Monday, April 23, 2012

Hu Yivarech - A Song for the Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces


Tomorrow evening is the start of Yom Hazikaron, a day of remembrance of the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces who fell in the creation of the State of Israel and its defense. At dusk Wednesday evening the solemnity of Yom Hazikaron segues into the outpouring of joy and festivity that marks Israel's 64th Independence Day, Yom HaAtzmaut.

Dov Hoschander, known professionally as DOV, has written and sung Hu Yivarech - A Song for the IDF Soldiers, a  prayer for their safety, and the well being of all mankind, which should serve to inspire each of us to keep the brave men and women of the IDF in our hearts and minds and to give them support and remain strong.

DOV received a yeshiva day school education from the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County and spent his summers in various summer camps (Hillel, Nesher, Achva). DOV began his professional career singing with Tizmoret, the Queens College a cappella group, of which he became president and led his team in countless performances across the tri-state area.  

It was not long after he joined, that he was asked to sing with Kol Zimra, The Shabbatones, B’samim, and Harmonia. Traveling to perform across the United States, DOV began to make a name for himself. He was chosen to solo for Six13 as they sang at Jewish Heritage Day in Shea Stadium, a highlight of his musical career. DOV has also performed at Lincoln Center, and was runner up in a Disney World vocal competition.

Here is DOV's music video Hu Yivarech. 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.)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Gaza Zoo Adds Stuffed Animals to Its Zebra-Painted Donkeys


One of our first blog posts back in October 2009 was about the Gaza zoo and how they paid an artist to paint two donkeys to look like zebras after their zebras died of neglect during the war between Gaza and Israel last year. 

Now they've gone one step further. When the zoo's lion, tiger, and other animals died, they mummified them and put them back in cages. Visiting children are allowed inside the cages where they can pet the dead animals. 

As the Ibrahim Barzak of the Associated Press reported yesterday:
Flies swarm around some of the 10 animals that have been embalmed so far. The makeshift cages housing the exhibits — fashioned from fencing salvaged from Jewish settlements that Israel dismantled in 2005 — are littered with empty soda cans and other trash.

An emaciated-looking stuffed lion, its coat patchy and mangy, lies on an exhibit cobbled together from crates and shipping pallets. A monkey had missing limbs. A porcupine had a hole in its head.
The zoo's 65 live animals, which include ostriches, monkeys, turtles, deer, a llama, a lion and a tiger, don't fare much better. During a recent visit, children poked chocolate, potato chips and bread through the wire. There's no zookeeper on the premises. Gaza has no government body that oversees zoos, and medical treatment is done by consulting over the phone with zoo veterinarians in Egypt.

Still, the zoo is one of the few places of entertainment here in Khan Younis, a city of 200,000 people at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. It's one of five zoos in the Gaza Strip, a densely populated coastal enclave of 1.7 million people ruled by Islamic Hamas militants.
A 14-year-old boy snapped pictures of the animals with his mobile phone.

“I have been to this place before years ago but this is my first time seeing mummified animals,” he said. “They look like they are asleep. I will print out the pictures of me standing next to the lion and put it on my wall. It will be fun to show it to my younger brothers.”
(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.)
 

Friday, April 20, 2012

Israel's Most Popular Sitcom Is Coming to the U.S.


Ha-hayim Ze Lo Hakol (Life Isn't Everything), Israel's most popular TV sitcom, will be coming to the U.S. soon. Broadcast on Channel 2, Israel's largest commercial channel, it's the nation's most popular and longest-running sitcom, lasting for 9 seasons with 150 episodes.

It has scored top ratings consistently, with a current share of 33%. For almost every week that it was broadcast, it ranked in the top 10 most-watched weekly shows.

