Welcoming Shabbat with Noam Blat and Daughter of Mountain Singing Shalom Aleichem

Noam Blat is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter with a versatile and expressive voice. Born and raised in Israel – a melting pot of traditions, he is strongly influenced by the different musical styles of his heritage. His compositions are intricately played, colorful and deeply moving.

In this version of Shalom Aleichem, he is joined by Anasaskia Elsom, an Australian actress who is deeply involved in yoga, Indian spirituality and poetry and known as Daughter of Mountain.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Classic: Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray in "Shadow Waltz"

Today's Throwback Thursday episode takes us back 62 years to 1955, when Sid Caesar moved his funny skits to Caesar's Hour.

The show replaced Your Show of Shows, and featured Carl Reiner, Howard Morris, and newcomer Nanette Fabray.

The staging of this sketch is a take off of the type utilized on television shows of the era like "Your Hit Parade". 

Using the terminology of the era, Sid plays "the listener".

Retaining most of his first rate writing staff, this show also broke ground for the addition of a fledgling comedy writer by the name of Woody Allen.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

Israeli Music Showcase: Elliot Dvorin and Key Tov Orchestra in Tel Aviv Mashup

Elliot Dvorin and the Key Tov Orchestra are at it again. 

We have featured the Chicago-based wedding band before, performing a flash mob version of Hashem Melech and and a mashup of Passover songs in downtown Chicago, with the Kol Ish a cappella singers in a bluegrass version of Yigdal, in an Israeli salsa number in Miami, in a Chicago mashup of Chanukah songs old and new. 

Last week they released a new music video that was filmed in some of the most iconic locations in Tel Aviv. includng the Sarona Market, HaBima Square, Rabin Square, and the Tel Aviv beach front overlooking Yafo. The music video features a talented team of dancers performing stunning choreography to a variety of musical styles.

Enjoy!

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"In Search of Israeli Cuisine" Film Opening in Theaters Across USA

In Search of Israeli Cuisine is a portrait of the Israeli people told through food. 

The feature length documentary puts a face on the culture of Israel, profiling chefs, home cooks, vintners, and cheese-makers drawn from the more than one hundred cultures that make up Israel today – Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Christian, Druze.

A rich and human story of the people emerges.

As Lucy Cohen Blatter wrote in The Jewish Week,

“I thought it was just going to be about falafel and hummus.”

That was the perception of Israeli cuisine that filmmaker Roger Sherman had when he reluctantly decided to accompany his friend, the acclaimed Jewish cookbook writer Joan Nathan, on a food tour of Israel in 2010. But the reality exceeded his expectations.

“I was blown away by what I consider to be the hottest food scene in the world,” Sherman told JTA in a recent interview. “I thought, this is the perfect subject for a film.”

It was. After a successful run on the festival circuit, Sherman’s documentary “In Search of Israeli Cuisine” — which attempts to define and explore what Israeli food actually is — opens March 24 in New York City at Lincoln Plaza and the Angelika Film Center. It will open March 31 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia, with other cities to follow.

The film trailer appears below.

Here is the list of theaters where you can see the film:

Opens Friday, March 31
Los Angeles – Laemmle's Royal
Encino – Laemmle's Town Center 5
Irvine, CA - Edwards Westpark 8
San Francisco – Opera Plaza Cinema
Berkeley – Shattuck Cinemas
Philadelphia – Landmark Ritz Five

Opens FRIDAY, April 7
Chicago, IL - Music Box Theatre
Highland Park, IL  Renaissance Place
Minneapolis – Edina Cinema
St. Louis, MO - Plaza Frontenac Cinema
Malverne, NY - Malverne Cinema
Maplewood, NJ - Maplewood Theatre
Kew Gardens, NY - Kew Gardens 
Opens FRIDAY, APRIL 21
San Diego - Ken Cinema
Washington, DC - Bethesda Row Cinema
Cambridge – Kendall Square Cinema
Boston - West Newton Cinema
Atlanta – Midtown Cinema

Opens FRIDAY, APRIL 23
Jenkinton, PA - Hiway Theater

Opens FRIDAY, May 12
Denver - Landmark Theatres

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - Two Quick Jokes by Rabbi Bob Alper

Today we welcome back Rabbi Bob Alper -- rabbi, stand-up comic, and author, for another Joke to Start the Week.
 
