Today is Tu B'Shvat. Go Out and Plant a Tree or Eat Fruits from Israel

Today is Tu B'shvat, the 15th day of the month of Shvat, a joyous Jewish holiday that celebrates trees and nature. It brings us back to our roots, literally. 

Learn how to celebrate this nature-loving holiday with naturalist and former park ranger Deborah Newbrun in today's video below. What will you do to celebrate the birthday of the trees?

A Tu B'shvat seder is becoming more popular each year.  Just type "Tu B'shvat seder" into YouTube and you'll find lots of examples to use as a basis for your own celebration.

Enjoy!

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Ashkenazim Eat Sephardic Food for the First Time

Are you Ashkenazi or Sepharadi? Ashkenazi Jews hail from Eastern Europe and Sephardim hail from Spain or countries in the Middle East. 

Their cuisines are quite different. We've seen and posted many videos of food tastings that pair traditional foods with diners who don't have a clue as to what's being served. Here's another one that shows what happens when Ashkenazim have their first exposure to Sephardic dishes.

No gefilete fish, kugel, kishke, or p'tcha here. Instead, you'll see reactions to shakshuka, chraime, , sabich, and kubbeh.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Funeral Wishes"

Happy Monday to all of our readers. It's time for another Joke to Start the Week.

We're always glad to receive a new old joke from Joyce Fama, the retired business woman, sculptor, and jokester who has become a regular on Jewish Humor Central. 

Here's the setup for today's joke: A minister, a priest, and a rabbi die in a car crash. They all go to heaven. And when they're in heaven they're interrogated. And then...

Enjoy!

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"Soon By You" Orthodox Singles Comedy Releases Fifth Episode - "The Wedding"

In May 2016 we posted the pilot episode of Soon By You, a new web comedy series that depicts the joys and challenges of Orthodox Jewish dating for young professional singles in New York City. In July we posted the second episode, and in October we posted the third episode. This past June, we posted the fourth episode. Today we're posting the fifth episode.

In the pilot episode titled The Setup, a rabbinical student named David accepts a blind date at a restaurant in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. While there he accidentally sits down across from Sarah Feldman, a free-spirited artist with whom he instantly connects, but that's not his date. Through a series of different events he’s eventually led to the “right” girl, also named Sarah, a larger than life superficial-type character, who is so caught up with ordering food and herself to actually catch the nuances and humor of his excuses that led him to be late.

This situation leads to a not-so-typical romantic encounter with David and Sarah F, who take short breaks from their respective dates to meet at the back of the restaurant, where they dream up mural ideas and finish each other’s sentences. It’s an example of a matchmakers' worst nightmare and how chemistry leads the way to a potential match. Get ready to cry, laugh, be amused, and, watch the "fun" filled life of Orthodox dating.

In the second episode, The Follow Up, David loses Sarah F's phone number. With the help of his roommate, Z, he is willing to do anything to find her. Two new characters are introduced and we spend more time with the original four characters.

In the third episode, The Shabbat Meal, David goes to great lengths to see Sarah F again. Meanwhile Ben faces his first conflict between work and faith.

In the fourth episode, The Dates, David and Sarah finally go on their first date. Jacobs explores foreign avenues for a love connection and Noa, Ben, and Z take up volunteering.

In the latest episode, The Wedding, David and Z crash a wedding with the intention of wooing Sarah, but don't get the reception they expect. Jacobs and Noa face the pressures of being single at a Jewish wedding firsthand. Meanwhile, Ben begins to process some unfamiliar feelings, and Sarah learns about a family member's relationship issues.

Our guess is that we will be following these characters through a series of romantic adventures, that is if the filmmakers find sources of funds to continue producing the series. They've already been successful in attracting some product and service providers and incorporating their placement into the story line.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with a Turkish version of Shalom Aleichem

We have posted many versions of Shalom Aleichem on Fridays as a way of transitioning from weekdays to Shabbat. We're always looking for new interpretations. Today we found one that comes from Turkey, using an instrument that we've never seen before.