As reported in Deadline TV by Nellie Andreeva,
The creator of the original series, Daniel Lappin, will be involved in the writing of the U.S. version. Lappin will co-write the script for CBS with comedy veteran Mike Sikowitz (Friends). Sony Pictures TV, where Sikowitz has an overall deal, will produce with Reshet, the Israeli company whose Channel 2 broadcasts the original series. Sikowitz is already in business with CBS and Sony TV – he serves as an executive producer on Rules Of Engagement.
Noa Tishby, who was involved in bringing to the U.S. In Treatment, the Israeli series that sparked U.S. networks’ interest in formats from the Middle Eastern country, shepherded Life Isn’t Everything‘s trip to Hollywood. She is executive producing with Sikowitz, Lappin and an executive from Reshet.
CBS’ multi-camera Life Isn’t Everything is about a middle-aged, recently divorced couple who were bad at marriage and discover they are now really bad at divorce – messy, can’t help but being involved in each others’ lives, still have sex, etc. “It is a romantic comedy about a couple who are divorced but can’t get out of each other’s lives,” Lappin said. Added Tishby, “you can’t divorce your ex.” She called the original a “classic, perfectly written sitcom. There is such a high divorce rate in the U.S., and no one has been able to capture the funny side of divorce.”
When the series starts playing in the U.S., we'll have an update. In the meantime, enjoy a classic clip from the Israeli version.

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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: The Igbo Jews of Nigeria


Over the years there have been reports of thousands of Africans living in Nigeria and practicing Judaism. 

Several years ago, the Internet was introduced into the more rural parts of southeast Nigeria. As it has done for so many people around the world, it opened the eyes of a few young Igbo people and began answering some difficult questions of identity. For Shmuel (who was then called Sam), the nagging question he wanted answered was whether there was any truth to the long-told lore that the Igbo people were once Jews. 

He began by comparing Hebrew traditions to Igbo traditions, and what he found astounded him. The similarities were so convincing that it sent him off on a journey in the quest to find other Igbo who might be practicing Judaism.

RE-EMERGING: The Jews of Nigeria is a documentary journey into the heart of Igboland and into the lives and culture of the Igbo people. The film introduces the world to the many synagogues that dot the land, and a handful of passionate, committed, and diverse characters -- each striving to fulfill their historical legacy with few resources and unbeknownst to most of the world.

The film is making its debut at the 92nd Street Y on the East Side of Manhattan on Wednesday, May 17 at 8:15 pm. A panel discussion including filmmaker Jeff Lieberman will follow the screening.

Here's a preview of the film. Enjoy!

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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Charles Aznavour and Enrico Macias Sing Hava Nagila


Charles Aznavour and Enrico Macias have been singing in concerts worldwide since the 1960s. Aznavour, who has been called the French Frank Sinatra, was born in Paris to Armenian immigrants in 1924. And he's still singing. In 1998, he was named Entertainer of the Century by CNN. He was recognized as the century's outstanding performer, with nearly 18% of the total vote, edging out Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. He has sung for presidents, popes, and royalty.

Macias, a native of French Algeria, has also performed around the world, primarily in Europe and the Middle East. Born to Jewish parents in 1938, he has not been allowed to return to Algeria because of his ongoing support for Israel.

In 1973, Aznavour and Macias performed a rousing version of Hava Nagila at a concert that was just posted to YouTube this week. Aznavour, who is not Jewish, and Macias, who is, take turns tweaking the song to bring out some elements that sound almost cantorial. We think you'll enjoy it.

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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The New Three Stooges: Slapstick Revived, But Not Their Yiddish


Moe and Curly Howard (Horwitz) and Larry Fine (Feinberg) didn't portray their Three Stooges characters as being Jewish, but they didn't hide their ethnicity. The just released film, The Three Stooges, by the Farrelly brothers, has lost all traces of Jewish origin, and maybe we're all better off for that.

Here's the trailer of the new film, in which none of the Stooges are played by Jewish actors, and needless to say, there are no Yiddish expressions tossed around. We found some of the original Stooges films on YouTube. Below the trailer is the complete 18 minute movie Mutts to You, in which Larry, Moe, and Curly get involved with a dog wash, a baby kidnapping, and politically incorrect ethnic representations.

If you have the patience to get to the 15 minute mark in the film, you'll see Larry, disguised as a worker in a Chinese laundry, respond in Yiddish to the question of a stereotyped Irish cop. The cop asks him "And what part of China are you from, may I ask?" Larry replies "Ich bin a China Bocher fun Slobodka Gubernia. Hock mir nit a chainik, and I don't mean efsher."

J. Hoberman has an article in the current online issue of Tablet called Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest that further explores the Jewish character of the old Stooges and what he calls their deracination in the new film.

Enjoy!

