Israel's Rhythmic Gymnastics Team Wins Silver Medal at Paris 2024 Olympics

Israel added yet another medal to their impressive haul at the Paris Olympics as the Rhythmic Gymnastics Team captured silver for the nation’s 7th medal with a terrific performance in the Group All-Around after having qualified for the finals.

As Joshua Halickman reported in The Jerusalem Post,

Coach Ayelet Zussman spoke about the team’s performance, “How did we do it? With the love for the sport, with the great coaching staff, and by working hard together. Linoy Ashram had a huge influence on rhythmic gymnastics and she had an incredible five years where she was constantly at the top, so we knew she was a candidate for a medal at the last Olympics. The same is true with this team, who have been at the top over the past three years and here they did it.”

“When they finished their last rotation I knew there was a very good chance that we would win a medal. I am happy, I am proud to see all the people that encouraged us and who were excited for us. When we are together, it gives us the strength to achieve everything we want to achieve,” the coach concluded.

The squad of Ofir Shaham, Diana Svertsov, Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki and Shani Bakanov recorded a score of 35.600 in 5 Hoops, which was good for 5th place and 33.250 in 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls for 2nd, which gave them an overall score of 68.850. This placed them just behind China, which won gold with a score of 69.800 and ahead of Italy, which scored 68.100.

The key score for the blue-and-white was in the 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls, which was a marked improvement over Friday’s qualification score of 31.900, which was able to place them ahead of Italy to take home the silver medal.

 

Welcoming Shabbat with Oseh Shalom by the Choir of the French Army

This week we welcome Shabbat with a version of Oseh Shalom sung by the Choir of the French army under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Aurore Tillac and the Republican Guard orchestra conducted by Colonel François Boulanger.

The melody was composed by Nurit Hirsch and the words are from the Kaddish prayer. The performance was at the Concert of Joy in 2020 in the Synagogue de la Victoire in Paris.

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.

Yiddish Music Hall is Alive and Well in Paris

 

The tradition of international popular music standards sung in Yiddish was alive and well in Paris last December with the production Yiddish Music Hall in Farandole.

 

The show featured lively performances of My Way, Tea For Two, Summertime, Fever!, Over the Rainbow, Do Not Leave Me, Blowing in the Wind and Dancing to the End of Love.

The cast included eight singers and singers (Isabelle Georges, Jacinta, Betty Reicher, Michele Tauber, Laurent d'Aumale, Jean Birenbaum, Bursztein David, Lionel Miller), the best of the Yiddish song in Paris, under the musical direction of Fred Manoukian. 

 

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.

 

Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: Adon Olam (Pharrell Williams' "Happy") in Paris Synagogue

Since Pharrell Williams' hit song Happy was nominated for an Academy Award in 2014, it's been the basis for many parodies. We posted a few, including exuberant dance moves by residents of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Efrat.

We even posted a Sukkah hop version of the song last month. But we were unprepared for its appearance as the melody for a new version of Adon Olam in the La Victoire Great Synagogue in Paris.

This is a video that we just had to post because it fits perfectly into two series that we've been running over the last few years, Adon Olam Around the World and Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places.

So if you feel especially happy as you leave your synagogue tomorrow, why not surprise your friends by launching into a few choruses of this up to date version of a Shabbat classic?

If you missed the performance of the original Happy song at the 2014 Oscar awards show, you can see it by clicking here.

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.)

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.

(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.)