. The following inning, Flatbush Hatzolah scored 6 runs, and the NYPD scored another 2 in the top of the ninth. The final score was 8-6 Hatzolah. - See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=21146#sthash.YSb1Duy3.dpuf

The game was tied at 2/2 until the 8th inning, when the NYPD took the lead by 2 runs. The following inning, Flatbush Hatzolah scored 6 runs, and the NYPD scored another 2 in the top of the ninth. The final score was 8-6 Hatzolah. - See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=21146#sthash.YSb1Duy3.dpuf

The game was tied at 2/2 until the 8th inning, when the NYPD took the lead by 2 runs. The following inning, Flatbush Hatzolah scored 6 runs, and the NYPD scored another 2 in the top of the ninth. The final score was 8-6 Hatzolah. - See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=21146#sthash.YSb1Duy3.dpuf

The game was tied at 2/2 until the 8th inning, when the NYPD took the lead by 2 runs. The following inning, Flatbush Hatzolah scored 6 runs, and the NYPD scored another 2 in the top of the ninth. The final score was 8-6 Hatzolah. - See more at: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=21146#sthash.YSb1Duy3.dpuf

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah to Esther Kustanowitz for bringing this story to our attention.)

25,000 Hasidim Attend Second Biggest Wedding Ever in Jerusalem

Photo: Reuters

Last week, the Jerusalem neighborhood of Kiryat Belz was the scene of the second biggest wedding ever held in Israel. On Tuesday evening, under a chuppah built for the occasion in the center of the sector, Shalom Rokeach, the 18-year-old grandson of the Belzer Rebbe, leader of the Belz Hasidic dynasty, married Hanna Batya Penet, his 19-year-old bride in the presence of 25,000 guests (no, that's not a misprint.)

In this video you can see the bride, completely veiled, escorted by two female relatives holding candles, circling the groom seven times. After the chuppah, the men adjourned for an all-night celebration at the Belz synagogue. The women had their own celebration a mile away at Binyanei Ha'Uma, Jerusalem's large convention center.

In the last half minute of the video, the camera pulls back from the chuppah so you can see the magnitude of the crowd and the setting.

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If you're wondering why 25,000 guests didn't make it the biggest wedding ever, The Times of Israel reported that the wedding of Rokeach’s parents in 1993 was the largest in the city’s modern history, drawing 30,000 people, who gobbled down 3.1 tons of potatoes, 1.5 tons of gefilte fish and 39,000 gallons of soda in celebration.

Members of various Hasidic sects, the national-religious world and Sephardi Judaism also attended the wedding.

The leader of the Gur Hasidic sect, the biggest in Israel, and the Lithuanian Ultra-Orthodox community each received a special welcome from the Belz Rabbi, as did Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

For a close-up view of all aspects of the wedding, click here to check out the photo album posted by the Haredi web site Vos iz Neias. 

The Belz Great Synagogue is the biggest synagogue in Jerusalem, with an ark that is so huge it has been included in the Guiness Book of World Records. This imposing monolith of a building is located in northern Jerusalem and was built by the Belz Hasidim, a Hasidic sect dating to the nineteenth century. The Belz Great Synagogue is also significant for its uncanny resemblance to the Holy Temple built by Herod thousands of years ago.

Like the original Belz synagogue in Europe that was destroyed by the Nazis, the Belz Great Synagogue in Jerusalem took 15 years to build. The building was dedicated in 2000 and now towers imposingly in the Jerusalem skyline, rising above the surrounding apartment complexes like a new incarnation of the Holy Temple. The project was financed by the Belz community as well as by philanthropic donations.

The main interior of the synagogue can house up to 6,000 worshipers—an unheard of number for most synagogues, which usually seat hundreds or less. The record-breaking ark is 12 meters high, weighs 18 tons, and can hold 70 Torah scrolls. (In contrast, most synagogue arks can hold about six or less.)

Nine chandeliers gracing the synagogue are each strung with 200,000 pieces of Czech crystal, lending the sanctuary a lofty ballroom splendor. Since it is so huge, the building is utilized not just for prayer, but also for weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and communal events. Smaller study halls and communal facilities are included in the building.