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Mutts to You (1938)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Woody Allen Answers Twelve Difficult Questions About His Life


Last November we reported on a new PBS documentary depicting the career of Woody Allen. During the filming, the filmmaker Robert Weide tossed a set of twelve questions at the noted actor and director. Weide tried to find questions that Allen had never been asked before.

Woody's thoughtful and sometimes funny comments were captured and are shown in the video below. Some of the questions are:

- Name three movie star crushes you had as a kid or as an adult.
- What's the hardest thing you've ever had to give up for health reasons?
- Name the one thing you did as a kid that you'd be furious if your own kids did.
- Name a dead person who you did not know in real life that you would like to have dinner with.

Enjoy!

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Sunday, April 15, 2012

Matzah Comes to the Animals at the Ramat Gan Zoo


Have you had your fill of matzah yet?  The mountainous stacks of five-pound matzah boxes have finally disappeared from supermarkets everywhere and we don't mind not seeing them until they show up as one of the first signs of spring next year.

But not all of the matzah was consumed by the world's human population. After all, why shouldn't we share such a delicacy with the animal kingdom? We doubt that the world's zookeepers switched to a matzah diet last week, but we know for sure that's exactly what the zookeepers at Israel's Ramat Gan Safari did with their population.

As Daniella Ashkenazy wrote this month in IsraelSeen.com,
...one of the weirdest holiday sights one can find Only-in-Israel is gorillas and elephants munching on matzah in the Ramat Gan Safari…and not because the park’s caretakers couldn’t stock up on stale bread for a week; in fact, the Safari invites Israelis to donate unwanted hametz to feed the elephants prior to the holiday rather than discard it.  But once the holiday kicks in, because Jewish law prohibits leavening being “seen or found” during Passover, handlers feed the residents matzah for a solid week so as not to offend religiously-observant families who flock to the zoo during Passover week.
In this video the denizens of the Ramat Gan Safari, including coatimundi, gorillas, orangutans, and elephants delight in the annual change of menu. Enjoy!

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

What Happens When Elijah Shows Up at the Seder


Well, the sedarim are over and we hope you had good ones. We're heading into the last two days of Passover and we'll have to manage without the formality of a seder. But as we celebrate the end of the holiday with family and friends, there will be lots of time to reminisce about seders past and the uplifting and funny moments that inevitably occur each year.

We hope that your Pesach was all positive and didn't include dysfunctional moments such as the ones depicted in this funny video. Once again, we're not posting on Yom Tov this Friday and Shabbat and we'll be back with our usual mix of comedy, music, satire, unbelievable but true stories, and Yiddishe nachas starting on Sunday. Enjoy and have a Chag Sameach!

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

What Do You Get When You Mix Matzah and Salsa? A Flashmob in Paris!


Last week the streets of a Jewish neighborhood in Paris erupted into a Flashmob singing and dancing Passover songs. 

Starting with Mah Nishtanah and progressing to Chad Gadya and Let My People Go, the dancers were part of an innovative French project called Flashmob Matzah that integrates music and dance. Enjoy!

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(A tip of the kippah to David el Shatran for bringing this video to our attention.)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Echad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One) - A Modern Performance by Israeli Consulting Firm


Aviv AMCG, a 25-year-old management consulting group based in Israel, has created a Passover greeting in the form of a very different version of Echad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One), one of the most beloved songs in the Passover Haggadah.

They give the ancient song an upbeat sound and modern look, in a very business-oriented framework. Some of the examples of the numbers one through thirteen are traditional, and some are very non-traditional interpretations of the classic definitions.

But it's surely something you haven't seen before. Enjoy!

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Monday, April 9, 2012

A Memory-Filled Farewell to Catskills Treasure Lou Goldstein - the King of Simon Says


While we were busy last week preparing for Pesach, the local newspapers in New York's Hudson Valley reported on the passing of Lou Goldstein, the king of the "Simon Says" games from the 1940's through the 1980's at Grossinger's and other hotels in the Catskills. Goldstein died at the age of 90 in Liberty, the town that Grossinger's made famous.

Born in Poland in 1921, Goldstein performed his shtick at Grossingers from 1948-1986. He also did the half-time shows for NBA teams all over the country. Likewise the NHL and baseball games all featured his nationally known "Simon Says". He enjoyed doing these shows at all the Catskills Resorts, including the Pines, Concord, Nevele, Paramount, Granit, Swan Lake, and the Raleigh.

