Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Tisha B'Av Song Goes Platinum in UK and Europe

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 to Babylon.

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. It was 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.

In some Jewish communities Psalm 137 is recited or chanted. It reads:

Psalms Chapter 137 1. By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, we also wept, when we remembered Zion. 2. We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst. 3. For there those who carried us away captive required of us a song; and those who tormented us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? 5. If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. 6. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. 7. Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites, the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, to its foundation. 8. O daughter of Babylon, you are to be destroyed! Happy shall he be, who repays you for what you have done to us. 9. Happy shall he be, who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.

פרק קלז א עַֽל־נַֽהֲרוֹת | בָּבֶל שָׁם יָשַׁבְנוּ גַּם־בָּכִינוּ בְּזָכְרֵנוּ אֶת־צִיּֽוֹן : ב עַל־עֲרָבִים בְּתוֹכָהּ תָּלִינוּ כִּנֹּרוֹתֵֽינוּ : ג כִּי שָׁם שְֽׁאֵלוּנוּ שׁוֹבֵינוּ דִּבְרֵי־שִׁיר וְתוֹלָלֵינוּ שִׂמְחָה שִׁירוּ לָנוּ מִשִּׁיר צִיּֽוֹן : ד אֵיךְ נָשִׁיר אֶת־שִׁיר יְהֹוָה עַל אַדְמַת נֵכָֽר : ה אִֽם־אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְֽרוּשָׁלָם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִֽי : ו תִּדְבַּק־לְשׁוֹנִי | לְחִכִּי אִם־לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי אִם־לֹא אַֽעֲלֶה אֶת־יְרֽוּשָׁלַם עַל רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִֽי : ז זְכֹר יְהֹוָה | לִבְנֵי אֱדוֹם אֵת יוֹם יְֽרוּשָׁלָם הָאֹמְרִים עָרוּ | עָרוּ עַד הַיְסוֹד בָּֽהּ : ח בַּת־בָּבֶל הַשְּׁדוּדָה אַשְׁרֵי שֶׁיְשַׁלֶּם־לָךְ אֶת־גְּמוּלֵךְ שֶׁגָּמַלְתְּ לָֽנוּ : ט אַשְׁרֵי | שֶׁיֹּאחֵז וְנִפֵּץ אֶֽת־עֹלָלַיִךְ אֶל־הַסָּֽלַע

But the liturgy of Tisha B'Av has found an audience beyond traditional Jews observing a sad day.

The words of the Psalms were incorporated into Rivers of Babylon, a Rastafarian song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The Melodians' original version of the song appeared in the soundtrack album of the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, making it internationally known.

The song was popularized in Europe by the 1978 Boney M. cover version, which was awarded a platinum disc and is one of the top ten all-time best-selling singles in the UK. 

Somehow the song has been adopted by line dance devotees, primarily in Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. The two videos below show the original song with lyrics followed by one of the line dance interpretations from Korea.

If you're fasting today, we wish you an easy and meaningful fast.

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Shalom Aleichem - A Shabbat Welcome from Russian Band Gruppa Melafefonim

The Group "Melafefonim" is a musical project in Russia in which the musical tradition is organically connected with the classical performing schools.

Founders and members of the band, composed of excellent instrumentalists, well known in the musical scene of Moscow and beyond, consider themselves followers and successors of the outstanding clarinetist Giora Feidman, one of the first who was able to give traditional Jewish musical themes a "Philharmonic" sound.

As we welcome another Shabbat, we like to help usher it in with renditions of traditional songs from the Friday night liturgy. Here is the Gruppa Melafefonim performing Shalom Aleichem.

Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: Groucho Marx Sings "Lydia the Tattooed Lady"

Today's throwback video goes back 77 years to the Marx Brothers movie At the Circus. In the movie, Groucho Marx sang Lydia, the Tattooed Lady, a 1939 song written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg.After it appeared in the movie it became one of Groucho's signature tunes. 

In 1950, Groucho famously 'stopped' trading at the New York Stock Exchange by commandeering a microphone and singing the song before telling jokes for 15 minutes, during which time traders suspended their work to watch him perform. 

The lyrics made many contemporary references to topical personalities such as Grover Whalen, who opened the World's Fair in 1939. The complex lyrics written by Yip Harburg with clever rhymes such as "Lydia/encyclopedia" and "Amazon/pajamas on" were inspired by W. S. Gilbert.

Among the items, persons, and scenes tattooed on Lydia's body are the Battle of Waterloo (on her back), The Wreck of the Hesperus (beside it), the red, white and blue (above them); the cities of Kankakee and "Paree", Washington Crossing the Delaware, President Andrew Jackson, Niagara, Alcatraz, Buffalo Bill, Picasso, Captain Spaulding (Groucho's character in Animal Crackers) exploring the Amazon, Lady Godiva (with her pajamas on), Grover Whalen, the Trylon, Treasure Island, Nijinsky, Social Security Number and a fleet of ships (on her hips).

