Yiddish Word of the Day: Comedian Modi Rosenfeld and Actress Mayim Bialk Bring us "Gehokte Tsuris"

Comedian Modi Rosenfeld and actress/blogger Mayim Bialik are very funny in their own right, but when they collaborate the fun just multiplies. Here they bring the Yiddish word tsuris up a notch by adding the adjective gehakte and give us the ultimate trouble -- gehokte tsuris.

Enjoy!

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Actor Ben Stiller Tells Actress and Game Show Host Mayim Bialik His Favorite Yiddish Words

Mayim Bialik is best known for her lead role as Blossom Russo in the 1990s NBC sitcom Blossom, as well as Amy Farrah Fowler on the CBS comedy, The Big Bang Theory, for which she garnered 2 Critics’ Choice Award wins, a SAG nomination, and 4 Emmy nominations.

Bialik and her company, Sad Clown Productions, produced the FOX show Call Me Kat, which she starred in for three seasons. She has been hosting Jeopardy! since 2021 which won the Critics’ Choice Award for ‘Best Game Show’ in 2023.

Along with her partner, Jonathan Cohen, Bialik hosts a successful podcast, Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown, breaking down myths about mental health; the podcast has 20 million downloads and counting. 

In a recent interview on her podcast, actor and comedian Ben Stiller revealed his favorite Yiddish words and Bialik suggested a new one.

Enjoy!

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Countdown to Purim: With 3 Days to Go, Mayim Bialik Gives Her Colorful Synopsis of the Holiday

Some people know her as Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory or as Blossom​, but Mayim Bialik is also a​ neuroscientist, ​mom, and a self-proclaimed aspiring “super Jew!” Here she is to break down what you need to know about the Jewish holiday, Purim, which starts this Thursday evening.

Mayim colors her synopsis of the story behind the holiday with 9 very short video clips from popular films, TV sitcoms and cartoons. Can you guess where they're from?

Enjoy!

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Getting Ready for Yom Kippur with Mayim Bialik

Some people know her as Amy Farrah Fowler from The Big Bang Theory or as Blossom​, but Mayim Bialik is also a​ neuroscientist, ​mom, and a self-proclaimed aspiring “super Jew!”  

Here she is to help us get ready for Yom Kippur. So what is Yom Kippur? 

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, traditionally is one of the most somber days on the calendar. On this day, Jews ask forgiveness for the wrong they have committed over the past year. It’s famous for fasting, repentance and refraining from other bodily pleasures. 

Or as Mayim Bialik says, “Yom Kippur comes in like a wrecking ball that comes in and takes away your food, and your sex, and your awesome leather shoes.” Also, you can’t moisturize. You'll have to watch to find out more. 

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Mayim Bialik Explains the Difference Between Nerd and Geek

Do you know the difference between a nerd and a geek? Did you think they were synonyms or do they mean different things?

In 2017, when Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik was on a book tour promoting her book Girling Up, she was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

The interview covered a range of topics but zeroed in on Colbert's pressing the neuroscientist actress on the difference between the terms nerd and geek. Watch the video below and you'll become an expert on the proper use of the two terms.

Enjoy!

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Actress Mayim Bialik Makes Traditional and Progressive Latkes for Chanukah

Actress Mayim Bialik, a key cast member of the popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory, is getting ready for Chanukah by making latkes at home, and she posted a video of the process for her fans to share.

We light the first Hanukkah candle tonight, and if you haven't already grated your potatoes, Mayim shows a shortcut -- out of the box latkes (The Manischewitz box, that is).

After making the traditional ones, she offers Millennials something more daring -- Avocado toast latkes and Buffalo latkes.

Enjoy, and have a happy Hanukkah!

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"Big Bang Theory" Actress Mayim Bialik Builds a Sukkah

With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur behind us, our attention turns to Sukkot, one of the happiest holidays in the Jewish calendar.

We hope you had an easy and meaningful fast, and now it's time to plan our feasts for the eight-day holiday of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah.

Some start building a sukkah immediately after Yom Kippur, and many sukkot went up last night and today.

One of the sukkah building projects was done by actress Mayim Bialik.

You may know Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler, Sheldon Cooper's neuroscientist girlfriend (now wife) on The Big Bang Theory, but in real life she really is a neuroscientist who identifies as an Orthodox Jew.

In August 2015, Bialik launched her own lifestyle website, GrokNation, which caters to women and includes wide-ranging topics such as religion, popular culture, parenting, and Hollywood.

Bialik also mentioned in her interviews that her website's title was in reference to the classic 1961 sci-fi novel Stranger in a Strange Land and was derived from the word grok, which means to fully grasp something in the deepest way possible.