We've been posting video clips from Bob's stand-up comedy sessions on Jewish Humor Central since November 2009.
 
The funny reform rabbi recently performed in a synagogue in Connecticut and graciously gave us permission to share some of his jokes with you. We're sharing two short ones today. They're too short for an introduction, so just enjoy!

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Hazamir Sings - Hundreds of High School Students Perform Today at the Metropolitan Opera

Today we will be attending the 24th annual HaZamir gala concert in New York's Lincoln Center. This year the performance will be at the Metropolitan Opera.

For two hours, 350 teenagers from 26 chapters of HaZamir Jewish High School Choir across the United States and in five cities in Israel will perform to a packed house, singing traditional and contemporary songs in Hebrew, English, and Yiddish.

HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Choir, is an international network of choral chapters for Jewish teens. Local HaZamir chapters meet weekly in cities across America and Israel to rehearse and perform Jewish choral music.

HaZamir provides Jewish teenagers the unique opportunity to sing at the highest performance level, build pluralistic community, and create strong Israel-Diaspora relations in the next generation.

Each local HaZamir chapter is directed by a talented conductor whose devotion to the highest standard of Jewish music-making helps to inspire the next generation of Jewish choral singers.

Last year the choir performed at Carnegie Hall. One of the selections on their program was a beautiful renditon of Yonatan Razel's V'hi She'amda. The song is an important part of the Passover Haggadah, and reminds us that the Pesach seder is only 15 days away.  

This short passage from the Haggadah has given hope to Jews over the centuries, particularly in times of oppression.

וְהִיא שֶׁעָמְדָה לַאֲבוֹתֵיֽנוּ וְלָנֽוּ. שֶׁלֹא אֶחָד בִּלְבָד, עָמַד עָלֵיֽנוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנֽוּ. אֶלָּא שֶׁבְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר, עוֹמְדִים עָלֵיֽנוּ לְכַלּוֹתֵנֽוּ. וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַצִּילֵנוּ מִיָּדָם

And it is this [covenant] that has stood for our Forefathers and us. For not just one enemy has stood against us to wipe us out. But in every generation there have been those who have stood against us to wipe us out, and the Holy One Blessed Be He saves us from their hands.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with a Liverpool Version of Shalom Aleichem

Last month the Friday evening service at Congregation Shir Shalom in Buffalo, New York welcomed Shabbat with traditional lyrics, and music by the Beatles.

Congregation Shir Shalom is a merged Reform and Reconstructionist synagogue, the first in the world. They are diverse, multigenerational and inclusive of traditional, non-traditional and interfaith couples.

The service included traditional parts of the Friday night service, set to familiar Beatles tunes. In the video below, the congregation sings Shalom Aleichem set to the Beatles song With the Help of My Friends.

If you don't remember the Beatles' original version, the video appears below, after Shalom Aleichem.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom.

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Throwback Thursday: Comedy Writer Alan Zweibel Tells a Funny Story About Simon and Garfunkel

Alan Zweibel is a funny guy. He's been writing comedy since graduating from college, when he started writing for stand-up comedians who paid him seven dollars a joke. He later compiled over 1,100 of them into a portfolio which he showed to producer Lorne Michaels who then hired Zweibel to be one of the original writers of a new show called Saturday Night Live.

During his 5 years at Saturday Night Live (1975–1980), Zweibel wrote many memorable sketches, including the Samurai for John Belushi, and helped to create the characters of Roseanne Roseannadanna and Emily Litella, both portrayed by Gilda Radner. As an in-joke, Richard Feder of Fort Lee, New Jersey, a name and hometown often associated with the Roseannadanna character, was Zweibel's real life brother-in-law and did live in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Today's post comes from a book that he wrote -- The Other Shulman – a novel that won the 2006 Thurber Prize for American Humor. 