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday, #TBT

French Jewish Refugee Creators of "Curious George" are Subject of New Documentary

Ema Ryan Yamazaki, a 27-year-old graduate of New York University’s film school, is working on a documentary about H.A. Rey and Margret Rey, the husband-and-wife team behind the multimillion-selling Curious George children's books. 

The Reys were Jewish refugees during World War II, fleeing from Paris in 1940 on homemade bicycles. Eventually settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts, they would launch a series that has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. (H.A. Rey died in 1977; Margret Rey in 1996.) 

As Hillel Italie wrote in The Times of Israel,

Yamazaki, whose previous credits include directing a short documentary about an 800-year-old Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan, and editing the HBO documentary “Class Divide,” had read “Curious George” in Japanese as a girl and was surprised to learn that no one had made a film about the Reys. Through a mutual friend, she got in touch with the literary estate and received its cooperation.

Yamazaki plans a 75-minute documentary, which has the working title, “Monkey Business: The Adventures of George’s Curious Creators,” and will include original animation of the Reys themselves, and has begun a Kickstarter campaign to help with funding.

In the video below, Yamazaki tells the story of how she got involved with the project, and the story of the Reys' escape.

Enjoy!

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Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: The Charleston Arrives in Tel Aviv

"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" are the words in a 1921 composition by Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Irving Mills, now accepted as a jazz standard, characterized by jazz historian Gunther Schuller as "now legendary", "a prophetic piece and a prophetic title." 

Swing has now come to Israel, thanks to Holy Lindy Land, an organization founded by a group of dedicated dancers . Weekly classes, street parties and concerts with the best jazz bands are just part of its activities whose purpose is to expose many peoplethe the pleasure of swing dancing.

Holy Lindy Land was established in 2007. It is bringing Swing, Lindy Hop, Charleston, Blues, Balboa, and more dance forms to Israel. The Holy Lindy Land staff members teach effective  techniques, improvisation and musicality, while maintaining a fun and lively atmosphere. 

The Charleston is a dance named for the harbor city of Charleston, South Carolina. The rhythm was popularized in mainstream dance music in the United States by a 1923 tune called "The Charleston" by composer/pianist James P. Johnson which originated in the Broadway show Runnin' Wild and became one of the most popular hits of the decade. Runnin' Wild ran from 29 October 1923 through 28 June 1924.

In June we posted Holy Lindy Land dancers doing the Charleston in Jerusalem. Today we're sharing a video of their performance in familiar locations all around Tel Aviv.
 
Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Prime Minister and President at the Western Wall"

During our week of Jewish humor lectures and comedy programs at the Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Adult Vacation Center, we shared the role of guest lecturer with Mark Levy, a California-based performer and teacher of Jewish music for 30 years at temples, synagogues, JCCs, elder hostels and other Jewish groups.

Mark's classes and lecture topics include Fiddlers on the Stage! - Ten Jewish Violinists, Music of the Bible, Klezmer 101, The Classics from Rossi to Bernstein, Songs of the Jewish Labor Movement, and A Century of Jewish Humor in America.

We got Mark to sit on the lawn next to Lake Copake and tell us some of his favorite jokes. We captured a few and will share them with you over the coming weeks. 

Here's the setup for today's joke: Barack Obama goes to Israel and he's greeted by Bibi Netanyahu. And then...

Enjoy!

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The Great Jewish Comedians: Smith and Dale - "Doctor Kronkheit"

Joe Smith (originally Joseph Seltzer) and Charlie Dale (originally Charles Marks) grew up in the Jewish ghettos of New York City. Many of the famous comic performers of vaudeville, radio and movies came from the same place and the same era, including Gallagher and Shean, George Burns, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel and The Marx Brothers. 

Seltzer and Marks met as teenagers in 1898 and formed a partnership. They named their act "Smith and Dale" because a local printer gave them a good deal on business cards reading "Smith and Dale" (intended for a vaudeville team that had dissolved). Joe Seltzer became Joe Smith, and Charlie Marks became Charlie Dale.

By 1902 they joined two singing comedians, Irving Kaufman (later a popular singer) and Harry Godwin in a team known as The Avon Comedy Four. 

By 1919, the act had run its course, and the Avon Comedy Four broke up. Smith and Dale took up where the foursome left off, playing Broadway and vaudeville (including the Palace Theatre, considered the pinnacle of stage venues). Both used a heavy Jewish dialect, with Smith speaking in a deep, pessimistic voice and Dale in a high, wheedling tenor.

