Comedian Modi's Character "Yoely" Discovers and Reviews Reality TV

We've been following the career and shtick of comedian Modi Rosenfeld ever since we started Jewish Humor Central in 2009. Whether it's his standup comedy or clever skits and short films, he always leaves us laughing.

With comedy clubs closed during the coronavirus lockdowns, Modi has had to find new ways of reaching his audience.

As Brianna Kovit wrote in the Long Island Press,

Since 1999 when he left his position as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch to pursue comedy full time, Modi has been constantly booked for shows across the country.

Like many performers right now, the stay-at-home order has forced Modi to remain home in New York City for longer than he has in the last 20 years. Without a face-to-face audience, Modi has turned to social media to fuel his creativity and engage with his followers.

Modi’s breakout quarantine success came from a new character he created called “Yoely.” In this character, Modi appealed to his niche Jewish following with a comedic take on a Hasidic man reacting to mainstream trends while in quarantine.

“You have to open the synagogues,” said “Yoely” in a video directed at Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “If I have to spend one more day with my wife, I’m gonna rip out my payos.”

On Instagram, the videos include “Yoely” reacting to popular reality shows such as Love is Blind and Too Hot to Handle. One of the character’s most popular videos to date is a review of the quarantine phenomenon Tiger King. The “Yoely” videos have amassed more than 100,000 views combined.

In this video, Yoeli talks about his discovery of reality TV and reviews popular reality shows.

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.

A "Hava Nagila" Inspired by George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"

Hannah Hoffman is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and music producer with a BFA from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and an MA from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America. 

Her latest project, Music Meets Philosophy, aims to inspire intellectual curiosity through songs that are both educational and entertaining.

In this video, Hannah plays four instruments in a creative rendition of Hava Nagila that was inspired by George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

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.


 

A Joke to Start the Week - "A Pledge for the UJA"

It's another Monday, and it's time for another joke to start the week. Here comes another one from Toronto's Jewish Folks Telling Jokes, a night of comedy to benefit Jewish Family and Child, one of the foremost Jewish service agencies in North America. 

 

We previously posted a few jokes that were told at the event, a Canadian contribution to the world of Jewish humor, probably inspired by the off-Broadway show Old Jews Telling Jokes, still touring around the USA.

 

We'll be posting more of these jokes on upcoming Mondays. Here's another one, told by Ben Gordon.

Here's the setup: Two gentlemen of the Hebrew persuasion find themselves in the reception area of a large downtown law firm. The first gentleman says "Excuse me, I'd like to see Mr. John McCullogh." 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.

16 Female Cantors From Around the World Sing "Jerusalem of Gold"

In honor of Jerusalem’s 53rd reunification anniversary this week, 16 female cantors from around the world united to sing Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold).

Naomi Shemer wrote the original song for the Israeli Song Festival held on 15 May 1967, the night after Israel's nineteenth Independence Day. She chose the then-unknown Shuli Natan to sing the song.

The cantors are from Israel, Germany, and 13 cities in the USA. Here is a list of the cantors, their synagogues, and their cities. 

Adi Arad, Petach Tikva, Israel 
Hazzan Alisa Pomerantz-Boro, Congregation Beth El, Voorhees, NJ, USA 
Atalya Lavi, Beit Tefilah Israeli, Tel Aviv, Israel 
Cantor Aviv Weinberg, Celle Synagogue, Berlin, Germany
Cantor Elizabeth Shammash, Tiferet Bet Israel, Philadelphia, PA, USA 
Cantor Julia Cadrain, Central Synagogue, New York, NY, USA 
Laurie Akers, Congregation Or Shalom, Vernon Hills, IL, USA 
Cantor Lisa Peicott, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
Cantor Lizzie Weiss, Temple Emanu-El, Beverly Hills, CA, USA 
Cantor Magda Fishman, B'nai Torah, Boca Raton, FL, USA 
Cantor Rachel Goldman, Congregation Ner Tamid of South Bay, Los Angeles, CA, USA 
Cantor Rebecca Garfein, Congregation Rodeph Shalom, New York, NY, USA 
Cantor Roslyn Barak, Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, CA, USA 
Cantor Sara Hass, Temple Israel, Long Beach, CA, USA 
Cantor Shira Lissek, Temple Israel, Charlotte, NC, USA 
Cantor Vicky Glikin, Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, TX, USA

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.

Today is Yom Yerushalayim - Put on Your Mask and Let's Visit Jerusalem

Today is Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day), the most recent addition to the Hebrew calendar. It is celebrated on the 28th day of Iyar (six weeks after the Passover seder, one week before the eve of Shavuot).

Although Jerusalem has been considered the capital city of the Jewish people since the time of King David — who conquered it and built it as the seat of his monarchy in approximately 1000 B.C.E.–there has never been a special day in honor of the city until the Israel Defense Forces took over the ancient, eastern part of the city on the third day of the Six-Day War in June 1967.

