Jewish Humor Central is a daily publication to start your day with news of the Jewish world that's likely to produce a knowing smile and some Yiddishe nachas. It's also a collection of sources of Jewish humor--anything that brings a grin, chuckle, laugh, guffaw, or just a warm feeling to readers.
Our posts include jokes, satire, books, music, films, videos, food, Unbelievable But True, and In the News. Some are new, and some are classics. We post every morning, Sunday through Friday. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label Throwback Thursday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Throwback Thursday. Show all posts
For
almost half a century, from the 1930s to 1976, The Barry Sisters,
Claire and Merna, were the voice of Jewish jazz in recordings, nightclub
acts, and television appearances on The Jack Paar Show, The Tonight
Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. Born
in the Bronx to Yiddish speaking immigrants from Kiev, Clara and Minnie
Bagelman started out in show business using their real names as The
Bagelman Sisters, but after awhile, Clara became Claire, Minnie became
Merna, and Bagelman became Barry. They performed songs in nine
languages. Looking
glamorous and sparing no expense for their orchestrations, they sang to
a full house at the Concord and other Catskills resorts.
In this Throwback Thursday musical special, Claire and Merna perform wrote "All of Me", a popular song writtten in 1931 by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons. They performed it on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1962.
If you were expecting a joke today, we're sorry to disappoint you. Today is Tisha B'Av,
an annual fast day in Judaism which commemorates the destruction of the
First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and the subsequent exile of the
Jews from the Land of Israel. The day also commemorates other tragedies which occurred on the same
day, including the Roman massacre of over 100,000 Jews at Betar in 132 CE. Instituted by the rabbis of 2nd-century Palestine, Tisha B'Av
is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, a day in which
all pleasurable activity is forbidden, and is marked by synagogue
attendance the night before and during the day. But that doesn't mean
there's no singing, or more accurately, chanting.
The highlight of the day's service is the chanting of the megillah of Eicha (Lamentations), written by the prophet Jeremiah. Eicha is read in synagogues and in groups meeting indoors and outdoors. If
Eicha's dirge-like melody and mournful lyrics don't speak to you,
there's another musical way to get into the mood. In 1975 Don McLean performed his hit song Babylon in front of a live audience in Dublin and had them singing along with him. The lyrics are just perfect for Tisha B'Av, adapted from Psalm 137 in Tehilim (The Book of Psalms).
Allan Sherman dominated the world of
song parody during the 1960s and recorded eight albums, starting with My Son the Folksinger. Listening
to or reading his lyrics is a crash course in pop culture of the 1960s,
with Sherman taking satiric swipes at summer camp, psychiatry, fad
diets, Hadassah ladies, school dropouts, and upward mobility. The popularity of his parodies got him many guest appearances on TV variety shows.
"Makin' Whoopee" is a song first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!. Gus Kahn wrote the lyrics and Walter Donaldson composed the music for the song as well as for the entire musical.
We
just came across a rare video of Sherman singing "Taking Lessons," a parody of
"Makin' Whoopee" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1967. Here is the video of him singing the song, followed by a video clip of Eddie Cantor singing "Makin' Whoopee", the basis for Sherman's takeoff.
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens,
in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United
States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of the
first bands of the genre. Although they never achieved significant
commercial success during their existence, the band is highly
influential in punk culture.
All members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname Ramone, although none were biologically related; they were inspired by Paul McCartney, who used the stage name Paul Ramon when the Beatles were still calling themselves The Silver Beetles. The Ramones performed 2,263concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22years, and released fourteen studio albums. In 1996, after a tour as part of the Lollapalooza music festival, they played a farewell concert in Los Angeles and disbanded.
Two of the four members were Jewish. Lead singer Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Ross Hyman) was born into a Jewish family in Queens, New York, and grew up in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of Forest Hills. Drummer and producer Tommy Ramone (Tamás Erdélyi) was born in Hungary to Jewish parents who were Holocaust survivors.
