We've been big fans of Rita Rudner ever since she started to appear on late night TV in the 1980s.
Jewish Humor Central is a daily publication to start your day with news of the Jewish world that's likely to produce a knowing smile and some Yiddishe nachas. It's also a collection of sources of Jewish humor--anything that brings a grin, chuckle, laugh, guffaw, or just a warm feeling to readers. Our posts include jokes, satire, books, music, films, videos, food, Unbelievable But True, and In the News. Some are new, and some are classics. We post every morning, Sunday through Friday. Enjoy!
We've been big fans of Rita Rudner ever since she started to appear on late night TV in the 1980s.
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-five years ago the Candid Camera team set up shop in a Liberty Travel store and tried to convince unsuspecting shoppers for a romantic travel package to book a trip with less than luxurious features. Let's watch their reactions of these when they were told they're on Candid Camera.
Enjoy!
Comedian Adam Sandler, who spent only five years as a cast member of Saturday Night Live, captured the essence of the 50-year-old show in a funny and wistful new song that he sang at the SNL reunion special Sunday night.
As Katie Atkinson wrote in Billboard,
Sandler started things out with a joke, singing, “Everyone in this room has something in common, all of our lives were changed by this show/ Everyone in this room has something else in common, we weren’t allowed to use the little bathroom in Lorne’s office.” The song — titled “50 Years” — toggled between sincerity and quips, including the line: “50 years of cast members saying ‘I think our cast is the greatest of all time,’ but we all know the first cast is the best.”
He wrapped things up by running through a string of classic castmembers, including late comics like Chris Farley, Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks.
Enjoy!
It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. This week we're posting another joke from Dr. Jay Orlikoff, a retired dentist from Centereach, New York, a community on Long Island in Suffolk County.
After a distinguished and meritorious dental career, he is shifting his focus to telling and posting jokes on YouTube. We were fortunate to find some of his jokes and we're sharing one of the family-friendly ones with you today.
Here's
the setup: The other day I was walking in my community. There was a cable television truck and the cable guys were working on something. As I walked by one of the guys said to me "Do you know what time it is?" And then...
Enjoy!
We've shared 24 versions of the classic Hebrew song Hevenu Shalom Aleichem with you over the years. But we keep finding new renditions just as we've found 127 versions of Hava Nagila and 12 of Hinei Ma Tov.
This song really gets around. Enjoy!
The Shvesters (Chava Levi and Polina Fradkin) are a Yiddish vocal duo hailing originally from Detroit, Michigan. They gained a reputation on social media for their perfectly synchronized voices (and signature matching outfits) — and have won the hearts of audiences from all backgrounds. The Shvesters transform classic Yiddish melodies into sophisticated, contemporary harmonic jazz arrangements.
In this video the Shvesters welcome Shabbat with a rendition of Shalom Aleichem.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
Today is Tu B'Shvat, the Israeli holiday that marks the New Year for Trees. We're joining Noa Tishby, Israeli activist, actress, model, producer, and writer in welcoming the holiday and publicizing some of its features and traditions.
Tu B’Shvat is a holiday which is deeply tied to the land of Israel. It’s a reminder that Judaism is an indigenous faith rooted in the seasons and the fruits of this land. The seven species mentioned in the Bible, wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates, aren’t just symbolic. They represent a tangible connection to an ancient agricultural heritage and the physical land that shaped Jewish identity.
In the Middle Ages, the custom developed to celebrate Tu B’Shvat with a feast of fruits. And in the 16th century, the Kabbalist rabbi, Yitzchak Luria, instituted a Tu B’Shvat seder, which is similar to the Passover seder, in which Jews all over the diaspora were able to reconnect to the land of Israel through eating her indigenous fruits.
According to Kabbalah, when you eat fruits from the trees, it helps a human soul evolve. And Judaism is about being present to every single thing that you do and everything that you eat as well. Tu B’Shvat reminds us that Judaism and the land of Israel are inseparable. The roots of the Jewish people are right here. And to celebrate Tu B’Shvat is to celebrate Zionism, not as a modern political movement, but as a profound acknowledgement of a people’s enduring bond with the land of their ancestors.
The land of Israel isn’t just a backdrop to Jewish history. It’s part of the story itself. And every seed sown, every tree planted, and every fruit harvested and eaten is a continuation of that story.
Chag Tu B’Shvat Sameach, everyone.
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 the Candid Camera crew placed a microphone and a loudspeaker on a horse in his stall at the Hialeah racetrack. As people approached the horse named Pit Penna, it started to give them betting tips and they were only to happy to join in the conversation.
Enjoy!
Michael Wex is a Canadian novelist, playwright, translator, lecturer, performer, and author of books on language and literature.His specialty is Yiddish and his book Born to Kvetch was a surprise bestseller in 2005.