In an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Zweibel read a funny excerpt from the book in which the Shulman character, on the verge of failing a college poetry class,  plagiarizes the lyrics from Simon and Garfunkel's mega-hit, The Boxer, and reads it as poetry in a class taught by an ancient, clueless professor. 

After watching the video, we felt an urge to watch Simon and Garfunkel singing The Boxer. You'll find it, from their 1981 concert in Central Park, just below the Zweibel video.

Enjoy! 

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO MAY NOT BE VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY ON SOME COMPUTERS AND TABLETS.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.



    #Throwback Thursday   #TBT

The Great Jewish Comedians: Marty Allen, Still Funny at 95

Marty Allen, the comedy half of the Allen and Rossi team, is still performing as he gets ready for his 95th birthday tomorrow. Last December he did two comedy shows with his wife at a theater in Boca Raton, Florida.

As  Marvin Glassman wrote in the Florida Jewish Journal,

Allen may be one of the oldest Jewish comedians still on stage to have performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show," a popular television variety show in the 1950s and 60s.

Allen and his late partner Steve Rossi became a comedy duo hit from the "Sullivan" appearances. Known as "Allen & Rossi," the duo appeared 44 times on "Ed Sullivan" and had 700 other television appearances in their heyday from 1957-68, before breaking up as a duo.

Allen was the pudgy, wild-haired short, affable Jewish man who would play funny characters while being asked questions by Rossi. Allen's quick wit made audiences laugh as Rossi would ask him questions after beginning the routines by saying "Hello Dere."

Born as Morton Alpern in Pittsburgh, he went into show business after serving in the U.S. Air Forces in World War II while stationed in Italy. Allen earned a Soldier's Medal for his bravery getting fellow soldiers out of a plane that was caught on fire while being refueled.

"I was shocked when I was in Italy to later learn about the Holocaust and care deeply about being Jewish and being a supporter of Israel. Growing up, our family celebrated all the Jewish holidays and I still celebrate the Jewish holidays," said Allen.

Here are Allen and Rossi in a TV appearance with Dean Martin. Enjoy!

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Comedian Robert Klein in Funny Routine About Ordering a Kosher Meal on an Airline

Last year the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research hosted an exhibition and panel discussion at the Center for Jewish History titled Professional Jokers: Jewish Jesters from the Golden Age of American Comedy.

The panel discussion on Jews and comedy featured comedian Robert Klein, comedy writer Alan Zweibel, Old Jewish Comedians artist Drew Friedman, The Comedians author Kliph Nesteroff, Jewish popular culture scholar Dr. Eddy Portnoy, and comedian Gilbert Gottfried. The panel was  moderated by comedy writer Frank Santopadre.

We found the complete panel discussion, running for an hour and 40 minutes, on YouTube. It was very funny, as you might expect. Also, as you might expect, the discussion covered a wide range of the panelists' recollections of their experiences with some of the great comedians of our time, some of which venture into territory that is clearly not family-friendly.

Because we try to post only clean comedy we're sharing a short excerpt from the program in which Robert Klein does a funny routine about the experience of ordering a kosher meal on an airplane. YouTube usage rules don't let us cut pieces from a video, but we're starting the video at the beginning of Klein's routine and ending it at the end. 

If you don't shy away from really funny adult Jewish humor, you can easily find the whole program on YouTube.

Enjoy! 

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Talking Centipede"

It's another Monday and it's time for another in our Joke to Start the Week series. We think it's time for another joke from Steve Wilson, a psychologist with the title of Cheerman of the Bored of the Laughter Arts and Sciences Foundation.
The foundation is a philanthropic organization, established in 2003 to support educational, scientific, and general awareness projects that promote the understanding and application of healthy laughter.
We met Steve at one of our performances in Daytona Beach, Florida last year, and shortly afterward we received an endorsement from the foundation.
Here's the setup for today's joke: A fellow goes into a pet shop. He says "You know, I'm kind of lonely and I would like to have a pet." And then...