Goldstein served as the social director at Grossingers, frequented by the likes of Muhammad Ali, Lucille Ball and Wilt Chamberlain in its heyday, but that wasn’t his claim to fame. Simon Says was.

“He was able to take what had been a Catskills phenomenon very much unknown outside of the Catskills hotels and made it into a national game,” said Sullivan County Historian John Conway.
Performing his Simon Says routine in front of thousands during NBA halftime shows, children’s TV shows and national news specials, Goldstein eventually trade marked the game and went on to become one of the most sought out entertainers of his time, but for people here, he was just Lou, a regular customer with a big heart and even bigger personality.
If you never had the pleasure of watching Goldstein in action in the lobby or pool at Grossinger's, as we did many times, here's a short clip of his routine with a group of cheerleaders on the Dick Clark Show as he quickly eliminates one participant after another when they fail to keep up with his rapid-fire instructions. Enjoy!

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Friday, April 6, 2012

Matza Balls - Passover Time in the City - Wishing You a Happy and Kosher Pesach


Well, the first seder is finally here. Tonight, as we sit at the seder table with family and friends, it's time to reflect on the true meaning of Passover, and not on the trials and tribulations that went into all the details of preparation. 

But there's no denying that the planning and execution of all the details that went into making this seder possible -- the cleaning, the shopping, the cooking -- in all likelihood tested our patience and the patience of our families.  

Josh Shron, a cantor in Little Neck, New York, put the whole process in perspective with a humorous song parody that he wrote last year called Matza Balls. Here it is for your enjoyment.

We'll be taking time off to observe the first two days of Pesach, so there won't be a blog post on Sunday. But we'll be back on Monday with our usual mix of humor, music, and stuff that you just can't make up. Chag Sameach to all!
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 (A tip of the kippah to Sheila Zucker for bringing this video to our attention.)

NOTE: Any representations of political figures in the illustrations are part of the film and were selected by the film maker. They do not necessarily represent the views of Jewish Humor Central.)

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Bye, Bye Mr. Pharaoh Goodbye -- A Jewbilation Wish for a Happy Pesach


Richard Seaman and Andrew Dimond, creators of the Simon and Garfunkel parody, Sounds of Shabbos that we posted back in January, have gone back to their Jewbilation recording studio to produce a music video for Passover, Bye Bye Mr. Pharaoh Goodbye, that puts new lyrics to the Don McLean classic American Pie.

Richard and Andrew grew up with little or no Jewish observance. They became more involved in Jewish life by participating in programs by Aish Hatorah, Hinenni, the Manhattan Jewish Experience and Congregation Kehilat Jeshurun. 

Richard (dentist by day in Cambria Heights, NY...the "singing dentist") turned to writing and singing lyrics about the journey to observance, pointing to some humor, and more, to the exquisite beauty of Judaism and its teachings and customs. Andrew (Ad Exec in NYC) stood up to harmonize one night back in 2004, and has not sat down since...as Jewbilation had been born.

The two share writing responsbilities and have written/performed scores of songs at weddings, synagogue dinners and retreats, services, and in the studio where they are readying their first CD . They write original music and often use classic tunes (see Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel) which help to loosen up a service or other event (i.e. people love to hear the classics) while, they hope, also conveying a message of joy, meaning, and at times, humor.

They just released their Passover Music Video ("Bye, Bye Mr. Pharaoh, Goodbye") on Tuesday, and here it is for your enjoyment.

The duo has more songs on YouTube for Rosh Hashanah and Chanukah. They can be reached at dimondandy56@aol.com.

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Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Passover Medley Video Tells the Whole Story With Beatboxing and Song


Two childhood friends with a shared passion for Judaism, one a cantor and one a beatboxer, combined their talents to create a unique music video that retells the whole Passover story through an eclectic mix of the most popular Pesach melodies, using only beatboxing to create the musical background.

Beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice. In this video Jon Murstein provides the cantorial melodies while Jay Stone does all of the background sounds without the help of any instruments.

Calling themselves Bagels 'n Box, the duo create original Jewish hip-hop on CD albums and in live performances.  Enjoy!