He recently participated in a series of lectures sponsored by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The series, The History of Jews and Comedy in America, included a session on Yiddish Curses and Jokes, which is one of his favorite topics.
In this excerpt, Wex explains the origins and context of some of the more popular Yiddish curses.
Enjoy !
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 telling jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's the setup: A man took his blonde haired girlfriend to her first football game. They had terrific seats and after the game he asked her "How'd you like it? Was it fun?" And then...
Enjoy!
In 2020 the Forverts launched a daily series of short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.
Enjoy!
V'shamru is a verse from the Torah that emphasizes the importance of observing the Sabbath. The text of the blessing is taken from the Book of Exodus (Exodus 31:16-17) and is recited as follows: “V’shamru v’nai Yisrael et haShabbat, la’asot et haShabbat l’dorotam brit olam."
In English, this translates to: “The children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. Between Me and the children of Israel, it is a sign forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
Tonight we're welcoming Shabbat with a version of V'shamru sung by Danny Maseng, Cantor Emma Lutz, Dr. Tali Tadmor, the Stephen Wise Temple band, and vocal quartet. It was recorded at a Shabbat service in August 2023.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
Social media sensation Yohay Sponder has gone viral with his charming and unapologetic comments on Jews in general, Israeli Jews specifically, and overall audience interaction on topics ranging from political correctness (or not), Muslims, women, terrorists, gays, and the Holocaust — many things people are feeling, but stand back from expressing.
Since 2016, Sponder has been producing “Funny Monday,” an Israeli standup comedy show in English that, among other things, touches upon current events from an Israeli-Jewish point of view.
In this video, Sponder marvels at how a little extra money can make air travel safer and ensure the arrival of mail.
Enjoy!
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."
In
this classic episode Marge Green and Tom O'Malley, two writers for the show took on roles of a husband and wife, where the wife had a dog leash on her husband and asked passers-by to hold him by the leash while she ran an errand across the street.
Singer Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Hamas attack on the Nova music festival, will represent Israel at the 2025 Eurovision contest in May in Basel, Switzerland.
As reported in The Times of Israel by Amy Spiro,
Raphael, 24, won the “Hakochav Haba” (Rising Star) reality contest on Wednesday night, winning the highest votes from the judges and the public, and will compete in the song contest in Basel, Switzerland, this May. The song she will sing is due to be selected in March by a committee convened by the Kan public broadcaster.
During the final of the contest on Keshet 12, Raphael, a vocal powerhouse, sang a ballad version of ABBA’s “Dancing Queen,” dedicating it to “all the angels” who were murdered at the festival.
Here's a video clip of her winning performance of Dancing Queen. Enjoy!
It's another Monday, and time for another Joke to Start the Week. This week we're sharing a joke from a collection of Jewish Folks Telling Jokes, a project of Toronto's Jewish Family and Child Service. This joke is told by Chas Gordon.
Here's the setup: A man walks into a shul with his dog, a St. Bernard. They usually have a cask of rum around their neck but this dog has a tallis bag. And then...
Enjoy!
In our search for new faces and new sources of Jewish humor, we came across a series of posts by a ventriloquist who goes by the name of Dr. Allan and has a dummy named Chaim.
Here's a post with Chaim telling a classic story of how an immigrant arriving at Ellis Island managed to end up with a very non-Jewish name.
Enjoy!
This week we welcome Shabbat with Ana b'Cho'ach, a liturgical poem from the Kabbalat Shabbat service that appears in the siddur just before Lecha Dodi. It's a Kabbalistic prayer composed by Rav Nehunia Ben Hakannah. This is a classic version sung by Deborah Yudelewicz.
Known
as the 42-letter Name of God, Ana b'Cho'ach is a unique formula
built of 42 letters written in seven sentences of six words each. Each
of the seven sentences correspond to the seven days of the week, seven
specific angels, and to a particular heavenly body. The letters that
make up Ana b'Cho'ach are encoded within the first 42 letters of the book of Genesis.
The
kabbalists explain that this combination of letters takes us back to
the time of Creation, and each time we meditate on a particular
sequence, we return to the original uncorrupted energy that built the
world. By performing the Ana b'Cho'ach meditation, we enrich our lives with unadulterated spiritual Light and positive energy.
The Hebrew text and translation appear below the video.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
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-two
years ago the Candid Camera team brought a tank of helium gas to a gas station and tried to convince customers that they need to replace the air in their tires with helium to make the cars lighter and more fuel efficient.
Enjoy!