Shortly after the Six-Day War, “a municipal unification” of the two sections of the city took place, ending 19 years of separation between predominantly Arab and Jewish suburbs of Jerusalem, following the War of Independence in 1948.

Today we visit the city as it is today, led by a trio of masked tour guides. Our walking tour will take us to the Knesset, past a temperature checkpoint to the Mahane Yehuda market (shuk), Zion Square, Yafo Street, the Montefiore Windmill in Mishkenot Sha'ananim, and the Kotel HaMaaravi (Western Wall), where today social distancing is in effect.

The tour ends with video from the capture of the Old City in 1967 and scenes of joyful dancing in the streets when social closeness was the norm.

Enjoy Jerusalem's special day and Shabbat shalom!

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.

Throwback Thursday Musical Showcase: Billy Joel and Itzhak Perlman Play "Downeaster Alexa"

Two Jews, two instruments, one voice, and beautiful music. That's what the audience saw and heard on March 9, 2015 when Billy Joel introduced Itzhak Perlman as his musical guest at one of his Madison Square Garden concerts.

After calling him the world's greatest violinist, Joel and Perlman blended their piano and violin with Joel's voice singing The Downeaster Alexa. 

This wasn't Perlman's first connection with that song. He can be heard playing an uncredited violin solo on Joel's album Storm Front, which included the song. Joel named the song for his boat, The Alexa, which was in turn named for his daughter.

Joel and Perlman performed the song in Madison Square Garden again on February 20, just before most concert performances were canceled in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

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.



#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

The Real Story of Jonah and the Whale - As Told by Satiric Israeli TV Show "The Jews are Coming"

In 2014 Israeli satire on TV took a bold step forward with the airing of a new series of sketches called HaYehudim Ba'im (The Jews Are Coming).

Written by Natalie Marcus and Asaf Beiser, the show asks questions about everything, from the Bible to Ben Gurion to the Ashkenazi leadership. Their approach is to  go into the texts and make you think. They say that they give all their subjects a critical look, but they're not attacking, just giving the story a fresh, modern look.

The series ran for three seasons on Israeli TV, all in Hebrew. Some of the half-hour episodes were divided into video clips and published on YouTube with English subtitles. Today we're sharing another one of these -- a satirical view of the adventures of Jonah.

This video clip, like all the others in the series, may offend some readers who are not open to satirical interpretations of the scriptures and satirical views of Jewish life through the ages, but in these coronavirus times, we can use a little laughter.

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.

 

Coronavirus Lockdown Brings Wild Boars to Streets of Haifa

During Israel's coronavirus lockdown, the empty streets of Haifa, Israel's port city, have become irresistible to wild boars roaming around, looking for food.

As reported in Yeshiva World News,

Located on the foot of the Carmel mountains, Haifa residents have seen wild boars, which have no natural predators, wandering around Haifa at night for years. However, the problem was kept at bay by hunters who culled the boars.

But when Mayor Einat Kalisch-Rotem (Labor) was elected in 2018, she put a stop to culling the boars and the boars started proliferating in the city and brazenly wandering the streets of the city during the daytime as well.

The problem has recently become increasingly worse due to the deserted streets in wake of the restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic like other cities around the world.

Haifa residents are worried that even when the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is behind them, the problem of the boars will persist in the city.

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 bCENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

A Joke to Start the Week - "Make Me a Kohen"

The rabbis and cantors of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in Los Angeles have been adding a series of jokes to the videos on their website over the last few weeks. We're sure that their members join us in appreciating this welcome opportunity to share some laughs in the midst of the coronavirus stay-at-home world that most of us are experiencing.

We have a few lined up to share with you on the next few Monday mornings as our Joke to Start the Week.

One of America’s most highly respected congregations, Wilshire Boulevard Temple has been serving the Los Angeles Jewish community since its founding in 1862 as Congregation B’nai B'rith, the city’s first synagogue. Today, Wilshire Boulevard Temple carries out the mission through a variety of ways, as a center for Jewish spirituality and celebration, a place for lifelong learning and friendship and home to an engaged congregation where every person can make a difference.

Today Rabbi Beau Shapiro tells a joke about a congregant's urgent need.

Here's the setup: A man comes to see the rabbi. He says "Rabbi, it's very important to me that you make me a Kohen". The rabbi says "I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way." 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.

Teaching Your Mom How to Start a ZOOM Meeting (Hebrew with English Titles)

With everyone using ZOOM to host and participate in video chats and meetings in these days of isolation, explaining the technology to internet and technology-challenged parents can be a frustrating ordeal. 

Clicking on a provided link to participate can be easy to explain, but the mechanics of starting a ZOOM meeting and selecting all the right options can be even more than a patient son can bear.