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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Matzah, Maror, and the Four Cups of Wine Tell Their Own Stories


Matzah. Maror (Bitter Herb). The Four Cups of Wine. Every year we place them on the seder table and talk about them, explaining their roles as we read the Haggadah. But do we ever give them a chance to speak up for themselves and express their feelings?

Of course not. They can't speak. Or can they? Chabad.org has put together a video starring these three characters from the Passover seder. In their animated versions, they talk about their childhood and why they are best suited to win the competition for which one will inspire you the most and become champion of the seder table. 

It's fun to watch, if you can stand the constant stream of Passover puns. Enjoy!

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Monday, April 2, 2012

Feed Me Bubbe" Grandmother Makes Passover Apple Matzah Kugel


In July 2010 we introduced you to an 83-year-old Massachusetts grandmother who, with the help of her grandson, started the FeedMeBubbe.com website that features her demonstrating the art of cooking traditional Jewish recipes.

Now, two years later and just in time for Pesach, Bubbe (she will not disclose her real name) shares a video of her preparing and baking recipe number 36, Apple Matzah Kugel. The recipe also appears on page 171 of her book, Feed Me Bubbe, which is available in paperback and Kindle editions.

This Wednesday is Baking for Pesach day at Jewish Humor Central, and we'll be adding Bubbe's recipe to our own baking list. Enjoy!

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Sunday, April 1, 2012

"Rebbetzin Rivka Leah Zelwig" Shows How To Do Extreme Passover Cleaning


Here's a funny Passover video that appeared last year but didn't come to our attention until now. It's one of a series of comedy caricatures in which  Danielle Jacobs plays the role of Rebbetzin Rivka Leah Zelwig commenting on getting ready for Pesach, Purim, Chanukah, and other aspects of Jewish life.

In a high-pitched, grating voice, she shares her thoughts about the job of getting the house clean for Pesach, while using an electric drill and saw to remove kitchen components for cleaning. As the clip ends, she's rushing to help her daughter remove the toilet for cleaning. The video is chock full of yeshivish expressions and references. Enjoy!

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Friday, March 30, 2012

The Daily Show Skewers Israel Boycott Fight at Brooklyn Food Coop


For the last three years, a group of people who have been trying to get retailers to remove Israeli products from their shelves focused their attention on a Food Coop in the upscale neighborhood of Park Slope in Brooklyn. The Food Coop, in operation since 1973, primarily sells produce to its members who own and operate the store. But they also carry some packaged goods, including couscous, hummus, and a soda maker that are made in Israel.

The boycott advocates say they are campaigning against Israeli products because they are opposed to Israel's policies toward the Palestinians. Their presence has led to the entry of an opposing group called More Hummus, Please, which is trying to rebuff the boycotters and encourage the coop to carry even more Israeli products.

To the news team from Comedy Central's The Daily Show, this seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. The show loves to wade into controversies where logical behavior seems to be absent. This time the show sent its ace reporter Samantha Bee to visit the Coop and interview some of the protagonists and customers with the goal of highlighting whatever silliness and illogic she could find.

And find it she did, keeping a straight face as the sometimes unwary interviewees answered her questions as they would those of a serious news reporter.  So play the video and enjoy!

P.S. On Tuesday night the members of the coop voted down a proposal to consider boycotting Israeli products by a vote of 1,005 to 653. So there will be more hummus in Brooklyn.

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Thursday, March 29, 2012

Comedy Classics: Mike Nichols and Elaine May in "Mother and Son" Skit


Today we're taking a break from a run of Passover music videos just to have a good laugh with a classic comedy skit featuring Mike Nichols and Elaine May. 

It's a real oldie but goodie with Elaine playing the mother and Mike playing the son who has been remiss in calling her. It's probably the oldest set-up in the world of Jewish comedy, but it's still fun to watch.

PBS includes the team in their American Masters series. Here's their writeup of the duo:
Mike Nichols and Elaine May revolutionized the landscape of American comedy. By perfecting the art of improvisation and introducing it to the public through their appearances in clubs and on television and radio, they forever changed our expectations of comedy, and our sense of humor.

Born in Berlin in 1931, Nichols attended a segregated school for Jewish children. His father, a doctor, fled the Nazis by moving the family to New York City when Nichols was still a child. May was born in 1932 in Philadelphia, the daughter of the director, writer, and principal actor of a traveling Jewish theatrical company. She caught the thespian bug early, appearing on stage in the roles of little boys.
The two met while attending the University of Chicago, and they first worked together honing their improvisational skills at the Compass Theatre, a Chicago nightclub. Later, Nichols and May decided to take their show on the road. Their meteoric rise as a comedy team began in 1957, when they first performed at the Village Vanguard and the Blue Angel in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village.