The dancing would make us dizzy, but it doesn't seem to affect the dancer who revolves to the music. We tried to find information about the performers but all we could find is that one is a costume designer and the other is an Esoteric Artist, Hypnotist, Quantum Biofeedback and Biorezonian Expert from Instanbul.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom.

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Alan King Visits Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show

Comedian Alan King was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson's Tonight show. As a guest he didn't do formal stand-up comedy, but their conversations often included jokes, gags, and funny stories.

In this appearance from 1982 (that's 36 years ago, folks) Alan revealed some family facts, including his growing up in an Orthodox family, holding on to the basic laws of kashrut, having a grandfather who was a rabbi who lived to 104, and reflections on doctors and the medical profession (3 of his brothers were doctors.)

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

The Jewish Daily Forward Conducts a Shtetl Food Taste Test

What foods would you eat if you lived in a shtetl (small village in Eastern Europe)? The Jewish Daily Forward conducted a taste test to see how everyday foods served there would fare in America today.

For the testers they invited two staff members of the newspaper, Avital Chizhik-Goldschmit, the Forward's Life Editor, and Steven Davidson, an Opinion Fellow, to taste six Jewish foods from the Ashkenazi shtetl days -- including two types of herring -- and one spicy Sephardi favorite.

Avital is orthodox and Steven is secular, but does that difference have any bearing on their reactions as they taste gribenes, matjes herring, Dijon herring, p'tcha, schmaltz, and zhug?

Enjoy!

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11 Types of People You'll Meet in Tel Aviv

Comedians Meir Kay and Renny Grinshpan have teamed up on this video to give you a heads up on 11 types of people you are likely to run in to when you're in Tel Aviv.

Of course they're stereotypes and subject to a bit of exaggeration.

Tel Aviv is home to lots of types that we never encountered on our trips to Israel, but we spend most of our time in Jerusalem and this is, well, Tel Aviv.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Detroit Lions Quarterback"

It's another Monday at Jewish Humor Central, so here we go again with a joke to start the week. Once again we dipped into the reservoir that is Old Jews Telling Jokes, and came up with a rarity -- a joke that we hadn't heard before. It's told by endodontist Harmon Katz. 

Here's the setup: The Detroit Lions were building this great football franchise and they were headed toward the Super Bowl but they didn't have a class quarterback and they just couldn't make it to the top. The coach was very frustrated. He tried the trade, he tried the draft. He just couldn't get anybody good enough. And then...

Enjoy!


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Jewish Film Festival Preview: "Humor Me" with Elliot Gould and Jokes From "Old Jews Telling Jokes"

It's Jewish Film Festival time around the USA, and weeks filled with new movies with Jewish themes are popping up from coast to coast.

One film which was just released to the festivals and which will go national later this year is Humor Me, featuring Elliott Gould (MASH, The Long Goodbye), Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers), Annie Potts (Ghostbusters, Pretty in Pink), Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and singer Ingrid Michaelson.

The film marks the directorial debut of Sam Hoffman, creator of Old Jews Telling Jokes. We've shared many of his jokes with you on Mondays as part of our Joke to Start the Week series. Sam's original website sparked an off-Broadway play, a bestselling book, and a lecture series.

It's a heartfelt father-son comedy about a struggling playwright who is forced to move in with his joke-telling dad in a New Jersey retirement community and learns, as his father often says, “life’s going to happen, whether you smile or not.”

If you're in Florida this winter you can see Humor Me at the David Posnack JCC in Davie on February 15. We'll be seeing it there while we're on our February Jewish humor lecture tour.

Humor Me is also scheduled to be shown at the Rockland Jewish Film Festival in Nanuet, New York on April 16. Watch for it at your local theaters in the coming months. In the meantime, enjoy a preview with this trailer.


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Welcoming Shabbat with Lecha Dodi at Beit T'shuvah in Los Angeles

Beit T'shuvah isn't your father's or grandfather's synagogue. But it is a congregation that meets every Friday night and Shabbat morning to welcome Shabbat in its very own way.