In this video Mayim  shows you how she built her sukkah last year and what it looks like when completed.  There's time lapse and drone footage.

Whether you built your own sukkah or whether you'll be spending time this week in the sukkah of a friend or a synagogue, we wish you good weather and a very happy holiday. We will be celebrating a family Sukkot and we'll be in shul Monday and Tuesday. We'll be back on Wednesday with our usual mix of Jewish humor.

Enjoy, and Chag Sameach!

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Actress Mayim Bialik Answers All Your Questions About Passover

Actress Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory, Blossom) tackles a bunch of questions about Passover and answers them in an upbeat style that you'll be able to share with friends who may not be up on all the basics.
 
In a video sponsored by the Manischewitz company, she explains the meaning of the holiday, the preparations for the seder and the whole week of living without chametz, and some personal reflections on ways for children to act out the Pesach story.

There's also a link to some of Mayim's personal recipes for Passover which are located on her website, www.groknation.com.

(Full disclosure: Jewish Humor Central's daughter-in-chief and Hollywood bureau chief Esther Kustanowitz is also Grok Nation's founding editor and contributor. In today's issue she offers a practical check list of things to buy, things to do, and an overall list of goals for the holiday.)

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Today is Purim! Actress Mayim Bialik Narrates the Purim Story

Today Jews all over the world celebrate the holiday of Purim. Tomorrow is Shushan Purim, a day where Jews in walled cities (including Jerusalem) have their Purim celebrations.

Every year the story of Purim is retold in many ways, traditional and contemporary. Today we bring you a retelling narrated by actress Mayim Bialik.

You may know Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler, Sheldon Cooper's neuroscientist girlfriend on The Big Bang Theory, but in real life she really is a neuroscientist who identifies as an Orthodox Jew.

In August 2015, Bialik launched her own lifestyle website, GrokNation, which caters to women and includes wide-ranging topics such as religion, popular culture, parenting, and Hollywood. 

Bialik also mentioned in her interviews that her website's title was in reference to the classic 1961 sci-fi novel Stranger in a Strange Land and was derived from the word grok, which means to fully grasp something in the deepest way possible.

A personal note: In Mayim's retelling of the Purim story, the role of Queen Vashti is played by Esther Kustanowitz, daughter of Jewish Humor Central's publisher and blogger-in-chief, and Co-Founding Editor and Contributor at groknation.com.

Enjoy!

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A Thanksgiving Journey: In Search of the Wild Challurkey

The staff at Mayim Bialk's website, Grok Nation, has been busy this week getting ready for Thanksgiving. 

FIlled with the holiday spirit, and probably somewhat nostalgic for the rare confluence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah a couple of years ago, Grok Nation's Editorial Director Esther Kustanowitz ventured forth to find a way for like-minded Jews to perpetuate the traditions of both holidays.

She didn't have to travel far from her home base in Los Angeles. At Bibi’s Bakery & Cafe in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, bakers have been hard at work in advance of Thanksgiving, producing Challurkeys around the clock. Esther's interview of owner and baker Dan Messinger about the peculiarities and importance of this festive Thanksgiving bread reveals everything you wanted to know about the Challurkey.

GrokNation is an online community for people of all ages and backgrounds to dive deep into conversations on contemporary issues. Actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory, Blossom) founded the site two years ago. Grok is one of those words that people who are fans of classic sci-fi probably know. Originally, it’s from a 1960s sci-fi novel called Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, and refers to one character’s attempt to learn about the world around him by “grokking,” drinking in an idea until it becomes part of him from the inside out.

Enjoy, and have a happy Thanksgiving.

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Mayim Bialik and YidLife Crisis Go On a Double Date (in Yiddish)

Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion, the comedy duo who created the hilarious web series YidLife Crisis, are lifelong performers, actors, writers, producers and musicians. 

Mayim Bialik is a featured actress in the popular sitcom Big Bang Theory, and a respected parenting guru on her website GrokNation.com. 

So what do they have in common?

Last week they joined forces in the latest episode of YidLife Crisis.

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

Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion, the duo behind ‘YidLife Crisis,’ have sent us a funny Yiddish valentine. It’s the latest episode of the comedic web series, and it’s about the kind of date you definitely don’t want to have on February 14.

“Big Bang Theory” actress and attachment parenting guru Mayim Bialik guest stars in the episode as Chaya, a high-powered, no-nonsense neurosurgeon apparently set up by her mother on a blind date with Leizer, the slightly nebbishy character played by Batalion.

The two meet at a kosher sushi restaurant in Los Angeles, which is far from the series’ usual setting of Montreal. Chaya comes to the blind date with a long list of questions to ask Leizer. It’s her way of cutting to the chase and not wasting any of her precious time.

Enjoy!

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