They were very popular from 1974 to 1996. Here is a video of one of their biggest hits, Bitzkrieg Bop. Enjoy!
On this Throwback Thursday let's revisit an appearance by Sammy Davis Jr. singing Something's Gotta Give on The Ed Sullivan Show in1955.
Sammy Davis Jr. was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician who converted to Judaism in 1960. He found a deep spiritual connection to the faith after a near-fatal 1954 car accident and related heavily to the shared histories of oppression and perseverance between African Americans and Jewish Americans.
Davis lost his eye when he crashed his car driving home to California
from Las Vegas in November 1954. One of several stories about what
sparked Davis’ path to conversion originates with the aftermath of the
accident. He wrote in his 1965 autobiography, Yes I Can, that his
friends Tony Curtis, who was Jewish, and Janet Leigh, who was not,
arrived at the hospital and Leigh gave him a religious medal with St.
Christopher on one side and a Star of David on the other. “Hold tight
and pray and everything will be all right,” Leigh told him.
Davis later told Alex Haley in a Playboy interview that he
gripped the object so tightly that the Star of David left a scar on his
hand, “like a stigmata.” He took it as a sign that he should convert.
Ron Eliran (Menachem Leizerovich) was born in Haifa, British Mandate of Palestine.
He was the middle child among three siblings. His Polish-Jewish parents
ran a bakery. In the late 1950s, he formed one of the first Israeli
folk-style duos, Ran and Nama with Nechama Hendel.
In 1958, Ed Sullivan
visited Israel looking for young performers to appear on a special show
celebrating Israel's tenth anniversary. Eliran and Hendel were the
finalists. While the name Ran was not a problem for English speakers,
they could not pronounce Nechama, so the duo became known as "Ran and
Nama." After their television appearance, the duo toured the United States for a year and a half. Eliran was the first Israeli singer to perform in Las Vegas.
Here are Ran and Nama singing Ana Pana Dodech on The Ed Sullivan Show 68 years ago.
Tony Martin, born as Alvin Morris to a Jewish family in San Francisco, was a singer of popular music and was known as one of the last big stars from Hollywood's golden age of musicals.
His career spanned over seven decades, and he scored dozens of hits between the late-1930s and mid-1950s with songs such as Walk Hand in Hand, I Love Paris, Stranger in Paradise, and I Get Ideas. He was married to actress and dancer Cyd Charisse from 1948 until she died in 2008.
In this video clip from 1946, Martin sings Jerome Kern's All the Things You Are.
Today we're turning the calendar back 72 years to 1954 when Eddie Fisher sang I Need You Now, a popular song written by Jimmie Crane and Al Jacobs, on The Ed Sullivan Show. The recorded version reached number 1 on Billboard charts in 1954.
The
Ed Sullivan Show was a television variety program that aired on CBS
from 1948-1971. For 23 years it aired every Sunday night and played host
to the world's greatest talents.
We
remember Eddie as a giant (although he was short) of the pop music
world after he was discovered by Eddie Cantor at Grossinger's in the
Catskills where he was working as a bus boy. Fisher
was born in Philadelphia in 1928 and was the fourth of seven children.
He was the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants, Gitte Winokur and
Joseph Tisch. His father's surname was changed to Fisher by the time of
the 1940 census. He
was not an observant Jew, but returned many times to sing at
Grossinger's, and that's where he and Debbie Reynolds were married.
Kirk Douglas was a leading box-office star throughout the
1950s, known for serious dramas, including westerns and war films.
During his career, he appeared in more than 90 films and was known for
his explosive acting style. He was named by the American Film Institute the 17th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood cinema.
Douglas was born Issur Danielovitch in Amsterdam, New York,
the son of Bryna "Bertha" and Herschel "Harry"
Danielovitch. His parents were Jewish immigrants from what is now Belarus,and the family spoke Yiddish at home.
