Remembering Leonard Nimoy and the Jewishness of Star Trek

Leonard Nimoy, the actor who created the role of Spock, the half-human, half-Vulcan on Star Trek, passed away on Friday at the age of 83. 

We were never among the trekkies who couldn't miss a single episode of the TV series and its many spin-offs, and we never waited on line for hours dressed in Star Trek costumes to get the first tickets to the 12 feature films that followed.

But we always took special pride in knowing that the series was built around Jewish values. While there were always rumors to that effect, we had a strong feeling that Star Trek owed a huge debt to Judaism. 

Nimoy verified this in some interviews that he gave over the years, especially the origin of the "Live Long and Prosper" Vulcan salute. One year ago we posted a video clip of a Nimoy interview at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. In May 2012 we posted the complete commencement address that he gave to the graduates of Boston University's College of Fine Arts, in which he spoke freely about his Jewish roots.

But with his passing, and as a tribute to this great Jewish actor, we wanted to share with you a more complete retelling, with appropriate props, of the origin of the Vulcan salute, and how it was based on his experience in an Orthodox synagogue when the Kohanim chanted the priestly blessing.

Mr. Spock, we will miss you.

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A Shabbat Greeting: Lecha Dodi in the Style of John Legend's "All of Me"

Sometimes a song takes flight and "goes viral" with millions of viewers playing it over and over. And sometimes a Jewish artist uses the melody as the basis for a new piece of liturgical music that has the same reaction in the world of Jewish music.

That's what happened when a singer named Refael Mirila used the song All of Me popularized by John Legend as the basis for a new version of Lecha Dodi, the song to welcome the Sabbath.

The original version has collected an astonishing number of 406 million plays. The Lecha Dodi version has amassed 242,000 views -- a very respectable number for a Jewish song.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom! 

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Hundreds of Families Gather in Williamsburg for Pre-Purim Party to Benefit Sick Children

Hundreds of families came together this week in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg for a special pre-Purim party. It was sponsored by Achim B'yachad, the Chassidish division Of Chai Lifeline.

Both organizations find ways to bring joy to the lives of young patients and their families through creative, innovative, and effective family-centered programs, activities, and services.

Fighting illness with love, Achim B'yachad restores the light of childhood to children whose innocence ended when cancer, life-threatening, or lifelong illness was diagnosed.

Enjoy!

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Jokes in the Spirit of Purim From Minnetonka, Minnesota

In the spirit of Purim, a group of congregants and staff of Congregation Adath Jeshurun, a Conservative congregation with 1200 members, bravely try their hands at telling some of their favorite (old) jokes. 

Are they funny? You tell us with your likes and don't likes and comments below.

Enjoy!

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Shushan Funk - A Purim Parody of Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars

With Purim only nine days away, we're rolling out the Purim videos just as fast as they come in. 

Today we're posting a parody called Shushan Funk by the Rosenblum family, which has been producing original videos with new lyrics for the last few years.

What's it a parody of? Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, a song we never heard of, but  our kids tell us that it's one of the most popular songs on the radio today, having achieved the astonishing number of 265 million views on YouTube.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "The Rabbi and the Frog"

It's another Monday morning and it's time to start another week with a joke. This one's a short one, so if you look away for a few seconds, you may miss the punch line. We figured that with all the snow and ice in the northeast, posting a shorter joke will give you more time to get out and shovel it away.

Today's joke is another one from the archives of Old Jews Telling Jokes and the joke teller is 72-year-old psychiatrist Sue Levine. Here's the setup:

A Hasidic rabbi walks into a bar, and he has a frog on his shoulder. And the bartender says to him "Where did you get him from?" And then...

Enjoy!

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It's Adar - Time to be Happy - Here Come the Purim Videos

The Jewish month of Adar started a couple of days ago, and as the saying goes, Mishenichnas Adar Marbim b'Simcha - When Adar arrives, our happiness increases. 

For Jewish Humor Central, when Adar arrives, it's time for the Purim videos. Each year since we started blogging, we've been seeing more Purim satire, spoofs, parodies and takeoffs on popular songs. This year is no exception.

With only 10 days until Purim, we'll be sharing the best of the Purim videos as they arrive. We're getting off to a good start with a rousing medley of Hebrew songs for Purim by Vocalocity, a 45-voice modern a cappella ensemble founded in June, 2013, centered in Hod HaSharon, Israel. 

