Welcoming Shabbat with Ein Keloheinu Sung in Ladino at Temple Beth-El in Somerset County, New Jersey

Tonight we welcome another Shabbat, the first Shabbat of the year 2026. Most congregations will sing the traditional song Ein Keloheinu toward the end of the Musaf service tomorrow.

Like many of the Shabbat liturgical poems, it can be sung to a variety of melodies. Today we're sharing a version in the Judeo-Spanish Ladino dialect, as sung recently by Cantor Risa Wallach of Temple Beth-El in Hillsborough, Somerset County, New Jersey.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

Welcoming Shabbat with Cantor Michelle Teplitz of Marlboro Jewish Center in New Jersey

The journey that brought Cantor Michelle Teplitz to Marlboro Jewish Center began more than 25 years ago when her childhood cantor asked her to sing with him on the High Holidays. From then until her ordination in 2010, it seemed like only a matter of time until Cantor Teplitz would bring her love of Jewish music and nusach to the bima.

A trained vocalist, Cantor Teplitz is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford where she received her degree in Music Education and was a co-founder of L’Shir, the first Jewish a capella group at UH.

After a career teaching music in both public and private schools, Cantor Teplitz decided to pursue her cantorial career at Gratz College in Philadelphia. While there she had the honor of learning from and collaborating with some amazing mentors including Marsha Bryan Edelman, Saul Wachs, Cantor Arlyne Unger and Hazzan Alisa Pomerantz Boro.

In this video from October 19, Cantor Teplitz sings Lecha Dodi at a Kabbalat Shabbat service.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

A Joke to Start the Week - "A Hole in the Roof"

It's Monday again, and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a joke told by Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport, also known as Rabbi Raps. Rabbi Rapoport is the spiritual Leader of the Chabad Ventnor Shul at the New Jersey shore. 

He is a graduate of the Rabbinical College of America and received his Rabbinical Ordination in 2003. Rabbi Rapoport is also the director of the Jewish Learning Institute of Atlantic County. 

Here's the setup: A rabbi stands up in front of the congregation and there's a hole in the ceiling and the water is dripping in. And then...

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.

Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem by Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County - 3rd Grade

It's time to welcome another Shabbat, and today we're sharing Shalom Aleichem as sung last week by the third grade of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County.

The kids performed at a Havdalah ceremony in which they sang Shabbat songs from the liturgies for Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat day. Here you can see them bringing in Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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.

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Something That You've Never Seen Before"

It's Monday again, and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we were digging deep into the Internet archives and found a joke that was posted some years ago that somehow we missed until now. But most of the jokes we post are older than the Jews who tell them.

Today's joke was told by Steven Levy at a joke telling session at the Mount Freedom Jewish Center in Randolph, New Jersey. 

Here's the setup: A guy comes into a bar late at night and tells the bartender "If I show you something that you've never seen before, will you give me a scotch?" And then...

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.

 

Yavneh Academy Gets the Koolulam Spirit with "Hallelujah"

We've been posting the singing extravaganzas of the Israeli Koolulam ever since they started the project for Israel's 70th Independence Day celebration last year in Tel Aviv.

Koolulam’s popularity has soared since then, with Israelis jumping at the opportunity to come together with thousands of strangers — to sing. But it's popularity hasn't been limited to Israel. The idea has become infections and has stimulated groups of singers to come together in other locales.

The excitement has reached Paramus, New Jersey, home of the 77 year old Yavneh Academy, a modern Orthodox co-ed yeshiva. On Yom Haatzmaut last month, the entire student body came together to sing Hallelujah in their own version of Koolulam.

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  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.

Welcoming Shabbat with Lecha Dodi at Devotion by the Ocean in Ventnor, New Jersey

In the summertime at the New Jersey shore, two congregations have been pooling their resources in a Kabbalat Shabbat service that takes place on the beach and boardwalk. The service is called Devotion by the Ocean. It is open to all congregations and to anyone who wants to participate.

The sponsoring synagogue, Shirat Hayam, is a new congregation formed by the merger of Temple Emeth Shalom in Margate (Reform) and Congregation Beth Judah in Ventnor (Conservative). Separate religious services are under the aegis of the respective clergy. Governance, learning, social and other programming are combined.

In this video clip, the band sings a version of Lecha Dodi by Craig Taubman.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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.

Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem at Temple B'nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, New Jersey

Every Friday we try to find a new version of one of the traditional songs that are sung in the synagogue or in the home to welcome Shabbat.  

Shalom Aleichem is the liturgical poem that signals the start of this special 25 hour weekly respite from the workaday world. 

We never know until Thursday what version of which song we'll be sharing with you on Friday. 
Sometimes it's Adon Olam, Yedid Nefesh, Eishet Chayil, Lechu Neranena, or Yigdal. This week we're sharing yet another version of Shalom Aleichem, as sung by Lucy Fishbein, Assistant Cantor at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, New Jersey.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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.