Social media sensation Yohay Sponder has gone viral with his charming and unapologetic comments on Jews in general, Israeli Jews specifically, and overall audience interaction on topics ranging from political correctness (or not), Muslims, women, terrorists, gays, and the Holocaust — many things people are feeling, but stand back from expressing.
Since 2016, Sponder has been producing “Funny Monday,” an Israeli standup comedy show in English that, among other things, touches upon current events from an Israeli-Jewish point of view.
In this video, Sponder explains how his heritage (Polish father, Moroccan mother) gives him license to make fun of almost every ethnic group and be politically incorrect.
Enjoy!
It's another Monday and it's time for another Joke to Start the Week.
Bob Alper is an ordained 78-year-old Reform rabbi from Vermont who served congregations
for fourteen years and holds a doctorate from Princeton
Theological Seminary.
But he's also a stand-up comedian with a thirty year comedy
career. He presents wonderfully unique material in a way that's
intelligent, sophisticated, and 100% clean.
Since
2010 we have posted more than two dozen video clips of his stand-up
routines. We keep finding new clips, some of which we'll use as Jokes to Start the Week.
Here's one about the time when he was eight years old in Vermont. When Brown University had its home football games they would parade from the campus down to the stadium right near his house. And then...
Enjoy!
The Alaev Family, a multigenerational family folk-rock group, has been performing for more than 50 years, blending Eastern European, Jewish and Roma influences in unforgettable performances.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, their benevolent dictator, Papa Allo, moved his clan from their native Tajikistan to Israel, where he has continued to exert his will. Only his equally strongwilled daughter, Ada, has dared to resist until now. As Papa nears 80, the patriarch’s power begins to slip further, calling into question the future of the family business.
A documentary, The World of Papa Alaev, has been featured at many Jewish film festivals and is now streaming on YouTube.
Here is a trailer for the film, which you can see in its entirety at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxTAqX65DOc.
Enjoy!
The world of film and theatre music lost a great light recently when the songwriter Richard M. Sherman died. From Mary Poppins to The Jungle Book, music written by Sherman and his brother, Robert, has brought joy to millions over many decades.
The Sherman Brothers were born to a father of Russian-Jewish origin, a composer of the prior generation on Tin Pan Alley. As a tribute to Richard Sherman, Cantor Azi Schwartz used the melody that the Shermans wrote for the Mary Poppins song Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious to sing Adon Olam on Shabbat -– joyful words of the liturgy combined with a bouncy tune made famous by Julie Andrews.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!
Myron Cohen (1902-1986) was a top nightclub headliner in the 1950s and a frequent guest performer on The Ed Sullivan Show.
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-two years ago the Candid Camera team went to a residential neighborhood and started to install parking meters in front of private homes. The homeowners were understandably upset by this sudden invasion of their personal space. Their reactions ranged from acceptance to outrage until the pranksters revealed that they were on TV.
Enjoy!
From Disney song classics to “Saturday Night Live,” and from Ruth Handler’s iconic Barbie to Mel Brooks’ comedic genius, Jewish creators have shaped the world’s imagination through pop culture, leaving a legacy of creativity and influence on music, film, and storytelling that continues to define and inspire the cultural landscape today.
Here are 10 examples of Jewish contributions to some of the icons of pop culture.
Enjoy!
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: Officer Jones is driving along the highway when a car when a car whizzes by him at a tremendous speed. So he turns on the flashing lights and follows the car. And then...
Enjoy!
Shai Abramson was born in Jerusalem, and was exposed early on to the world of cantorial music. As a young teen, he participated in the choir of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem (under the baton of conductor Elli Jaffe) during the High Holiday season. He gradually acquired more musical expertise and experience, studying with the best teachers in Israel, including Maestro Jaffe, Cantor Moshe Stern, Cantor Naftali Herstik & Dr. Mordechai Sobol.
In 2008, Shai Abramson was appointed Chief Cantor of the Israel Defense Forces. Abramson serves as the representative cantor of the State of Israel, and participates in this capacity in formal state occasions and ceremonies. Abramson also accompanies various government representatives to ceremonies and events in Israel and abroad. He has performed as cantor and singer under the auspices of the Knesset, the IDF, the Ministry of Defense, and various other government ministries and agencies.
During the past few years, Abramson has presented his cantorial repertoire in numerous Jewish communities in the U.S., Canada, South America, Australia and Europe, with the intention of developing and strengthening ties with Jewish communities around the world, and intensifying connections with Israel and with the IDF.
This performance by Abramson was recorded at the 30th anniversary dinner of the Sage Nursing Home in London in July 2024.
Bring them home!
Since July 2020, the religious leader of the CIM has been Rabbi Lucca Myara.
In this video, Rabbi Myara sings the hymn Anim Zemirot, which is usuallly sung at the end of the Shabbat service.
Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!