Under the musical direction of Kevin Fox (UK) and the baton of house conductor Erez Tal, Vocalocity performs mostly original arrangements of a range of cutting-edge rock/pop/jazz music. 

The singers, all of whom come from a background in modern a cappella, range in age but are mostly in their 20s. Plans for 2015 include performing arrangements written for the group by leading arrangers from Israel and abroad, collaborations with leading arrangers, composers and artists, Performing with the Swingle Singers on their Israel tour in March, participating in the Aarhus Vocal Festival in Denmark on May, and most of all forging a distinctive, adventuresome musical vision and voice.

Enjoy!

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Hava Nagila Around the World: Gypsy Philharmonic Orchestra in Budapest, Hungary

You'd think that with the 48 versions of Hava Nagila that we've posted here, we would be satisfied and stop looking for more. 

But then we surfed some more and found a version by the Gypsy Philharmonic Orchestra, which mixes the traditional gypsy violin and the airs of the Hungarian and Yiddish repertoire  with the great classical composers works such as Johannes Brahms, Jacques Offenbach, Pablo de Sarasate, Johann Strauss Father & Son, Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky and contemporary composers such as John Williams.

So we just had to share it with you, and here it is, as recorded last December in Budapest, Hungary.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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A Bissel of Food from Seniors in Melbourne, Australia

The word bissel means "a little bit" in Yiddish. "A Bissel Of..." is a new series of short videos featuring residents of Jewish Care of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, who give us their answers to a range of questions. 

This Bissel of Food is the fourth video in the series. We previously posted "Bissel" videos with the seniors' answers to questions about Chanukah, Shabbat, and technology.

In this video the seniors tackle questions including:
1. Why are there carrots on top of gefilte fish?
2. What makes the perfect chicken soup?
3. Who makes the best chicken soup?

We are sure you will enjoy it as much as we do. It is sure to encourage discussion with your  friends and family and bring back memories of your own versions of traditional Jewish foods.

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How Decisions Were Made on the Kibbutz - From the Israeli Satiric TV Show "The Jews are Coming""

 

One of the characteristics of the Israeli kibbutz was the collective nature of decisions that affected the daily functioning of the community but that also had an impact on the lives of the individual kibbutz members.

In this excerpt (in Hebrew with English subtitles) from the hilarious new Israeli satire program Hayehudim Ba'im (The Jews are Coming) we are present at a 1919 meeting of the leadership of Kibbutz Degania, the first kibbutz established by Jewish Zionist pioneers.

The members of the kibbutz are meeting to decide, among other things, the sex of a newborn baby and whether the kibbutz can afford the importing of a mohel to perform a bris, given that the cost may exceed the purchase price of a cow.

Enjoy!

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Comedy Down Memory Lane: Shelley Berman on the Telephone

Comedian Shelley Berman is celebrating his 90th birthday this month. To mark the occasion, we're sharing one of his classic improvisational telephone routines where he carries on a conversation with an invisible adversary.

Berman has had a long career as an actor and comedian. Most recently he  appeared as Larry David's aged father on Curb Your Enthusiasm, a role for which he received a 2008 Emmy Award nomination.

In this clip, Berman is on the phone with a clerk at the hotel he has just checked into. He voices his dissatisfaction with the lack of certain amenities that he expected to find in his hotel room, such as a window and a door.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "New York Athletic Club"

With winter cold continuing to sweep across the northeastern US, there's more of a need than ever to warm things up with a joke to start the week. And there's nothing more warming than a classic old joke retold.

Today we start the week off with another joke from the archives of Old Jews Telling Jokes. The joke teller is 65-year-old Fred Rubin, a television writer, producer, and visiting professor.

Here's the setup: Bernie, an old Jew in the clothing business, is retiring. And his friends ask him "What are .you going to do after you retire?" And he said "Vell, I think I'll go down and join the New York Athletic Club." And then...

Enjoy!

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Israeli Sketch Comedy: Two Mothers Meet in the Park

 

Israeli humor isn't quite the same as American humor.  For one thing, political and cultural correctness doesn't get top priority when it comes to entertainment in Israel.  

 

There's a popular TV show called Ktzarim, which literally means shorts, as in short films or sketches.  It's actually based on a British show called "The Sketch Show."  While the sketches have some of the sharp humor of Saturday Night Live, they tend to be much shorter and sharper edged.

