Welcoming Shabbat and Pesach with Ma Nishtana by Gad Elbaz & Family

Why is this Friday night different from all other Friday nights? Because we are welcoming not only Shabbat, but also seven (in Israel) or eight (everywhere else) days of Passover.  Tonight the traditional melodies of Shabbat are eclipsed by the special melodies of Pesach. 

So instead of sharing another version of Shalom Aleichem or Yedid Nefesh, we're posting a beautiful version of Ma Nishtana by Gad Elbaz and his family.

Elbaz is an Israeli superstar who is currently one of the most recognized names in Jewish music worldwide. With millions of hits on his YouTube music videos, Gad is one of the top recording artists, whose songs are played and covered around the globe. Through his soulful and contemporary sound, Gad has brought Jewish music to a new level, and continues to serve as a role model to his many fans.

We won't be posting on Sunday because we'll be observing the first two days of Pesach here in the USA. We'll be back on Monday with another Joke to Start the Week.

Shabbat shalom and Chag Kasher v'Sameach!
 
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Pesach Traces in Unexpected Places: Echad Mi Yodea by Batsheva Dance Company in Ferrara, Italy

Modern dance or strip Haggadah? Three years ago we posted a modern dance version of Echad Mi Yodea, one of the songs at the end of the Pesach seder.  Choreographed by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of Israel's Batsheva Dance Company, it includes all 13 verses of the song. 

This week we found a video of the same modern dance as performed in 2014 on World Dance Day in the municipal square in Ferrara, Italy. It starts about 2 minutes into the video, preceded by a short version of Ani Maamin. 

We don't know quite what to say about the performance, except that we wonder what would have occurred if there happened to be a 14th verse.

Enjoy!

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Blimpie Announces Passover Seder Plate Subs (P.S. - It's a Parody)

Are you short on time, but need a Kosher for Passover meal for your family? Blimpie and Haymaker are here to help. 

Two boards of matza filled with all your seder plate goodies: Horseradish, hard boiled eggs, charoset, romaine lettuce, parsley, salt, and bone broth -- all for $4.99. 

And for an extra dollar, you can add sliced gefilte fish! And for a limited time, buy one and get one free!

Of course it's a parody, so don't go looking for this special in a Blimpie restaurant. It's brought to us by the Haymaker comedy website.

Enjoy!

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Actress Mayim Bialik Answers All Your Questions About Passover

Actress Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory, Blossom) tackles a bunch of questions about Passover and answers them in an upbeat style that you'll be able to share with friends who may not be up on all the basics.
 
In a video sponsored by the Manischewitz company, she explains the meaning of the holiday, the preparations for the seder and the whole week of living without chametz, and some personal reflections on ways for children to act out the Pesach story.

There's also a link to some of Mayim's personal recipes for Passover which are located on her website, www.groknation.com.

(Full disclosure: Jewish Humor Central's daughter-in-chief and Hollywood bureau chief Esther Kustanowitz is also Grok Nation's founding editor and contributor. In today's issue she offers a practical check list of things to buy, things to do, and an overall list of goals for the holiday.)

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A Joke to Start the Week - "A Lucrative Occupation"

For most of our readers, this is probably the busiest week of the year, with all the work involved in preparing for a week of Pesach. But what better way to start off a busy week than with a joke? Here's one that should get you laughing, or at the very least, smiling. 

Here's the setup: Sheldon arrives back home from work and to his horror finds his kitchen flooded. He starts to panic because he doesn't know any plumber and rushes over to Seymour, his next door neighbor, for help. And then...

Enjoy!

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The Secret Behind Kosher for Passover Coca-Cola

McGill University professor of chemistry Dr. Joe Schwarcz takes us back to the 1930s when Rabbi Tobias Geffen, Chief Rabbi of Atlanta, worked with the Coca-Cola Company to make the popular drink Kosher for Passover.

Invented in the 1800s by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton as a health tonic and pain killer to replace the morphine that he was addicted to, it originally included an extract of coca leaves and cola nuts. The formula for the drink was always a well-kept secret, but the company didn't want to lose the Jewish market which was expressing concern about its kosher status year-round and especially for Passover.

So they asked for the participation of Rabbi Geffen and the rest is history, as Dr. Schwarcz explains in this video.

Enjoy!


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Welcoming Shabbat with Yedid Nefesh Sung by South Africa's Star Chazzan

In 2016 Johannesburg-born Choni Goldman, aka Choni G, won the prestigious Jewish Star - an international American Idol-style competition that showcases the singing talents of Orthodox Jews.

Since then, he’s relocated to Cape Town to take on the role of chazzan at Cape Town's oldest and most famous synagogue. He performed at gigs in Australia, Brazil and the USA, and cemented his reputation as South Africa’s most sought-after Jewish wedding singer. 

