"Between the Temples", a New Jewish Comedy Film, Comes to Theaters Tomorrow

Between the Temples, a new very Jewish comedy film starring Carol Kane, Jason Schwartzman, and Robert Smigel, arrives in theaters tomorrow, August 23.

As Stephen Silver wrote for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency,

The first sound in Between the Temples is a piercing blast from a shofar. Several scenes of the new film are set in a synagogue and depict familiar Jewish tableaus including bat mitzvah preparation, the rabbi/cantor relationship, donors who play an outsize role in Jewish life and a nerve-wracking family Shabbat dinner.

In other words, it may be the most Jewish mainstream movie of the year. 

Between the Temples, which arrives in theaters Friday, tells the story of Cantor Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman), who works at a Reform synagogue in upstate New York and is grieving the death of his novelist wife a year earlier. Carol Kane stars as Carla, his childhood music teacher, who grew up without Jewish tradition but now wants an adult bat mitzvah.

The duo forms the heart of a warm intergenerational buddy comedy-drama that plays out in an archetypal Jewish setting.

Here is the official trailer for the movie. Enjoy! 

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Pedestrian Horn - A Candid Camera Classic

Candid Camera was a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes, and initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

The show involved concealed cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims were told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." The catchphrase became a song with music and lyrics by Sid Ramin.

Today we're sharing a classic episode from 1962 in which a Candid Camera staffer used a "pedestrian horn" to get slow walkers on a sidewalk to speed up and let him pass them.

Enjoy! 

Comedian and Story Teller Annie Korzen on Food and Jewish Women

If there's anyone who knows how to make an audience laugh, it's Annie Korzen, a writer, actress, and performer who has appeared on Seinfeld and other TV shows, and was a regular on Old Jews Telling Jokes.

Korzen began her career as an actress-writer in New York's Off-Broadway scene. She has also worked in films (Tootsie, Stardust Memories, etc.). In Los Angeles, Annie had a recurring role on Seinfeld, playing Doris Klompus in the Florida condo. She also has been on E.R., Judging Amy, Oliver Beene and many other TV shows.

Annie created two solo shows that combine comedy, original music, and provocative issues. One of them is called Yenta Unplugged, a sophisticated 90-minute celebration of womanhood, from the Bronx to Beverly Hills.

She has appeared as a storyteller with The Moth Mainstage in L. A., Berkeley, and Boston, and has been a regular participant at spoken word venues in Los Angeles and New York.

This year Annie published a new book, The Book of Annie, which includes funny stories, anecdotes, and random observations from her life in New York and Los Angeles.

Her colorful stories ring true to audiences who can relate to the experiences that they have had in common. Here is one called "Feed Me" that she shared about Jewish women and food before an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2016.

Enjoy!

A Joke to Start the Week - "Where We Come From"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a joke by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (YY) Jacobson, one of America's premier Jewish scholars in Torah and Jewish mysticism.

Rabbi Jacobson, an American Chabad rabbi from Monsey, New York, is one of the most sought after speakers in the Jewish world today, lecturing to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences on six continents and in forty states, and serving as teacher and mentor to thousands across the globe. 

He is considered to be one of the most successful, passionate and mesmerizing communicators of Judaism today, culling his ideas from the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and making them relevant to contemporary audiences. 

He served as editor-in-chief of the Algemeiner Journal, and as a choizer (transcriber) for Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

He also loves to tell jokes, and here's the setup: They tell a story about a Bar Mitzvah boy who wanted to deliver a beautiful speech at his Bar Mitzvah. So he comes to his mother and he says "Mom, I would like to talk at my Bar Mitzvah about where we come from." And then...

Enjoy!

Israel's Rhythmic Gymnastics Team Wins Silver Medal at Paris 2024 Olympics

Israel added yet another medal to their impressive haul at the Paris Olympics as the Rhythmic Gymnastics Team captured silver for the nation’s 7th medal with a terrific performance in the Group All-Around after having qualified for the finals.

As Joshua Halickman reported in The Jerusalem Post,

Coach Ayelet Zussman spoke about the team’s performance, “How did we do it? With the love for the sport, with the great coaching staff, and by working hard together. Linoy Ashram had a huge influence on rhythmic gymnastics and she had an incredible five years where she was constantly at the top, so we knew she was a candidate for a medal at the last Olympics. The same is true with this team, who have been at the top over the past three years and here they did it.”

“When they finished their last rotation I knew there was a very good chance that we would win a medal. I am happy, I am proud to see all the people that encouraged us and who were excited for us. When we are together, it gives us the strength to achieve everything we want to achieve,” the coach concluded.

The squad of Ofir Shaham, Diana Svertsov, Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki and Shani Bakanov recorded a score of 35.600 in 5 Hoops, which was good for 5th place and 33.250 in 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls for 2nd, which gave them an overall score of 68.850. This placed them just behind China, which won gold with a score of 69.800 and ahead of Italy, which scored 68.100.