Here's a short sketch with English subtitles that we hope you'll enjoy.  It moves so fast that you'll probably have to watch it a few times to let all of the humor sink in.

 

In this sketch, two Israeli mothers meet in a park, one with a baby in a stroller, the other wearing a baby carrier. The mother with the stroller expresses concern about the safety of the baby carrier. And then...

 

Enjoy!

 

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"Welcome to Kutsher's" Updated Documentary Film to Open in South Florida on Feb. 20

Welcome to Kutsher's, an award-winning film documenting the Borscht Belt experience at the last surviving Catskills hotel, has been shown in limited engagements at Jewish film festivals for the last few years.

Now that Kutsher's has been sold and demolished to make way for a new health resort, the film has been updated to include scenes of its last days.

We have a special fondness for Kutsher's because we delivered seven hours of Jewish humor lectures at the hotel during its last full year of operation in 2013.

The newly updated theatrical release will make its debut in South Florida at the Movies of Delray theatre in Delray Beach, and Movies of Lake Worth on Friday, February 20, and will play there for only one week. Its next showing will be at the Cinemas Palme d'Or in Palm Desert, California on March 6 before its general release to select theatres nationwide.

During the 73-minute-long film, you'll laugh with appreciation at Freddie Roman as his classic Borscht Belt routine still brings down the house, and wonder in amazement as Andy Kaufman wrestles a female Kutsher’s guest for $50.  Marvel at the abundance of hearty kosher feasts where no one can get away with ordering just one main dish, and the non-stop whirl of recreational activities.

And as the Catskills decline, this film provides unprecedented eye-witness documentation of Kutsher's from its 100th anniversary season through the next seven years until the hotel is sold and demolished in 2014. The story of Kutsher’s is uniquely American, unexpectedly moving and a vital chapter – previously unexplored – of the modern Jewish experience.

Ian Rosenberg (director/producer of Welcome to Kutsher's) and Larry Strickler (Activities Director at Kutsher's Country Club for 22 years) will speak to audiences following all Friday & Saturday shows at Movies of Delray.

Here's a short preview of Welcome to Kutsher's. Enjoy!
 
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"The Doctors" TV Talk Show Focuses on Chicken Soup as "Jewish Penicillin"

As record cold and snow sweeps across the northeastern USA, more people are turning to a traditional medication to combat colds and the flu. What is it? Chicken soup, of course!

Recently the TV talk show The Doctors did a segment on chicken soup, or as it's sometimes called, Jewish Penicillin.

While the doctors acknowledge that some of the effect is psychological, they maintain that there are physiologic reasons why chicken soup may help with a cold or the flu. They are:

- breathing in the steam from the hot soup opens up the airways and breaks up mucus
- protein and amino acids from boiling the chicken help the immune system fight colds
- adding vegetables like carrots provides another source of vitamins and minerals

And, they add, you don't need a doctor's prescription to get this kind of penicillin.

Enjoy! 

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Comedy Flashback: Yakov Smirnoff on Differences Between Men and Women

Yakov Smirnoff, the Soviet-born American Jewish comedian, actor and writer, was a big name on the comedy circuit after emigrating to the United States in 1977. When he was born in Odessa, the Ukraine, in 1951, it was still part of the Soviet Union.

He reached the height of his success in the mid-to-late 1980s, when he also appeared in several films and television shows, including his own 1986-87 sitcom, What a Country!. His comic persona was of a naive immigrant from the Soviet Union who was perpetually confused and delighted about life in the United States.

In 2003, he appeared on Broadway in a one-man show, As Long As We Both Shall Laugh. Here's a clip from that show in which he gave a personal example of how men and women approach home decorating from totally different perspectives.

Enjoy!

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Dating Advice From Bubbes and Zaydes at the Los Angeles Jewish Home

When it comes to sage advice, we often turn to the seniors at the Los Angeles Jewish Home who have "been there, done that" in many areas of life.

With Valentine's Day approaching this weekend, the Los Angeles Jewish Home has released a video with some practical dating advice to those seeking love at any age from experts who have seen it all before. 

Jonathan, 28 and single, interviews 12 bubbes and zaydes who pull no punches in giving him  their best suggestions for success in love. Sympathetic and wise; practical and nurturing; funny and sweet — the seniors make the perfect matchmakers. They know from experience what it takes to light a spark and turn it into a flame.