Yonatan Gruber has posted a YouTube video of his experience in getting his mother up to speed in starting and managing a ZOOM conversation. If you've been using this technology and had to explain it to a less technical relative or friend, the conversation should be familiar.

The video is in Hebrew with English subtitles.

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 a Bukharian Shalom Aleichem

The liturgical poem Lekha Dodi is sung to many different melodies throughout the world, including melodies from India, Central Asia (Bukhara), Yemen, Kurdistan, Italy, Bulgaria, Germany, and the Mountain Jews of the Caucasus.

Wherever Jews gather for prayer on a Friday night, there one can find Lekha Dodi being sung.

Today we're sharing a version that was popular among the Jews of Bukhara, a city in Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Below the video of Lekha Dodi is another video about the Bukharian Jews.

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.  



In the lands along the Silk Road, Jews lived under some of the world's most powerful empires. Despite their isolation from other Jewish communities, oppression, and forced conversion, this ancient community persisted. This is the story of the Bukharan Jews of Central Asia.




(A tip of the kippah to Dan Mosenkis for bringing these videos to our attention)

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Remembering Jerry Stiller

We're dedicating today's Throwback Thursday post in memory of actor/comedian Jerry Stiller, who died Monday at the age of 92.

We have fond memories of Stiller, who used his training as an actor to create many comedic roles on stage, screen, and television.

As Peter Keepnews wrote in the New York Times,

Mr. Stiller’s accomplishments as an actor were considerable. He appeared on Broadway in Terrence McNally’s frantic farce “The Ritz” in 1975 and David Rabe’s dark drama “Hurlyburly” in 1984. Off Broadway, he was in “The Threepenny Opera”; in Central Park, he played Shakespearean clowns for Joseph Papp; onscreen, he was seen as a police detective in “The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three” (1974) and Divine’s husband in John Waters’s “Hairspray” (1988). But he was best known as a comedian.

The team of Stiller and Meara was for many years a familiar presence in nightclubs, on television variety and talk shows, and in radio and television commercials, most memorably for Blue Nun wine and Amalgamated Bank.

Years after the act broke up, Mr. Stiller captured a new generation of fans as Frank Costanza, the short-tempered and not entirely sane father of Jason Alexander’s George, on the NBC series “Seinfeld,” one of the most successful television comedies of all time.

Just a few months after the final episode of “Seinfeld” (in which Frank had one last moment in the spotlight, spending most of it yelling), broadcast on May 14, 1998, Mr. Stiller was back on television playing another off-kilter father — a marginally more restrained version of Frank Costanza — on another sitcom, “The King of Queens,” which made its debut that fall on CBS.

While his characters were not explicitly Jewish, there was no mistaking his ethnicity in all of  his roles. Although the ethnic and religious differences between Stiller and his wife Anne Meara were ever present and accounted for much of their appeal, when it came to religious affiliation in their 61-year-long marriage, they agreed to live a Jewish life.

As Allison Kaplan Sommer wrote in Haaretz,

After Meara died in 2015, the Jewish Women’s Archive noted that their relationship had been a groundbreaking one. Most Christian women in the ’50s who married Jewish men converted before marriage and took their husband’s names. Meara, still Catholic when the couple married in 1954, converted to Judaism before the birth of her children – Amy, and the actor/director Ben Stiller – so her kids “would know who they were,” she explained.

Ben Stiller once commented that it was his mother who “knew more about Judaism than our entire family combined.”

Here is the famous skit that Stiller and Meara performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, and went on to create skits to follow the course of their relationship.

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. 

Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah for Hatzalah Israel with an All-Star Cast

Since Leonard Cohen released his song Hallelujah in 1984, it has been performed by a more than 300 singers in various languages. By late 2008, more than five million copies of the song have been sold in CD format.  

It has been the subject of a BBC Radio documentary, a book, and has been included in the soundtracks of numerous films and television programs. Different interpretations of the song may include different verses, out of the over 80 verses Cohen originally wrote.

Last week we were treated to a special new version from Hatzalah of Israel.

As JTA and Marcy Oster reported in Haaretz,

A new version of the iconic Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” performed in English, Hebrew and Arabic was released as part of a benefit supporting first responders in Israel.

 “Saving Lives Sunday,” a virtual benefit to support the emergency response organization United Hatzalah of Israel in its fight against COVID-19, raised over $1 million.

The new “Hallelujah” was performed by Israeli recording artist Dudu Aharon, as well as “Fauda” star Rona-Lee Shimon, actress and singer Layan Elwazani, Iranian-American Jewish singer  and composer Chloe Pourmorady, and Adam Kantor from the Broadway cast of “The Band’s Visit.” Joining in were first responders and people whose lives were saved by Jewish, Muslim and Christian Hatzalah volunteers.

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.