During the 1920s, they became famous for their signature sketch "Doctor Kronkheit and His Only Living Patient," which like "Who's on First?" for Abbott and Costello, became one of the famous comedy sketches of the 20th century. The name of the doctor is an inside joke: Smith and Dale, both being Jewish, named the physician Kronkheit, which is Yiddish and German for "sickness". Thus we have a doctor named "Dr. Sickness". Indeed a hospital in German is called a Krankenhaus, or literally "sick house".

Enjoy!

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Robert De Niro Tells Standup Jokes to Promote Catskills

Actor Robert De Niro has a home in New York's Catskill Mountains, and last month he joined New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in promoting tourism in the region that gave birth to standup comedy.

As Jon Campbell wrote for the Gannett Newspapers,

The actor used his time to launch into a Borscht Belt-era comedy routine, delivering a series of one-liners in tribute to comedians like Rodney Dangerfield and Joan Rivers who used to headline lavish Catskill resorts that are now largely out of business.

"OK," De Niro said as he took the podium. "So a man goes to a psychiatrist. The doctor says, 'You're crazy.' The man says, 'I want a second opinion.' The doctor says, 'OK, you're ugly, too.'"

De Niro, who has previously lent his voice to a series of New York tourism advertisements, spoke fondly of the Catskills, calling it his "unspoiled paradise."

In a few minutes, De Niro retold 11 jokes that have been told by most of the famous Jewish comedians. We're sure you've heard them all, but it's always good to hear them again.

Enjoy!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Danny Kaye in a Scene from "Up In Arms"

Actor and comedian Danny Kaye made his first movie in 1944 during World War II. Yes, that was 72 years ago. It was called Up in Arms. Danny played a hypochondriac who gets drafted into the army and makes life miserable for his fellow GIs.

There's a funny scene in the film where Danny goes to see a movie with his friends and while waiting in the lobby, acts out a typical movie musical including the opening titles and credits.

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Elon Gold - Not ShamWow, But ShmataWOW!

Elon Gold is an American comedian, television actor, writer and producer. He starred in the television series Stacked.  He also starred in the short-lived sitcom In-Laws.

Known for his impressions, including those of Jeff Goldblum, Howard Stern and Jay Leno, Gold was a judge on the ABC celebrity impersonation competition series The Next Best Thing.Gold was also in the movie Cheaper by the Dozen as a cameraman from the Oprah Winfrey show.
  

Gold attended the Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, NY and the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA)/Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Manhattan, NY. He is a practicing orthodox Jew.

Here is Elon Gold in a parody of Vince, the ShamWow guy, as performed on the Chabad Telethon in 2009.  Enjoy!

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Sounds of the Soul - The Contribution of Jewish Music

Music is an integral part of Jewish life. From synagogue prayer services to at home religious observances, we pass our histories, myths, and legends through story and song. While Jews have dispersed many times, we've always taken our music with us.

Jewish writers, composers, and performers have made major contributions to the world of music. "Nobody does it better".  Some of the Jewish names in this video may surprise you. It was shown for the first time at the recent Genesis 2016 awards ceremony in Israel.

Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah to Julian Brook and Rabbi Moshe Edelman for bringing this video to our attention.)

A Joke to Start the Week - "Texas Baby"

It's the first Monday in August, and we're just back from a 10 day comedy tour in Montreal and the Berkshires. 

Presenting a series of five Jewish humor programs at the Berkshire Hills Eisenberg Adult Vacation Center, we were lucky to encounter Bob Epstein, an 88-year-old retired Assistant Principal in the New York City School System.

At Berkshire Hills Bob serves as recreation specialist, and that includes joke telling sessions with the seniors who come to the mountains for a summer vacation. We asked Bob to share a few jokes with us and we'll be sharing them with you today and in the coming weeks.

Here's the setup: A Texan walks into a bar, and then...

Enjoy!

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Michael Wex Explains the Difference Between a Mentsh and a Schmuck

There are people out there, millions of them, who act as if they still believe everything that their mothers told them in the first six months of their life: they're the nicest, most beautiful, most promising and intelligent bags of flesh ever to walk the earth, and anybody who can't see it is a jealous fool.

We call these people shmucks. In his book, How to Be a Mentsh (and Not a Shmuck), published by Harper Collins, bestselling author Michael Wex (Born to Kvetch and Just Say Nu) offers a wise and witty guide to being a good human being (A mentsh) regardless of your religion or beliefs—a blueprint for living a decent and moral life, acting with self-control instead of self-denial, and winning through cooperation rather than competition.

But this is no dull manual about loving thy neighbor. It's a fast-paced and entertaining adventure in the wisdom of the ages, wherever that wisdom may be found: Yiddish proverbs, current events, Talmudic stories, movies, television, and more. Referencing pop culture and Jewish tradition with equal ease, Wex explores the strategies developed by an oppressed people to pursue happiness with their dignity—and sense of humor—intact.