The video was published in honor of "Sweetheart's Day," evidently a euphemism for Valentine's Day for those who feel it's not a holiday that Jews should celebrate. But for the last few years we have been publishing the "hechsher" for celebrating the day that Rabbi Benjamin Blech, professsor of Talmud at Yeshiva University, has written about Valentine's Day on the aish.com website, 

As Jews, we may not be sure whether it's proper for us to join the party. After all, for the longest time the full name of this holiday was “St. Valentine's Day” because of its legendary link with the apocryphal story of one of the earliest Christian saints. Yet academics aren't the only ones who have recognized the dubious historical basis of this connection. Vatican II, the landmark set of reforms adopted by the Catholic Church in 1969, removed Valentine's Day from the Catholic church's calendar, asserting that "though the memorial of St. Valentine is ancient… apart from his name nothing is known… except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on 14 February."

What's left for this day, as proponents of its universal celebration declare, is something that people of all faiths may in good conscience observe: A day in which to acknowledge the power of love to make us fully human.

When I am asked as a rabbi if I think it's a good idea for Jews to celebrate Valentine's Day, my standard answer is, "Yes, we should celebrate love… every day of the year."

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week: "Sex on the Sabbath"

It's Monday morning on the east coast of the U.S., and whether it's warm and sunny in Florida or cold and snowy in New York, it's time for a joke to start the week.

For today's joke we go to one of our primary sources, Old Jews Telling Jokes, and come up with an oldie but goodie told by 67-year-old attorney and sculptor Richard Goldstein.

This is a joke from the priest/minister/rabbi genre.

Here's the setup: This man wants to find out whether having sex on the Sabbath is work or whether it's play. For some reason he wants to go talk to a priest about it. And then...

Enjoy!

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Comedy Flashback: Greetings from Miami Beach

For the month of February, Jewish Humor Central is coming to you from Miami Beach, Florida. During the month, we'll continue our mix of jokes, funny happenings, musical fun, and unbelievable but true stories as they occur.

We're in Florida to deliver six jewish humor lectures and programs to audiences in Deerfield Beach, and also to escape from the harsh New Jersey winter.

Today we're bringing you another comedy flashback from the comedy album When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish, a collection of blackout bits and extended one-liners which poked fun at the absurdities of American Jewish culture.   

It was recorded in a studio with a live audience in attendance, as a cast of actors performed scripted material much in the manner of a radio play.

Comedy writers Bob Booker and George Foster had the good judgment to assemble a superb cast for this recording, and they transform what could have been ordinary Catskill shtick into something memorable.

The performers include Lou Jacobi, Jack Gilford, Betty Walker and Arlene Golonka, and their expert timing and feel for their characters is impeccable. When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish is a fine sampling of classic Borscht Belt humor performed by a top-notch cast.
 
The track we're sharing today is Miami Beach with Lou Jacobi and Phil Leeds.
 
Enjoy!
 
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Israeli Rabbi is Internet Business and Social Media Advisor to Google

Rabbi Issamar Ginzberg, who looks like he stepped out of a set filming Fiddler on the Roof, has been fiddling in major corporate business circles. 

The scion of a prominent rabbinic family, he worked his way up from giving advice on obtaining credit for business to advising Google, Yahoo, IBM, and other corporations large and small on the use of the Internet and social media in business.

Starting out in Brooklyn, he now lives in Israel, and travels the world advising his clients, writing columns, and conducting seminars and programs. In this video, he describes his journey to a most unexpected vocation.

Enjoy!

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New Comedian Showcase: Meet Jon Fisch - Living Single and Jewish in New York

Meet Jon Fisch, a stand-up comic who made his network TV debut on Letterman's Late Show in 2012.

Besides appearing on the Late Show, he has been featured in Maxim Magazine, and was the host of the widely popular podcast, “In the Tank”. 

A prolific monologist with universal appeal, Jon focuses on the idiosyncrasies of city living. Shortly after moving to NYC from his native Boston, he was chosen as one of Comedy Central’s Fresh Faces of Comedy and named one of Back Stage Magazine’s 10 Standout Stand-ups.

Here's the video clip of Jon's appearance on the Letterman show, where he talks about dating, relationships, and marriage. Enjoy!

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The Forward Publishes a Field Guide to Identifying the Jewish Male by His Yarmulke

Wikipedia defines a field guide as a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (plants or animals) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. minerals). 