In this video, Choni G. teams up with band leader Johnny Sklar to sing Yedid Nefesh on a rooftop in Cape Town in South Africa.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Alan King Interviewed by David Letterman in 1995

Alan King was one of our favorite comedians. He was funny not only in his standup routines
but just about everywhere he appeared in person or in television interviews. He made frequent appearances on the late night TV programs and gave us a candid look at the man behind the routines.

We found a video clip of Alan being interviewed by David Letterman and we're sharing it with you today. In the clip, Alan talks about his children and grandchildren, smoking cigars, and why Jews shouldn't play golf.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Passover in the Desert with Wilderness Torah

We're accustomed to celebrating Passover indoors, seated at a large table, reading the Haggadah and sharing a festive meal with family and friends. But after the Exodus from Egypt, our earliest ancestors experienced Passover in the desert.

Today a group of nature-minded Jews of all denominations experience Pesach in the California desert with Wilderness Torah.

Wilderness Torah creates a big tent filled with all kinds of people bound together by a connection to nature. They work hard to create spaces where people with a range of practices are welcome. They think building pluralistic community is a fun challenge and causes participants to think creatively about the meaning of our traditions and how we practice them.

They encourage participants from all backgrounds and especially ask each one to respect others’ observance levels. The kitchen and meals are kosher and mostly vegetarian, but there is no on-site supervision by a mashgiach.

As Merissa Nathan Gerson wrote in Tablet magazine,

Wilderness Torah has developed from a small gathering of campers to a full cycle of outdoor festivals tied to Jewish holidays—Sukkot, Passover, Shavuot, and Tu B’Shevat—as well as other back-to-nature wilderness quests for adults throughout the year. The group has also created a nature-mentorship b’nai mitzvah program called B’Naiture for 11-to-13 year-olds, and an outdoor-education program called B’Hootz that takes younger kids camping, hiking, and into the wilderness to learn Torah through outdoor experience with mentors.

Enjoy!

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350 Hazamir Teenagers Salute Israel's 70th Birthday at Lincoln Center

Last Sunday we attended the 25th annual HaZamir gala concert at David Geffen Hall in New York's Lincoln Center. In previous years the performance was at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and The Metropolitan Opera.

For two hours, 350 teenagers from 31 chapters of HaZamir Jewish High School Choir across the United States and in seven cities in Israel performed to a packed house, singing traditional and contemporary songs in Hebrew and English.

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.

This year the group paid tribute to Israel in its 70th birthday year and to Hazamir's own 25th anniversary. 

Today we're posting a short clip of their theme song, with which they begin and end their concerts, and Psalm 97 (Adonai Malach), composed by Steve Cohen and conducted by Chris Mason, conductor of HaZamir Westchester, accompanied by Scott Stein, conductor of HaZamir Manhattan on piano. Soloists are Benjamin Sokol, HaZamir Boston; Maya Behiri, HaZamir Long Island; Sam Joffe, HaZamir Silicon Valley; and Chloe Brown, HaZamir Miami.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "The Right Kind of Girl"

Mondays just keep coming, and so do the jokes that make it easier for us to get through them on the way to the next Shabbat and weekend. So here's one to get you started.

Here's the setup: Rivkah is an old fashioned type of mother. She has three teenage sons and she always wants them to reassure her that they are going out with the "right kind" of girl. And then...

Enjoy!

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Here Come the Passover Videos: Purple Chrain for the Seder

It's 12 days until the Passover seder, so it's time to start posting Pesach videos. Every year we get more to choose from, and they're starting to come in.

To kick off the Pesach video season, we're starting with one from last year that we didn't get in time to post before the holiday. It's too good to pass over (pun intended) so let's get an early taste of the chrain (horseradish) that's a key ingredient of the seder.

This animated video, Purple Chrain, is a natural for a parody of the Prince video Purple Rain. 

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with a Beatles Version of Lecha Dodi in Marietta, GA

Temple Kol Emeth, a Southern Reform congregation in suburban Atlanta, Georgia has been conducting Shabbat services with popular musical themes.

Last December they had a Beatles Shabbat, with most of the familiar Shabbat prayers sung to famous Beatles songs. In this video, they sing Lecha Dodi to the melody of Let It Be.

The performers are Cantorial Soloist Blake and the Ahavat Torah Band with Ira Wajsman, Burt Kann, Wayne Melnick, and John Warner.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: Victor Borge Performs at the White House

Victor Borge (1909-2000) was a Danish comedian, conductor and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the United States and Europe. His blend of music and comedy earned him the nickname "The Clown Prince of Denmark","The Unmelancholy Dane", and "The Great Dane." 

He was born as Borge Rosenbaum to a Jewish family in Copenhagen. His parents were both musicians. He began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.

When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland. Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge, and, in 1941, he started on Rudy Vallee's radio show, but was hired soon after by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall program.

Most of his humor centered on his relationship with his beloved piano and the funny variations on classical music that he created and performed to the delight of his audiences.

This performance was filmed at his appearance at the White House during the Eisenhower years.

Enjoy!

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#TBT   #Throwback Thursday