Masters of the dead-pan dialogue, Nichols and May created flawlessly improvised scenes that were outrageously funny, yet simply understated. Their dry wit and wry satire enabled them to lampoon faceless bureaucracy and such previously sacrosanct institutions as hospitals, politics, funeral homes, and even motherhood.
Like other great comedy duos, Nichols and May perfectly complemented each other. They seemed so attuned and at ease with each other that the miscommunication they often based their skits on were all the funnier.
Both Nichols and May are still active. Nichols, 80, is directing the current Broadway production of Death of a Salesman. May, 79, wrote and directed the one-act play George is Dead, one of the three plays in Relatively Speaking, which had a run on Broadway in 2011-2012.

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 tip of the kippah to Dan Mosenkis for bringing this video to our attention.)

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Passover Rhapsody - A Jewish Rock Opera From Aish.com


Aish.com,a division of Aish HaTorah, an apolitical network of Jewish educational centers in 35 branches on five continents, has entered the Passover music video club with a very unusual choice of a song as a basis for parody.

Many of the current Pesach parodies are based on current popular songs, but the Aish entry, titled Passover Rhapsody, is based on the British rock group Queen's 1975 hit Bohemian Rhapsody that has been ranked on all of the music charts as one of the top all-time hits in the U.S. and the UK.

Bohemian Rhapsody, a mock opera written by Queen's lead singer Freddy Mercury (1946-1991), a Parsi/Zoroastrian born in Zanzibar, is the subject of a lengthy article in Wikipedia and its meaning is still debated around the world.

But there's no reason to debate the meaning of Passover Rhapsody. It's the story of the Exodus from Egypt that most Jews will retell at the Passover seder, set to Queen's music and enacted by a cast of puppets.

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 tip of the kippah to Phil and Shawn Fink of Shalom America and radio-j.com for bringing this video to our attention.)

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Ein Prat Fountainheads in New Passover Video - "Breakin' Free"


As Passover approaches, we've been hoping that the Fountainheads of Ein Prat would release a new music video to join their highly acclaimed outdoor song and dance extravaganza that went viral a year ago and raised the bar for high quality videos to mark the Jewish holidays.

Yesterday their second Passover video, Breakin' Free, made its debut on YouTube and we're happy to share it with you today.

The Fountainheads are a group of young Israeli singers, dancers, and artists, all graduates and students of the Ein Prat Academy for Leadership, who have joined forces to create new Jewish artistic content for today's Jewish world.

All members of the group have spent time living and studying at the Ein Prat Academy, working to create new expressions of Israeli-Jewish identity and building a strong and diverse community that celebrates Jewish life. Through their videos and live performances, the Fountainheads' work is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world. 

If you missed their first Passover video, Dayenu/Coming Home, you'll find it just below this year's version. 

Looking for the lyrics? They're just below the two videos. 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.)




Lyrics:

Workin' through another day
I can't go on any more
There's gotta be a better way
To get home...

Lift my eyes up to the sky
Hope is on the way
Dreamin' one day I may try
To go... Breakin' Free

One more day
One more night
Till we'll all be free again
One more brick
One more stone
We'll all be
Breakin' Free

There ain't no time
We all wanna come on home again
We've been waitin' for
So long.

I think it's happening tonight
I can feel it in the air
Passin' over me in the fight
Goin' on...

Now this my chance to make things right
Start way all over again
Eatin' matzah in mid-flight
We're all... Breakin' free

One more day
One more night
Till we all be free again
One more step
One more smile
We'll all be
Breakin' Free

There aint' no time
We gotta go on home tonight
We've been waitin' for...

Echad mi yodeah (Who knows one?)
Echad ani yodeah (I know one...)

Ooooo...Breakin' Free!

One more day
One more night
Then we'll all be free again
One more dip
One more crunch
Then we'll all be
Breakin' Free

This is the time
Everybody's comin' home again
We've been waiting for so long

This is the time
Everybody's come on home again
We've been waitin' for so long!