The original Belz synagogue, located in the Ukrainian town of Belz, was similar in size to the new Jerusalem version. The building was destroyed in 1939 by the Nazis, who first attempted to burn it down. When the synagogue proved too huge to be destroyed by such means, the Nazis forced the Jews of the community to dismantle the synagogue one stone at a time.

Now it has been rebuilt in Jerusalem and stands as the center of a thriving Belz community.

Monsey Woman Sues Lancome Because "24 Hour Makeup" Doesn't Last Through Shabbat

Here's one from our category of "You just can't make this stuff up."

An orthodox Jewish woman from Monsey, New York, filed a suit against French cosmetics manufacturer Lancome because one of their makeup products advertised as lasting 24 hours didn't make it through Shabbat.

As Bruce Golding reported in yesterday's New York Post,

Rorie Weisberg of upstate Monsey says the French luxury-cosmetics maker committed the sin of false advertising when it claimed that its new Teint Idole Ultra 24H provides a full day and night of “lasting perfection.” Because of the product’s failure, she says, she can’t look good and stay holy at the same time.

“The 24-hour claim was central to plaintiff’s purchase decision, as a long-lasting makeup assists with her dual objectives of compliance with religious law and enhancement to her natural appearance,” her suit says.

Court papers say Weisberg “is an Orthodox Jew and abides by Jewish law by not applying makeup from sundown on Friday until nighttime on Saturday.” This means the makeup would have been crucial to helping her keep Jewish law, especially at major family occasions.

“Specifically, plaintiff’s eldest son is having his bar mitzvah celebration in June and plaintiff was looking for a long-lasting foundation that would achieve the foregoing dual objectives over the bar mitzvah Sabbath,” the suit says. It charges that the pricey face paint — $45 for a 1-ounce bottle — “faded significantly” overnight.

The Manhattan federal-court filing accuses Lancome of violating New York business law through “deceptive acts and practices.”The suit seeks unspecified damages from Lancome and parent company L’Oréal on behalf of Weisberg and everyone else who bought the flesh-colored goop, as well as a “corrective advertising campaign.”

"Lancôme strongly believes that this lawsuit has no merit and stands proudly behind our products. We will strenuously contest these allegations in court. Consistent with our practice and policy, however, as this matter is currently in litigation, we cannot comment further," a spokeswoman for L'Oreal said in a statement.

Just before posting this story, we checked Vos Iz Neias, the Haredi web site that also carried the story, and found 66 comments on it, most not supporting the woman who filed the suit. The most common words in these comments? chilul Hashem and narishkeit. 

"Rebbetzin Rivka Leah Zelig" Reports on Her Chasidishe Pesach in Miami

 

Last year we posted a funny video featuring comedian Danielle Jacobs in the role of a chassidic rabbi's wife talking about her extreme Passover cleaning.  In it, she used an electric drill to remove kitchen components and the toilet for cleaning. It's one of a series of comedy caricatures in which  the "rebbetzin" comments on Jewish holidays and other aspects of Jewish life.

Now she's back, in her  high-pitched, grating voice, jogging on the beach in hot Miami in her black head covering and black modest clothes while talking rapidly about the challenges of observing Pesach without being sure if the bottled water is Kosher l'Pesach. 

 

At the start of the video she is approached by a man who asks her where the casino is. Of course in her sheltered world casinos don't exist so she thinks he said Beis Hakisei (toilet). Toward the end of the video she faints from heat exhaustion and has to be revived. All through the video she references and seems to be talking to her daughter Chaneleh, who never appears on camera because she is supposedly filming the episode. 

If you watch carefully, you'll see a black square appear to cover parts of sunbathers as the rebbetzin jogs past them. The video is chock full of Hebrew and Yiddish words and yeshivish expressions. Don't worry if you don't get all of them. One thing for sure -- this comedian knows her stuff and pulls off the parody, irritating as it may be, with professional aplomb.

