Wacky Wednesday Movie Clip: Mel Brooks as the Rabbi and Mohel in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights"

In his 1993 musical adventure comedy film Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Mel Brooks parodied the Robin Hood story featuring comedic references to previous Robin Hood films, particularly Prince of Thieves.

The film also features Brooks in a minor role; He plays the rabbi-mohel-wine merchant who gives Robin and his merry men a lesson in circumcision.

Enjoy!

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When Young Sheldon Cooper (Big Bang Theory) Wanted to Become Jewish

Young Sheldon is an American comedy television series on CBS created by Chuck Lorre and Steven Molaro. The series is a spin-off prequel to The Big Bang Theory and begins with the character Sheldon Cooper at the age of nine, living with his family in East Texas and going to high school. 

Iain Armitage stars as young Sheldon, alongside Zoe Perry, Lance Barber, Montana Jordan, Raegan Revord, and Annie Potts. Jim Parsons, who portrays the adult Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, narrates the series and serves as an executive producer.

In the 17th episode of Season 2, which aired on March 7, 2019, Young Sheldon takes up violin lessons to be more like Albert Einstein. Noticing the prevalence of Jews like Einstein in physics, he decides to become Jewish himself. He calls a local rabbi who gives him some sound advice.

Enjoy!

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The Pope and a Rabbi Walk into the Vatican and...Dance (?)

No, this is not another rabbi, priest, and minister joke. This is a true report of what happened when a group of Hasidic Jews led by 80-year-old Brooklyn Rabbi Edgar Gluck went to the Vatican after being invited by Pope Francis.

On Monday the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported that Pope Francis danced with the group and discussed with them issues including the protection of Jewish cemeteries in Europe and combating child sex abuse.

As JTA reported,

A video on the Yeshiva World News website and also posted to YouTube shows the pope swaying to the music as members of the delegation dance and serenade him with the song “Long years shall satiate him.”

Born in Germany, Edgar Gluck, 80, divides his time between Brooklyn and Poland, where he holds the title of chief rabbi of Galicia. In the United States, where he has long been politically active, he was a co-founder of Hatzolah, one of the largest volunteer ambulance corps.

Gluck and Pope Francis met and discussed the plight of Jewish cemeteries last year when the pontiff visited Krakow for Catholic World Youth Day and, according to Yeshiva World News, the pope invited Gluck to continue the discussion at the Vatican.

The Hebrew words of the song are "Orech yamim asbieihu v'areihu biyeshuati"

Enjoy!  

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Ninja Rabbi: Yeshiva University Student Rabbi Enters American Ninja Warrior Competition

Akiva Neuman, a Yeshiva University rabbinical student, wasn't content spending his days studying Talmud and accounting, and working as youth director for the Young Israel of Holliswood, Queens.

Looking for more challenges and pursuing physical fitness, Akiva entered the competition for the title of American Ninja Warrior on the popular TV reality show.

As Sandy Eller wrote in Vos iz Neias,

The 25 year old Neuman, who grew up in Highland Park, New Jersey, took part in the Philadelphia qualifying match for American Ninja, a sports competition reality television show, making his way through a challenging obstacle course proudly wearing his yarmulka and tzitzis.

Now entering its eighth season,  American Ninja contestants compete in a series of courses hoping for a chance to compete in the show’s Las Vegas finals on a physically grueling, four stage obstacle course consisting of over 20 challenges.  The ultimate goal?  A $1 million cash prize.

So, how did he do? You'll have to watch the video to find out.

Enjoy!


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A Joke to Start the Week - "Someone Stole My Bicycle"

This is Monday of a very special week, the week that includes Rosh Hashanah. So we searched for a joke to start the week that has special significance as we think about repentance.

The theme of today's joke focuses on the Ten Commandments, and how reciting them can sometimes lead to unexpected results.

Today's joke teller is Marvin Rachelefsky, a 65-year-old neurologist. Here's the setup for the joke:

In the South, where towns often coudn't support more than one congregation or one church, so the rabbi got together with the priest, and then...

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "A Minister, Priest, and Rabbi Go Hiking"

It's Monday again, and time to celebrate because Monday at Jewish Humor Central means it's time for another joke to start the week.

Ever since we started this weekly tradition more than a year ago, we've been using jokes from the Old Jews Telling Jokes collection and jokes that we videotaped at our performances at Kutsher's Resort in the Catskills and at residential communities in New Jersey. But we discovered that not all of the old Jewish jokes are told by Jews, especially the "minister, priest, and rabbi" genre of jokes. 

In reviewing lots of these "minister, priest, and rabbi" jokes, we found that in almost every case, the rabbi comes off as the wisest of the group, regardless of who is telling the joke.

Here's a classic joke of the genre, as told by the Reverend Chad O'Shea of the Unity Church in North Carolina.  The setup: A minister, a priest, and a rabbi went for a hike one day. It was a very hot day, They were sweating and exhausted, and they came upon a small lake. And then...

Enjoy!

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"Der Kish" ("The Kiss") - A Short, Sweet, Poignant Film in Yiddish With English Titles

It took us a couple of years to find this short, sweet, poignant eight minute film, but we're glad we found it and are happily sharing it with you today.

The film Der Kish (The Kiss) is about a young girl, daughter of a rabbi, who pines for a kiss from him. The rabbi, his wife and his daughter rise early in the morning and get ready to go to the synagogue. The girl watches with envy as her father kisses his tallit, his tefillin, his tzitzit, and even tries to kiss his wife as she is getting dressed, but is rebuffed when his wife notices the girl looking on and pushes him away.

They walk to shul where the rabbi leads the service and the rebbetzin and her daughter climb the stairs to the balcony. The girl watches as her father takes the Torah from the ark and she fantasizes that he is holding her instead. Her siddur falls from the balcony and lands near the bimah. Her father picks it up and kisses it. When the service is over, the little girl decides to take matters into her own hands and brings the mini-story to a climax.

Does she get the kiss that she pines for? Watch the film and see.

Der Kish was directed by Paul Fischer and won awards in film festivals worldwide but has not been widely distributed. All of the dialogue (what little there is of it) is in Yiddish with English subtitles.

 It stars Modi Rosenfeld as the rabbi. We have followed Modi's career as an actor and stand-up comedian over the last three years. Professionally known as just Modi, his portrayals of chassidim are believable and his stand-up routines can be very funny.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week: The Missing Teaspoon

It's Monday morning, start of another work week. (Yes, our friends in Israel, we know that Sunday is the start of your work week.) It's time for a joke to start the week, and we've been dipping into the treasure chest of Old Jews Telling Jokes each Monday morning, a practice that seems to be meeting with your approval, based on the "Like" responses we're getting.

Today's joke features Norman Ginsberg, a relatively young "Old Jew" at 61, telling a story about a missing antique silver teaspoon at a Bar Mitzvah and the 15-year-long search for what happened to it.

Enjoy!

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