Based in Los Angeles and led by Rabbi Mark Borovitz, its mission is to guide individuals and families towards a path of living well, so that wrestling souls can recover from addiction and learn how to properly heal.
 
The Beit T'Shuvah faith-based model, founded on authenticity and wholeness, integrates spirituality, psychotherapy, Jewish teachings, the 12 Steps, and the creative arts. They are a compassionate, supportive community, devoted to building an empowering sense of belonging and purpose to everyone who seeks it.
 
They also like to sing and dance, and they don't hold anything back when they get together on Friday evening and Shabbat morning for their unique services.
Last month they welcomed Shabbat with the traditional Friday evening melodies including Lecha Dodi.
Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray in "Marriage is Fun"

When Your Show of Shows was canceled in 1954, Sid Caesar started a new show called Caesar's Hour. The popular series of sketches called The Hickenloopers, about a bickering married couple, was recast as The Commuters, with Nanette Fabray playing Sid's wife as Imogene Coca had played in The Hickenloopers.

In this episode of The Commuters, "Marriage is Fun', Sid and Nanette go to a dance but have different ideas about how they will spend the evening. Sid's sidekicks Carl Reiner and Howard Morris are also in the sketch.

We have previously posted other episodes of both shows. We don't have a date for this very rare video, but it was shown between 1954 and 1957 and is available because two Caesar fans found these treasures and transferred them into a digital format.

Sid Caesar died in 2014. Nanette Fabray is 97 and lives in San Diego. We plan to share some of their other sketches with you in the coming months.

Enjoy!

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So You Think You Know Hebrew? Renny Grinshpan's A to Z Guide to Hebrew Slang

How's your Hebrew? I mean the Hebrew that you learned in school or in camp. If you think that's going to make you understood by Israelis, fuggedaboudit. What you need to be understood in Israel is Israeli slang, for which there are few dictionaries and formal education.

Renny Grinshpan, a Canadian model and comedian who made aliyah in 2014, has become famous in Israel for her comedic commentary on Israeli culture.

As Andrew Tobin reported for JTA last year,

Grinshpan’s most popular video is a tutorial on Hebrew slang that has been viewed 1.7 million times on Facebook since it was posted in September. Standing alone in front of the camera, she goes through the (English) alphabet from “achi,” or “brother,” to “zorem,” or “go with the flow.” At the letter “h,” for example, she explains: “Haim sheli, meaning ‘my life,’ can be used to address even your most casual acquaintances.”

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Meet Ethan Herschenfeld, Ethnic Actor and Stand-up Comic

Ethan Herschenfeld is a stand-up comedian, accomplished actor, and award winning opera singer.

In addition to appearing on Girls, Boardwalk Empire, Blue Bloods, The Blacklist, High Maintenance, Power, and Damages, he's sung at the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall and Opera stages around the world. 

He appears regularly at comedy clubs in NY, LA, and across the country.

We get a kick out of finding stand-up comedians that we haven't seen before, and we hope that you enjoy these finds and laughing at their routines.

In this video clip, Ethan Herschenfeld tells about his adventures in being cast repeatedly as an ethnic thug, and how his lack of interest in American history and hip-hop as expressed in the musical Hamilton led him to create his own musical based on geometry and modern opera.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "My Son"

It's Monday again, and time for another Joke to Start the Week.

Once again dipping into the archives of Sam Hoffman's Old Jews Telling Jokes, we came up with this oldie but goodie told by marketing consultant Sheila Danzig.

Here's the setup: There are three Jewish women sitting on the beach, and the first one says "Oy, do I have a son!" And then...

Enjoy!

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The Great Yiddish Songs Revisited: A New and Fun Version of "Rumania Rumania"

The Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus is part of a modern Yiddish renaissance -- more than forty members strong, from students to retirees, a good number of whom speak or are learning Yiddish. 

Their repertoire spans a century -- exciting oratorios and operettas, labor anthems, folksongs, and popular tunes -- all in Yiddish. Committed to strengthening Yiddish as a living language, they have commissioned and premiered new Yiddish choral works by half a dozen composers.