His
father's brother, who emigrated earlier, used the surname Demsky, which
Douglas' family adopted in the United States. Douglas grew up as Izzy
Demsky and legally changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the
United States Navy during World War II.
But serious dramas were not his only acting roles. Douglas sang and danced a popular tune, A Whale of a Tale, in Walt Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a 1954 American science fiction adventure film. Adapted from Jules Verne's 1870 novel, the film also starred James Mason, Paul Lukas, and Peter Lorre. Photographed in Technicolor, the film was one of the first feature-length motion pictures to be filmed in CinemaScope. It was also the first feature-length Disney film to be distributed by Buena Vista Distribution.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was a critical and commercial success, being especially remembered for the fight with a giant squid, as well as Mason's definitive performance as the charismatic anti-hero Captain Nemo. The film won two Academy Awards for its art direction and special effects.
Here is a video of Kirk Douglas singing A Whale of a Tale from the movie. The full movie is available to watch on YouTube. Enjoy!
For
almost half a century, from the 1930s to 1976, The Barry Sisters,
Claire and Merna, were the voice of Jewish jazz in recordings, nightclub
acts, and television appearances on The Jack Paar Show, The Tonight
Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. Born
in the Bronx to Yiddish speaking immigrants from Kiev, Clara and Minnie
Bagelman started out in show business using their real names as The
Bagelman Sisters, but after awhile, Clara became Claire, Minnie became
Merna, and Bagelman became Barry. They performed songs in nine
languages. Looking
glamorous and sparing no expense for their orchestrations, they sang to
a full house at the Concord and other Catskills resorts.
In this Throwback Thursday special, Claire and Merna perform "I Love You Much Too Much" in Spanish and English in a 1962 TV appearance.
Abbe Lane (born Abigail Francine Lassman to Jewish parents in 1932) is an
American singer and actress. Lane was known in the 1950s and 1960s for
her revealing outfits and sultry style of performing. Her first marriage
was as the fourth wife of Latin bandleader and musician Xavier Cugat, more than thirty years her senior.
Because of her work in Europe, Lane was known as an actress before
she became recognized for her singing and dancing. She had a television
program in Europe and made 21 films there early in her career.
In
1952, she married bandleader Xavier Cugat. During the 1950s and early
1960s she
worked as a nightclub singer and was described in a 1963 magazine
article as "the swingingest sexpot in show business."Cugat's influence
was seen in her music, which favored Latin and rumba styles.
In this 1961 video from the Ed Sullivan Show, Lane sings Never on Sunday, in English and in French.
Rivka Raz, known in Israel and abroad as" The First Lady of Israeli
Musical Theatre", has played leading roles in the major Hebrew
productions of such classical Broadway and West-End musicalsas My Fair Lady (directed by the Broadway director Sam Liff), Oliver (at the Habimah National Theatre; directed by Peter Coe, who created the show at the London West End), The King and I
(directed by J. Hammerstein II, son of the musical's librettist; at the
Godik Theatre, and again at the Tel-Aviv Cameri Theatre) and Fiddler on the Roof (with Haim Topol, in Hebrew).
In this video clip from 1965 on the Ed Sullivan Show, Rivka sings I Could Have Danced All Night in Hebrew, a song she sang in Israel when she originated the role of Eliza Doolittle in the original 1964 Israeli production of My Fair Lady.
Today is another Throwback Thursday and we're going back 56 years to an appearance by Joan Rivers on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1970.
In this segment, Joan reflects on her life after being married for five years, including observations about her husband, her kids, and hosting a party for nine 2-year-olds.
Ed Ames (Edmund Urick) (1927-2023) was a pop singer and actor. He was also part of the popular 1950s singing group with his siblings, the Ames Brothers.
Best
known for his singing career with three of his brothers as The Ames
Brothers, and his acting in the role of Mingo, a Cherokee tribesman in
the TV series Daniel Boone, Ames was a committed Zionist and president of the California chapter of the Zionist Organization of America.