Enjoy!  Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

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Hipster or Hasidic? Jimmy Kimmel Tests His Audience

The Hasidic enclave of Williamsburg in Brooklyn has in recent years seen an influx of artists and musicians who tend to have a hipster look. What the men in both groups share is the avoidance of cutting their facial hair.

A couple of nights ago, late night show host Jimmy Kimmel challenged his studio audience to a game of "Hipster or Hasidic?"

Shooting video closeups of faces of Brooklyn residents, focusing on the beard and mustache, and then panning out to see the whole person, Kimmel asked whether the audience thought the subject was a hipster or a Hasidic Jew.

It was all in good clean fun, and the hipsters and Hasidim seemed to be enjoying themselves. One Hasid, Yanky Schnitzer, even promoted his Facebook page.
  
We played the game, and got four out of five right. One really fooled us.

So try your luck and play the game. How many did you get right?
 
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Comedy Showcase: Meet Chasidic Comedian Hilly Hill

Just because Chasidic clothing tends to be black and otherwise colorless doesn't necessarily mean that every one who wears it is colorless. The Chasidic world has produced its own share of comedy and comedians who can keep their community and the larger Jewish community laughing out loud.

Much of the comedy takes place on the holiday of Purim and at weddings, where the badchan, a sort of jester, is responsible for entertaining the bride and groom and their guests with funny songs and rhymes, mostly in Yiddish.

We have profiled Chasidic comedians such as Yisrael Campbell and Mendy Pellin in previous blog posts. Today we're sharing a video clip of comedian Hilly Hill at a Melave Malke Shabbaton in Parsippany, New Jersey, a few years ago.

Hilly is the son of Skverer Chasid and former actor Steven Hill, who was a featured actor on Mission Impossible and Law and Order. In this video, he jokes about airline security, Haredi websites, the need for a Chassidishe radio station, and radio announcers who report play-by-play of a rebbe cutting the challah or holding a sefer Torah in the style of reporting a baseball game. He also reflects on how different our cuisine would be if Chassidus had been invented in America instead of Eastern Europe and conducts a simulated texting session with God.

LOL!

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Lipa Schmeltzer's Music Video "Mizrach" Supports Jewish Unity

Lipa Schmeltzer is an American Hasidic singer and composer. He is a headliner within Hasidic and Haredi communities worldwide and has been called "the Jewish Elvis" and the "Lady Gaga of Hasidic music." Schmeltzer has released ten solo albums. In 2008 he was named to the Forward 50 of most influential Jews.

Now Schmeltzer is using his celebrity status as a springboard for the greater good, with the release of a music video that uses a hit song to promote solidarity among Jews worldwide, no matter what their background or religious leanings.

The video features the dance sensation Mizrach, one of the most popular tracks from Lipa's recent Leap of Faith album and shows the bespectacled icon singing and dancing with a group of Israeli soldiers, members of the noted Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Nahal Haredi. Part of the Kfir Brigade of the Israeli Defense forces, Netzah Yehuda was created to give religious Israeli soldiers the opportunity to serve in the army while maintaining a strict adherence to their religious convictions.
 
With the expiration of the Tal Law one month ago, the Israeli army has been the subject of much media scrutiny as yeshiva students who were previously exempted from military service are now facing the possibility of joining their fellow countrymen in the army. Thousands of Israeli yeshiva students are expecting to receive draft notices in the upcoming future, further widening the division between Israel's secular and ultra-Orthodox communities.

With the release of the new video which clocks in at just under five minutes long, Lipa hopes to help bridge the gap between the two groups, with the clear message of unity amongst all Jews expressed in the lyrics of the song.

"There are chareidim serving in the army and we should value their service" explained Lipa, who has strong ties to the Nahal Haredi. The singer is a close friend of David Hager, a staunch supporter of the religious battalion, who just recently donated an Aron Kodesh to Lipa's Airmont Shul.

Directed by producer Danny Finkelman, the video was shot in various locations around Israel and features the outspoken singer, who is known for his unabashed love of Jews of all affiliations and support of countless Jewish causes, dressed in army fatigues as he dances in a Jerusalem square with Israeli soldiers and with six Israeli teenagers in several other spots across the country.

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