The key score for the blue-and-white was in the 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls, which was a marked improvement over Friday’s qualification score of 31.900, which was able to place them ahead of Italy to take home the silver medal.

 

Welcoming Shabbat with Adon Olam by Cantor Orly Campbell at Temple Sinai in Los Angeles

Orly Campbell graduated with a B.A., emphasis in Vocal Arts at California State University of Northridge in 2006. Prior to Orly beginning her journey at the Academy for Jewish Religion California (AJRCA) she was already a year into her most prideful job, being a new mom. She had no clue how she could attend a master’s seminary and raise a baby, let alone 4 children. 

Orly spent the last 6 years raising her kids and discovering her true love for hazzanut. She has worked in many different temples including Temple Ramat Zion, Stephen Wise,  Beth Shir Shalom, Desert Outreach Synagogue, Temple Judea, Temple Akiba and Temple Beth David, where Orly served as the Cantor for the past 3 years. 

Cantor Orly was ordained and received her Master’s Degree from the Academy for Jewish Religion in May 2019. She will continue sharing her love, passion and voice in hopes of elevating a congregant’s experience for services.

On April 17 at Temple Sinai in Los Angeles, Cantor Orly Campbell led the congregation in singing Adon Olam on a Sisterhood Shabbat.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Billy Crystal as Howard Cosell's Mother on Saturday Night Live

Sports announcer Howard Cosell hosted Saturday Night Live on April 13, 1985. Hosts on the show typically were included in comedy skits featuring their roles in the entertainment industry, and this one was no exception.

Cosell, born Howard Cohen in 1918, was best known for his distinctive staccato voice, accent, syntax, and cadence, and they became the basis of a skit portraying Cosell's Bar Mitzvah, where he played the role of his lawyer father, Morris Cosell. His mother was played by comedian Billy Crystal, in one of his funniest roles.

Let's turn the clock back 39 years and join in the fun at the reception hall where the Bar Mitzvah was celebrated.

Enjoy!

 

  #Throwback Thursday      #TBT

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: A Plumber's Nightmare on Candid Camera in 1963

Candid Camera was a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes, and initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

The show involved concealed cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims were told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." The catchphrase became a song with music and lyrics by Sid Ramin.

Today we're sharing a classic episode from 1963 in which plumbers were put in an impossible situation.

Enjoy! 

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Tisha B'Av Lamentation Becomes Popular Line Dance in Southeast Asia

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. It is also being used as the background for a Zumba fitness routine, as in the video below.

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

 

A Joke to Start the Week - "The Couple That Bickered"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's the setup: Steve and Marcy had a terrible marriage. It was 40 years of bickering. And every comment from Marcy seemed to be a little zetz. One day Steve said to Marcy "What would you do if you won a million dollars in the lottery?" And then...

Enjoy! 

Abanibi, Eurovision Song Winner in 1978, is Still Popular Around the World

It's been 46 years since A Ba Ni Bi, a seemingly nonsensical song, won first prize for Israel in the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest. In 2010 we noted that the song has taken off and found expression in many languages and in many venues that are surely surprising original singer Izhar Cohen, composer Nurit Hirsh, and songwriter Ehud Manor.

It's still a feature in the Jewish camp scene where it's a staple of the song and dance fesitvals that are focal points of the camp season.

A Ba Ni Bi is actually not nonsensical, at least when sung in Hebrew. It gets a little weird when it's sung in Chinese, Spanish, Thai, and other languages. 

It's cleverly written in S'fat HaBet (B Language,) an Israeli variation of Pig Latin.  The phrase Aba Nibi Obo Hebev Obo Tabach is simply Ani Ohev Otach (I Love You) with the suffixes ba, bi, bo, and beh appended to each syllable.  If it were sung in English, the words would be Iby Lubuve Youboo.  But nobody sings it that way.

We found a new version by Chilean singer Ariel Toro, recorded earlier this year in his studio.

Enjoy!

Welcoming Shabbat with Adon Olam at Houston's Congregation Emanu El

Tonight we welcome Shabbat with a rendition of Uzi Hitman's version of Adon Olam. This performance is by Cantor Rollin Simmons at Houston's Congregation Emanu El, a Reform synagogue in Houston, Texas with over 1700 families.

Cantor Simmons sang with the Zamir Chorale of Boston, performing locally and internationally, as well as a cantorial soloist serving congregations in the Boston area when she decided to pursue cantorial school.

At Emanu El, her roles include music director, worship leader, teacher, pastor, life cycle officiant, youth choir director, concert producer, and conversion mentor. She is grateful to work with an inspiring clergy team and staff to enrich the lives of the Jewish community and beyond.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom! 

Yiddish Word of the Day - "Swimming"

In 2020 the Forverts launched a daily series of short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.

The series, written and narrated by Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter, aims to give non-Yiddish speakers an introduction to familiar Yiddish words and phrases and how they might be used in everyday situations. 