In a 2007 TV special, "My Music: 50s Pop Parade" Ed Ames joined The Four Lads in a rendition of the Ames Brothers' 1954 hit song The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane.
The lyrics suggest that this "naughty lady" driving the whole town crazy
is an attractive young woman who "throws those come-hither glances at
every Tom, Dick and Joe" and "when offered some liquid refreshment never
says no"; but the last line reveals her to be an infant "nine days old"
For
almost half a century, from the 1930s to 1976, The Barry Sisters,
Claire and Merna, were the voice of Jewish jazz in recordings, nightclub
acts, and television appearances on The Jack Paar Show, The Tonight
Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. Born
in the Bronx to Yiddish speaking immigrants from Kiev, Clara and Minnie
Bagelman started out in show business using their real names as The
Bagelman Sisters, but after awhile, Clara became Claire, Minnie became
Merna, and Bagelman became Barry. They performed songs in nine
languages. Looking
glamorous and sparing no expense for their orchestrations, they sang to
a full house at the Concord and other Catskills resorts.
In this Throwback Thursday special, Claire and Merna perform the Yiddish classic Rumania Rumania in a Yiddish karaoke singalong video with English translation by Henny Kupferstein.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is a 2014 American fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by David Guion and Michael Handelman.
It is the third (and final live-action) installment in the Night at the Museum film series, a sequel to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), and the final installment in the original trilogy.
The film stars Ben Stiller in the lead role, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Dan Stevens and Ben Kingsley as the Pharaoh.
In the film, security guard Larry Daley must travel to London to return
the Tablet of Ahkmenrah, an Egyptian artifact which causes the exhibits
to come to life, before the magic disappears.
In an encounter with the Pharaoh Ben Stiller has a funny exchange with Ben Kingsley in which they make oblique references to the Jewish enslavement in Egypt, the Exodus, and the Passover Seder.
Today we're turning the nostalgia clock back 63 years to 1963 when Lesley Gore sang her hit song You Don't Own Me.
Gore, born Lesley Sue Goldstein, was
an American singer, songwriter, actress, and activist. At the age of
16, she recorded the pop hit "It's My Party", a US number one in 1963.
She followed it up with ten further Billboard top 40 hits including "Judy's Turn to Cry" and "You Don't Own Me".
Gore
recorded composer Marvin Hamlisch's first hit composition, "Sunshine,
Lollipops and Rainbows", on May 21, 1963, while "It's My Party" was
climbing the charts.
Gore later worked as an actress and television personality. She composed songs with her brother Michael Gore for the 1980 film Fame, for which he won an Academy Award.
Today we're turning the calendar back 58 years to 1967 when Eddie Fisher sang If She Walked Into My Life, the hit ballad from the Broadway musical Mame on the Ed Sullivan Show.
The
Ed Sullivan Show was a television variety program that aired on CBS
from 1948-1971. For 23 years it aired every Sunday night and played host
to the world's greatest talents.
We
remember Eddie as a giant (although he was short) of the pop music
world after he was discovered by Eddie Cantor at Grossinger's in the
Catskills where he was working as a bus boy. Fisher
was born in Philadelphia in 1928 and was the fourth of seven children.
He was the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants, Gitte Winokur and
Joseph Tisch. His father's surname was changed to Fisher by the time of
the 1940 census. He
was not an observant Jew, but returned many times to sing at
Grossinger's, and that's where he and Debbie Reynolds were married.
Today we're going back 62 years to watch Neil Sedaka sing a medley of songs that were popular in 1963 on The Ed Sullivan Show. The medley includes Blame It On The Bossa Nova, Slightly Out Of Tune (Desafinado), Fly Me To The Moon and A Felicidade.
Sedaka
was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1939. His father, Mordechai "Mac" Sedaka, was
a taxi driver of Sephardi Jewish descent from Turkey. Sedaka's paternal grandparents came to the United States from Istanbul in 1910.