It is generally designed to be brought into the 'field' or local area where such objects exist to help distinguish between similar objects. Field guides are often designed to help users distinguish animals and plants that may be similar in appearance but are not necessarily closely related. They are also used for bird watching.

We think that a field guide is a good metaphor for the article and video published this week by the Jewish Daily Forward using the color, style, shape, and material of a kippah or yarmulke as an aid to identifying the sect and level of observance of the Jewish male.

The Forward previously published a similar guide to Sheitels, or wigs, worn by Orthodox Jews.

In her article, Frimet Goldberger reports:

If you see my husband and son walking on the street, you will instantly know that they’re Orthodox Jews — because they are wearing small, round cloth caps, more widely known as yarmulkes. Much like the sheitel, or wig, that many Orthodox women wear, you can tell a lot about a Jewish male by the type of yarmulke (also referred to as a kippah, or in Hasidic Yiddish, kapl) that he wears. Like the jacket and shirt on his back, the absence or presence of peyes, or sidelocks, the headgear announces to the world his family’s tradition and his Jewish denomination.

Pious Jewish men have been covering their heads for hundreds of years, yet there isn’t necessarily a clear and definitive Jewish law, or Halacha, requiring it. Rather, it was one of many of the Jewish customs and traditions, known as minhagim, that evolved over the centuries to become de-facto Halacha, eventually becoming the most universal identifier of observant Jewish boys and men.

The article includes 11 illustrations of yarmulke styles. Do you know the difference between a black velvet six-slice kapl and a four-slice kapl with or without a satin rim? How about a shlof-kapl, a na-nach kippah, meshichist, and teryline kippah? Which yarmulkes have no slices? Who wears them and what do their choices say about their religious affiliations?

The video, which graphically shows the diverse choices available, was filmed at Eichler's in Flatbush.

Enjoy!

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Annoying Orange and Other Fruits Explain Tu Bishvat

Annoying Orange was a series of YouTube videos that went viral a few years ago. Let''s call an orange an orange and recognize that it was really annoying. Wikipedia reports that it has over 4 million subscribers.

Despite the show's negative critical reception, the show's popularity after its first episode led it to become the subject of a TV series, a video game, a range of toys, and a t-shirt line. Other accessories, such as costumes of the series characters, have also appeared on the market for the company.

Students at the New Community Jewish High School of Los Angeles SAFES Club (Students Alliance for Environmental Sustainability) and NCJHS Media Arts 2 students under the direction of Roger Blonder created this Tu B'Shevat homage to the virally famous Annoying Orange. Working with Hazon.org, they turned the annoying orange and his fruity friends into a funny tutorial about Tu Bishvat, the Jewish holiday for trees, which we celebrate today!

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Camel"

Rabbi Jerry Fisher is back with another joke to help us get our week off to a funny start. We don't know if he used it in any of his sermons, but we think it's a good way to begin the week.

The 76-year-ole retired rabbi is one of the regulars on Old Jews Telling Jokes.

Here's the setup: An American guide is living in Beersheba. He decides that because it's a desert town, he's going to rent a camel. And then...

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.)

Comedy Flashback: Buddy Hackett Tells Johnny Carson About His Catskill Days

Everybody has comfort foods that they gravitate to when they need a hearty meal with a touch of nostalgia and a taste of home.

We feel the same way about comedians. No matter how many new joke and story tellers come on the scene, there's just something special about the old timers, and listening to them carry on makes us wax nostalgic about the good old days of comedy in the Catskills and in clubs.

Buddy Hackett is one of our favorites, and from the comments you've made on previous postings, he's one of your favorites, too.

In this episode on the Johnny Carson show in 1989, Buddy tells Johnny how he changed his stage name from Butch Hacker to Buddy Hackett, how he came of age in the Catskills, and why he started using a Jewish accent.

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.)

Rega Israel: Dalia, the Annoying Israeli, Takes Her Attitude to Australia

Dalia is back again. Yes, our favorite Israeli with an attitude that's unlikely to make many friends has just returned from a trip "down under." This is another episode of the web series Rega Israel.

Portrayed by comedian Deb Kaye from the Jerusalem-based HaHafuch comedy troupe, Dalia searches the streets of Australia looking for kangaroos and restaurants that serve shakshuka, and friendly natives to take her photo. Luckily for her, the good citizens of Australia accept her as a kooky visitor and take her behavior in stride.

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.)