Enjoy!
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"The Last Laugh" - A Documentary About Humor and the Holocaust

The Last Laugh is a feature documentary about humor and the Holocaust, examining whether it is ever acceptable to use humor in connection with a tragedy of that scale, and the implications for other seemingly off-limits topics in a society that prizes free speech.

Premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016, the film had a theatrical release in NYC on March 3. It will be playing at Jewish film festivals and is in selected theaters now (see list below).  The documentary is directed by Ferne Pearlstein, and produced by Robert Edwards, Amy Hobby, Anne Hubbell, Ferne Pearlstein, and Jan Warner.

It includes commentary by Mel Brooks, Sarah Silverman, Rob Reiner, Gilbert Gottfried, Alan Zweibel, Harry Shearer, and David Steinberg.

As Kenneth Turan wrote in a Los Angeles Times review,

"The Last Laugh" is at its best when its people are telling jokes, often ones in which the Holocaust is involved. There's Baron Cohen in country-western mode singing "throw the Jew down the well," Sarah Silverman ending a skit with "Auschwitz? You'll say Wowschwitz" and Larry David focusing a "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episode on a dinner-party battle between a Holocaust survivor and a contestant on the TV show "Survivor."

The Last Laugh is now playing at the following theaters:

Pleasantville, New York: Jacob Burns Film Center
Beverly Hills, California: Laemmle's Music Hall 3
Encino, California: Laemmle's Town Center 5
Jacksonville, Florida: Sun-Ray Cinema @ 5 Points


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Welcoming Shabbat With Shalom Aleichem by the Maayan Band of Toronto

This evening we welcome Shabbat with the pleasing sounds of Shalom Aleichem as played and sung by the Maayan Band - a group of musicians and friends from Toronto, Canada.
 

On their website they describe themselves as different characters, tastes and backgrounds, but sharing the sense that the ancient sources, writings of the Jewish sages are the highest expression of the art of being human.

They draw inspiration and musical force from the ancient sources. What unites them is the desire to share that harmony that touches the eternal. Their performances are all about interacting with the people who come to spend time with them.

If you happen to be in Toronto on April 6, you can see the Maayan band performing at 7 pm at SOURCES, 907 Alness Street.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom.

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Pie in the Face from "The Great Race" with Tony Curtis

Tony Curtis (1925-2010 - born Bernard Schwartz) played the lead in The Great Race, a hilarious movie released in 1965 that also starred Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, and Peter Falk.

We had completely forgotten about this movie until last Sunday, when we attended a performance of the Central Jersey Wind Ensemble in East Brunswick.

The program, Movies, Musicals, and Broadway, included Henry Mancini's Pie in the Face Polka, which played in the background during the Pie in the Face fight, one of the funniest movie scenes of all time.

We rushed to YouTube and found the scene that we're sharing with you as our Throwback Thursday feature this week.

By the way, Tony's Jewish philanthropy is not well known, but stands as a testimony to his love for his heritage. Beginning in 1990, Curtis and his daughter Jamie Lee Curtis took a renewed interest in their family's Hungarian Jewish heritage, and helped finance the rebuilding of the "Great Synagogue" in Budapest, Hungary. The largest synagogue in Europe today, it was originally built in 1859 and suffered damage during World War II. 

In 1998, he also founded the Emanuel Foundation for Hungarian Culture, and served as honorary chairman. The organization works for the restoration and preservation of synagogues and 1300 Jewish cemeteries in Hungary. He dedicated this to the 600,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Hungary and lands occupied by the Hungarian Army.

Enjoy!

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Israel World Baseball Update: It Was Good While it Lasted

Not long after we posted today's story about Team Israel's success in leading the World Baseball Classic, we got word that the team was defeated by Japan, 8-3, eliminating them from the competition.

After the Netherlands beat Cuba 14-1 earlier in the day, Israel knew that it would have to defeat Japan to maintain any chance of reaching the semifinals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. But winning the first four games of the tournament, they fell short in Japan.

Although they were disappointed with the loss, Team Israel will plan to return next year and gain satisfaction at their success in the first round of the tournament.

Better luck next year!