Sedaka's mother, Eleanor (née Appel), was an Ashkenazi Jew of Polish and Russian descent. He grew up in Brighton Beach. Sedaka (the name is a variant of the Hebrew word Tzedaka - charity) is a cousin of singer Eydie Gorme.
Ed Ames (Edmund Urick) (1927-2023) was a pop singer and actor. He was also part of the popular 1950s singing group with his siblings, the Ames Brothers.
Best
known for his singing career with three of his brothers as The Ames
Brothers, and his acting in the role of Mingo, a Cherokee tribesman in
the TV series Daniel Boone, Ames was a committed Zionist and president of the California chapter of the Zionist Organization of America.
In this video from the Ed Sullivan Show 57 years ago, Ames sings a medley including Gentle On My Mind, My Cup Runneth Over, The Look Of Love and Kiss Her Now.
Now You Can Book Engaging Multimedia Programs for 2026 and 2027 in Person and Via ZOOM
Now is the time to book our Jewish humor programs and lectures for your 2026 and 2027 events in person and via ZOOM anywhere in the world. Book any of our 26 popular programs including "The Great Jewish Comedians", “Israel is a Funny Country”, and "Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places." Click above for details and videos. To book a program with Al, go to www.jewishhumorlive.com
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Just Published: The Kustanowitz Kronikle - 35 Years of Purim Parody
Every Purim for the past 35 years we have published a Purim parody edition of The Kustanowitz Kronikle, covering virtually every aspect of Jewish life, and including parodies of hundreds of popular movies. This year we decided to retire the series and capture all the fun in a book that's just been published and is available at Amazon.com. It has every Purim issue of The Kustanowitz Kronikle from 1988 through 2022 in a full-color, full-size paperback book with hilarious headline stories and parody movie picks. Here are a few examples: TRUMP, NETANYAHU SWAP ROLES, COUNTRIES; NEW TALMUD VOLUME "VOTIN" FOUND IN IRAQ; JOINS "FRESSIN", "NAPPIN", TANTZEN","PATCHEN"; "JUDAICARE" PROGRAM PLANNED TO ENSURE THAT ALL JEWS HAVE SYNAGOGUE MEMBERSHIP; RABBIS CREATE TALMUD AMERICANI; NEW LAWS EXTEND HALACHA TO THANKSGIVING AND JULY 4; JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS WORLDWIDE UNITE TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING; FOCUS ON REDUCING HOT AIR; RABBIS TO REQUIRE SHECHITA FOR MANY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Jewish Humor Central Staff
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief:
Al Kustanowitz Food and Wine Editor:
Aviva Weinberg Israel Food and Wine Consultant Penina Kustanowitz Reporter and Photographer:
Meyer Berkowitz Reporter Phyllis Flancbaum
"Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places" is now available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle editions
This book presents 150 anecdotes and associated video clips that reveal the myriad ways that Jewish culture, religion, humor, music, song, and dance have found expression in parts of the world that, at first glance, might not seem supportive of Jewish Life. It includes 50 videos of Hava Nagila being performed from Texas to Thailand, from India to Iran, and from Buenos Aires to British Columbia. Also highlighted are 34 international versions of Hevenu Shalom Aleichem, Adon Olam, Abanibi, and Tumbalalaika. Whether you’re reading the print version and typing in the video URLs or reading the e-book version and clicking on the links, you’ll have access to 150 video clips totaling more than 10 hours of video. Enjoy!
"Israel is a Funny Country" is now available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle editions
This book explores the multifaceted nature of humor in Israel, some of which is intentional and some of which is unintentional. Either way, the quirks of Israeli life contribute to making that life interesting and fulfilling. In the pages of this volume, we take a look at humorous slices of Israeli life, Israeli comedy, satire and parody, funny TV commercials, unusual stories about food, surprising rabbinic bans on daily activities, simchas as they can only be celebrated in Israel, and endearing aspects of Israeli culture. There are more than 120 anecdotes and links to video clips totaling more than six hours of video. We hope that these anecdotes and video clips give you a new and different insight into life in Israel, and encourage you to join in the fun by planning a visit to the land flowing with milk and honey.