In July we posted their Yiddish version of The Star Spangled Banner.  Today we're sharing their fun version of the Yiddish classic Rumania, Rumania, by Aaron Lebedeff. The musical arrangement is by Binyumen Schaechter, with his daughter Temma as soloist.

Schaechter is a member of a leading family in Yiddish language and cultural studies. His father, Dr. Mordkhe Schaechter, was an influential linguist of the Yiddish language, writing and editing many articles, magazines, journals, terminologies and textbooks in Yiddish and on Yiddish. His mother, Charlotte (Charne) Schaechter, spent much of her life as an accompanist to Yiddish singers. His aunt, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, was a Yiddish poet and songwriter and spiritual guide to many of the Klezmer musicians in the world today. 

Among his three sisters, Rukhl Schaechter is a journalist with the Yiddish Forward, and host of the on-line Yiddish cooking program, Est gezunterheyt! (we posted 24 episodes of this cooking program during the last 8 years); Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath is a Yiddish poet and editor, and she sings in the Jewish People's Philharmonic Chorus; and sister Eydl Reznik teaches Yiddish among the ultra-Orthodox community in Tsfat, Israel. Schaechter and his sisters all speak only in Yiddish with their children, giving their parents 16 Yiddish-speaking grandchildren. Binyumen's cousin, Itzik Gottesman, was an editor of The Yiddish Forward and the Tsukunft, and is continuing his work as a scholar of Yiddish folklore. 

Enjoy! 

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Welcoming Shabbat with Eishet Chayil by Cantor Shai Abramson and the IDF Rabbinical Choir

Back in April we posted a rendition of Adon Olam sung by the IDF Rabbinical Choir led by Shai Abramson, Chief Cantor of the Israel Defense Forces.

The song was sung at a Shabbat dinner hosted by Laura Ben David, Director of Marketing for Shavei Israel, the non-profit organization dedicated to assisting descendants of Jews and the Lost Tribes of Israel to reclaim their roots.

Abramson and the choir were in a good singing mood, and saluted their hostess with the traditional Friday night song Eishet Chayil. We found a video of the event and are sharing it with you here.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Sid Caesar as the Professor on Magic

Sid Caesar left a treasure trove of  video clips of some of his funniest character portrayals and skits from his own Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour and from his appearances with sidekick Carl Reiner on the Ed Sullivan Show and other TV specials.

We've already run some of his most famous comedy routines and we'll be tapping into the collection for more of them from time to time.

Today we're visiting once again with one of Sid's most endearing characters, the wisecracking and loopy Viennese  professor Hocus VonPocus, interviewed by the persistent and straight-talking Carl Reiner.

In this video Reiner asks the professor to perform some magic, with hilarious results.
Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

Hava Nagila Around the World: Played by Andre Rieu Orchestra in Maastricht, Netherlands

In reviewing the 64 versions of Hava Nagila that we've posted since starting Jewish Humor Central in October 2009, we realized that we never posted the one that has more views (more than 10 million) than any other -- the version by Andre Rieu.

Rieu is a Dutch violinist and conductor best known for creating the waltz-playing Johann Strauss Orchestra. Together they have turned classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act, as successful as some of the biggest global pop and rock music acts.

Rieu's father was conductor of the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra. Showing early promise, André began studying violin at the age of five. From a very early age, he developed a fascination with orchestra.

Rieu created the Johann Strauss Orchestra in 1987 and began with 12 members, giving its first concert on 1 January 1988. Over the years it has expanded dramatically, nowadays performing with between 80 and 150 musicians. Rieu and his orchestra have performed throughout Europe, North and South America, Japan, and Australia. The size and revenue of their tours are rivaled only by the largest pop and rock music acts.

This performance of Hava Nagila took place in a huge concert hall in Maastricht, the Netherlands, where Rieu makes his home. 

Enjoy!

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Golden Globe Winner "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" Recreates Jewish New York in 1958

On Sunday night, the Golden Globes award for Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy, went to the Amazon video The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The show's first season had eight episodes, and its second season should be starting soon.