Schaechter, who was appointed the new editor of the Forverts in 2016, is the first woman to helm the paper in its 119-year history, its first editor to have been born in the United States, and likely its first editor who is shomeret Shabbat.

We posted the first of this series in May 2020. Now that the Forverts is continuing the series, we'll continue sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of Jewish Humor Central.

With all the excitement about the Summer Olympics in Paris, and the intense swimming competition, Rukhl Schaechter gives us the Yiddish words to describe the backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle.

Enjoy!

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Choose Any Flavor as Long as It's Vanilla - A Candid Camera Classic

Candid Camera was an American hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as The Candid Microphone on June 28, 1947. 

After a series of theatrical film shorts, also titled Candid Microphone, Funt's concept came to television on August 10, 1948, and continued into the 1970s. 

The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations, sometimes involving trick props, such as a desk with drawers that pop open when one is closed or a car with a hidden extra gas tank. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase, "Smile, you're on Candid Camera."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

Twenty-one years ago the Candid Camera crew took over an ice cream shop in Chicago and told customers they could choose from 20 flavors, all vanilla.

Enjoy!

Borscht Belt Street Festival Comes to Ellenville in the Catskills

Hundreds of visitors poured into the Borscht Belt Museum in Ellenville last weekend for a trip down memory lane highlighting hotels, food, culture, and comedy beloved by generations of Jewish families. 

Jeff Fox used to live in Loch Sheldrake and the museum brings back many memories for the resident who now lives on Long Island. “I think it's great. A lot of memorabilia. Love the signs. I remember them all. There’s great memories and food outside at the fair,” said Fox. 

Museum-goers spilled out onto Canal Street to sample a two-day celebration of Jewish food and culture including the star of the show-- Borscht--a creamy, slightly sour soup made from beetroot. “It's like the ultimate comfort food, but it's also healthy. Like you feel better after you eat it. Like it's like my grandma would make it, but it's not like fried food. Like, it's delicious, but also comforting,” said Kathryn Levy of Brooklyn.

A Joke to Start the Week - "Garden of Eden"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a joke by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (YY) Jacobson, one of America's premier Jewish scholars in Torah and Jewish mysticism.

Rabbi Jacobson, an American Chabad rabbi from Monsey, New York, is one of the most sought after speakers in the Jewish world today, lecturing to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences on six continents and in forty states, and serving as teacher and mentor to thousands across the globe. 

He is considered to be one of the most successful, passionate and mesmerizing communicators of Judaism today, culling his ideas from the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and making them relevant to contemporary audiences. 

He served as editor-in-chief of the Algemeiner Journal, and as a choizer (transcriber) for Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

He also loves to tell jokes, and here's the setup: A Brit, a Frenchman, and a Russian are all looking at a beautiful painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And then...

Enjoy!

Comedian Elon Gold Introduces Matisyahu at the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival

On June 27 Comedian Elon Gold introduced Entertainer Matisyahu prior to the screening, and Q & A, of Matisyahu's film, "Song of Ascent" premiering at the 2024 L.A. Jewish Film Festival at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles.

During the introduction, Gold included an impersonation of Donald Trump and commented on accusations that Jews are colonizers, saying that his zayde was a colonizer of bungalow colonies in the Catskills.

Enjoy!

Welcoming Shabbat with Ana Bekoach and the Keshet Chaim Dancers

Ana Bekoach is one of the most powerful prayers in the Jewish religion with regard to the energetic frequency it contains within. It is not an exaggeration that it could lift you literally to the sky. Its strength lies in the unique combination of the letters. Its main goal of spiritual work is to elevate beyond the five known senses and to remind ourselves that the materialistic world is not limiting us and our awareness has the ability to go beyond substance.

Keshet Chaim (Rainbow of Life) is an American-Israeli contemporary dance company, dedicated to celebrating the inclusive spirit of Israeli culture and Judaism throughout the world. Founded in 1983 by Artistic Director Eytan Avisar, Keshet Chaim creates, develops and presents original choreography which fuses contemporary Israeli dance with Jewish folk dance traditions from across the Diaspora. They draw from the timeless themes of Jewish culture to preserve tradition and bring our stories to the stage.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

Ten Jewish Inventions That Changed the World

Jews have a rich history of remarkable innovations that have transformed the world. From life-saving medical devices and Google to stainless steel and Stan Lee’s Marvel superheroes, Jewish ingenuity and resilience have resulted in incredible inventions that continue to impact the world today. 

The stories of these ten groundbreaking Jewish inventions are as interesting as the brilliant minds behind them. 

Unpacked, a division of Open Dor Media, has posted an interesting video on these inventions. We found it informative and want to share it with you.

Enjoy!

Intro 00:38 

Video games 01:52 

Stainless steel 02:33 

Marvel superheroes 03:44 

Pacemakers and defibrillators 04:53 

Google 05:58 

Ballpoint pens 07:00 

Drip irrigation 07:47 

Teddy bears 08:52 

The polio vaccine 09:33 

Monotheism 10:11