You can get the flavor of the book by reading a few pages from its Amazon listing. It's a very readable combination of humor, etymology, pop culture, and Jewish history.

Here's an interview with the author on WatchMojo.com, where he talks about the art of mentshlichkeit and how to avoid being a shmuck.

Enjoy!

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A Rabbi Walks into a Bar...But Tells Only Clean Jokes

Rabbi Bob Alper is a Reform rabbi. He is also a comedian who manages to enthrall audiences with clean jokes in nightclubs, synagogues, community centers and at private parties. 

Alper has released a DVD of his performances than runs 102 minutes, and includes a live performance, an interview, and 33 of his best jokes. He bills himself as the only practicing clergyman doing standup comedy...intentionally.

Alper, 71, started doing stand-up comedy in 1986 in Philadelphia. He's been at it ever since, doing about 60 shows a year across the USA. He served congregations for 14 years, but now only officiates at High Holy Day services in Philadelphia.

Here is a sample of one of his routines about his days at the seminary where he was ordained, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner - Professor Hocus von Pocus on Magic

It's another Throwback Thursday and it's time to turn back the clock to chuckle with Carl Reiner as the interviewer and Sid Caesar as Professor Hocus von Pocus informing us all on the subject of magic.

This skit appeared on Your Show of Shows on June 30, 1951, 55 years ago.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday  #TBT

Pidyon Petter Chamor - "Jewish Donkey" Redeemed in Melbourne, Australia

In May, 2009, two members of the Adass Yisroel congregation in Melbourne, Australia, were studying Talmud, and came across the obscure mitzva of Pidyon Petter Chamor -- redeeming of a firstborn male donkey. 

Determined to perform this unique and rare mitzva, they located a female donkey that had not yet produced any offspring. Working with a breeder, they waited the 12 months of pregnancy, and finally the firstborn male donkey emerged.

Most of Melbourne's rabbinate attended the ceremony as did young and old from many of Melbourne's shuls and shteebels.

The five minute long video is fascinating to watch. The funniest part is when the rabbi says "It's unusual and difficult to find a Jewish donkey."

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Comedy Showcase: Joel Chasnoff on Selling Bartons Candy to His Neighbors

Joel Chasnoff redefines the meaning of Jewish comedy. A stand-up comic and best-selling author, Chasnoff is the only comedian who's also a veteran of the Israeli Army. His hilarious take on Jewish life is clean, hip, and wonderfully original; no wonder The Forward calls him the comedic voice of his generation.

A Chicago native, Chasnoff has performed at more than 1,000 fundraisers, universities, and festivals in nine countries. On the road, he was the warm-up act for Jon Stewart and Lewis Black of The Daily Show. He is also a frequent guest on NPR and has appeared on ABC, NBC, and Israeli late-night television. 

In this excerpt from one of his comedy presentations as an American Program Bureau speaker, Joel reflects on his humiliating experience of going door-to-door selling overpriced Passover candy to raise money for his Jewish Day School.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Major Airline Merger"

It's a hot July Monday, and we're spending it in the Berkshires on our annual summer lecture tour. But we still have time to post a weekly joke.

This is a very short one, so if you look away for an instant, you may miss the punch line.

Once again, we're lucky to have Michael Hirsch, an investment advisor for individuals and institutions, to deliver the joke.
 
Michael is a graduate of Brooklyn College, Class of '66. He attended Telshe Yeshiva during high school and Yeshiva Netzach Yisrael during college. When he's not telling jokes, Michael enjoys participating in triathlons.

Here's the setup for today's joke: There was a major announcement this week...a very, very large airline merger in Europe...

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Modi At Montreal Comedy Festival: A Jew Walks Into Home Depot...

Meet Modi Rosenfeld, professionally known as Modi.  He's not a newcomer to stand-up comedy, nor to acting on TV.  But we at Jewish Humor Central hadn't heard of him until he surfaced in a funny video about two Hassidic screenplay wannabes looking for Spielberg.
 
Modi has performed at Caroline’s on Broadway, The Comedy Cellar, Comic Strip Live and The Gotham Comedy Club. Modi has appeared on HBO’s The Sopranos, The Howard Stern Show, NBC’s Friday Night Videos, BET’s 10th Anniversary of Comic View, METRO Channel’s New Joke City with Robert Klein, and on Comedy Central’s USO Tour Live from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
 
In the video clip below, Modi is on stage at a Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal doing his stand-up routine.  The "Jew walks into Home Depot" bit begins at 5 minutes and 45 seconds into the act.  But it's worth waiting for. 

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