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is about as Jewish as a series could be. It recreates New York City in 1958, with an attention to detail that will bring back memories of the period to most of our readers.

It's the late 1950s and Miriam "Midge" Maisel has everything she has ever wanted -- the perfect husband, two kids and an elegant apartment on New York's Upper West Side. Her father Abe Weinberg, played by Tony Shalhoub, is a math professor at Columbia and her father-in-law Moishe Maisel is the owner of a clothing manufacturing company in the garment district. 

Her seemingly idyllic life takes a surprising turn when she discovers a hidden talent she didn't previously know she had -- stand-up comedy. This revelation changes her life forever as she begins a journey that takes her from her comfortable life on the Upper West Side through the cafes and nightclubs of Greenwich Village as she makes her way through the city's comedy industry on a path that could ultimately lead her to a spot on the "Tonight Show" couch.

Here's a look behind the scenes. Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Good Samaritan"

It's another Monday. Time for another joke to start the week.

Once again we're sharing an oldie but goodie from the archives of Sam Hoffman's Old Jews Telling Jokes. This one is told by Milt Keiles, a retired custom software business owner.

Here's the setup: This guy goes into a bar and sits down next to another gentleman on a stool. And the other gentleman's head falls down on the bar. And then...

Enjoy!

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Tovah Feldshuh and Patti LuPone Sing "Remember That We Suffered" on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"

The CW Network's video hit sitcom series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is now in its third season. Back in 2015 we posted a song from the series with actress Tovah Feldshuh rushed into her daughter's home singing Where's the Bathroom? 

Last year the second season included a funny spoof song with Patti LuPone playing the role of Rabbi Shari at a family Bar Mitzvah.

LuPone and Feldshuh join the family celebrants in a hora "Remember That We Suffered". 

As Linda Buchwald wrote in a review for JTA,

Broadway legend Patti LuPone guests as Rabbi Shari and sings “in a minor key to remember that we suffered.” That would have been enough —dayenu! — but then Tovah Feldshuh, in a recurring guest role as Rebecca’s mother Naomi, joins in, too. If there’s not an online petition yet to replace “Hava Nagila” with this song during the hora at all future bar mitzvahs, there should be.

Enjoy! 

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Havdalah Service Led by IDF Chief Cantor Shai Abramson at the King David Hotel

On Fridays we usually post a musical welcome to Shabbat with a version of Shalom Aleichem, Lecha Dodi, or Adon Olam. But this week we're skipping to the end of Shabbat and continuing the series of Havdalah services that we started in September.
There's a rich lode of musical endings to Shabbat, and Havdalah ceremonies around the world reflect the traditional and local musical tastes of each location.

Here's a video to save for tomorrow night at the conclusion of Shabbat. It's a beautiful version of Havdalah sung by Shai Abramson, Chief Cantor of the Israel Defense Forces. 

The Havdalah Service took place at the King David Hotel with the FIDF Delegation to Israel. IDF Chief Cantor Ltc. Shai Abramson Acompanied by the Rabbinical Choir Conducted by Ofir Sobol with Roey Shema at the piano.
 
Shabbat Shalom and Shavua Tov.
Enjoy!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Woody Allen Dictates a Letter on Candid Camera

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."

Before he made over 40 films and became one of the legends of all cinema, Woody Allen was a writer for the classic Candid Camera show, and in that time appeared in a some of the clips.

This clip is from 1963, and features Allen hiring a new secretary and having to take down the most non-business letter ever. It's a real comedy classic.

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

British Comedian Ashley Blaker on New Years Day - Jewish vs. Goyish

We've been following British comedian Ashley Blaker for the last few months, posting his funny observations about Jewish life from the perspective of a 42-year-old Baal Teshuva.

After posting segments about Jews and sushi, driving habits of the very frum, and reflections on celebrating Christmas as a Yom Tov, we have to include his comments on the contrasts between Jewish and Goyish behavior in celebrating a new year.

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.