Now Open: The Jewish Humor Central Gift Shop
Jewish Humor Central logo merchandise is now available. Click on the image above to see the complete collection -- More than 100 items from tote bags, baseball caps, mugs, aprons, drinkware, T-shirts and sweatshirts, to pajamas and underwear.
The Best of Jewish Humor Central - Now Available in eBook and Paperback at Amazon.com
The Best of Jewish Humor Central - More than 400 video clips, including music and comedy videos for all the Jewish holidays. View them on Your PC, Mac, Kindle Fire, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Android Tablet and Smartphone. Click on the image above to peek inside and download a free sample. And now, a paperback edition for anyone who prefers a traditional book and doesn't mind typing the URLs instead of clicking on them.
About the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
A long-term devotee of Jewish humor, Al Kustanowitz has been collecting and sharing it even before there was an internet. In 2009, after a 36-year career at IBM managing new technology projects, he founded Jewish Humor Central (jewishhumorcentral.com. Through the blog he brings a daily dose of fun and positive energy to readers who would otherwise start the day reading news that is often drab, dreary, and depressing (subscribing is free). He has published 12 books on humor based on his more than 4,000 blog postings, each of which includes a video clip and his commentary.
He has presented more than 100 programs in South Florida and the Northeast on topics that include the great comedians and entertainers of the 20th century, funniest moments in film and television, flash mobs around the world, and composers and lyricists of the Great American Songbook.
He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the City University of New York and taught computer science courses at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Association of Yiddish Clubs.
You can contact Al via email at akustan@gmail.com.
Chumash At Night
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by R. Ephraim Glatt, Esq. Question: Should you refrain from learning
chumash at night? Short Answer: While there are many leniencies, one should
ideally re...
Two State Solution?
-
Two State solution? Dry Bones from 2009, posted by Sali
*If you can :*
Please donate to Dry Bones!
Link for donating in IL shekels here:
https://www....
If Jews Control the Banks, Explain This Menu.
-
By Jeremy Kossen There are certain conspiracy theories that refuse to die.
For centuries, one of the dumbest has been that Jews secretly control the
worl...
Was Benoît Mandelbrot Jewish?
-
Yes, Benoît Mandelbrot was a Jew. The Times obituary says he, "was born on
Nov. 20, 1924, to a Lithuanian Jewish family in Warsaw. In 1936 his family
fled ...
Thoughts on the Haggadah by Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum
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[image: Story 375601404]
We just recently were able to find the latest version of my fathers, Rabbi
Eli Teitelbaum Z”L, thoughts on the Haggadah and conve...
Hamantaschen: The Symbolism behind Purim Cookies
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Purim is a celebration of masquerade, Mishloach Manot, Hamantaschen and
book of Esther reading. Every Jewish holiday focuses on a special dish and
the tria...
Thank you for your support!
-
Thank you very much for supporting our work at The Muqata. We appreciate
your contribution and hope to be able to keep bringing you the most up to
date ...
Boarding School Massachusetts
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Every fall the Massachusetts Health Connector provides information
concerning the public higher education institutions and designed to prevent
offenders ...
A chat with some protesters…
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Originally posted on don of all trades:
Hi protesters, it’s me, Don. Do you remember me? No? I’m a police officer.
We’ve met before. Excuse me? Did you say...
Jerusalem Walking Tours for Sukkot
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It is about time that I brought back my “Jerusalem: Meet Jerusalem” walking
tour series. And while I am nearing completion on a few new ones that I
hope to...
Trayf of the Week: Bacon Jam
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Just when you thought it was safe to eat your bagels in mixed company,
comes this devilish concoction. Next time a Goyishe friend offers you a
shmear, mak...
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