Welcoming Shabbat with Ana b'Cho'ach by Dikla Orbach Hacmon

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.

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.

This version of Ana b'Cho'ach is sung by Dikla Hacmon Orbach. The Hebrew text and translation appear below the video.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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ANA B'CHO'ACH We, we beg Hashem with the strength and greatness of thy right arm, untangle our knotted fate. Accept your people's song, elevate, elevate and purify us We beg Hashem with the strength and greatness of thy right arm, untangle our knotted fate. Accept your people's song, elevate and purify us Please, heroic one, those who pursue your uniqueness guard them as the pupil of an eye. Bless them, purify them, pity them May your righteousness always reward them. Powerful and Holy One Powerful and Holy One, in goodness lead your flock. Unique and proud one, to your people turn, who remember your holiness. Accept our cries, and hear our screams, oh knower of mysteries. (Blessed is the name of his noble kingdom forever and ever.)

Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Red Buttons Gives NY Alumni Award to Fyvush Finkel

At the New York Alumni Association in 1998, Red Buttons presented an award to Fyvush Finkel in recognition of his many years on the Yiddish and Broadway stages.

During the evening, Buttons showed off his Hebrew and Yiddish (actually Japanese) singing abilities. 

Finkel entertained the crowd with a solo performance of Tradition and If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof. He also sang I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore from Gigi.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: The Jews of Turkmenistan

Last week we shared a video by world traveler Drew Goldberg, who goes by the name Drew Binsky when he travels. 

Binsky is close to achieving his goal of visiting each of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations. In just a few months, the 28-year-old will have done it. 
It started when he spent part of his college junior year in Prague after a Birthright trip to Israel. Then he got hooked on travel and never stopped.

Today we're going along for the ride as Drew pays a visit to Turkmenistan, where he encounters Olga, who with her family tries to maintain Jewish traditions in the Muslim country, which has shared borders with Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan, and which is friendly to all religions.

Enjoy!

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The Great Jewish Comedians: Phil Silvers (with Jerome Kern on The Ed Sullivan Show)

Our series on The Great Jewish Comedians has blossomed into a lecture on 15 of the greatest comedians that's now one of the most popular on our lecture circuit. It sold out the 575 seat auditorium at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton last winter. 

We've created a follow-up 90-minute lecture with 15 more comedians and it's scheduled for February 10 at FAU. One of the comedians we're featuring in the lecture is Phil Silvers.

Silvers (1911-1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". He starred in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S. Army post in which he played Master Sergeant Ernest (Ernie) Bilko.

He began entertaining aged 11, when he would sing in theaters when the film projector broke down (a common occurrence in those days), to the point where he was allowed to keep attending the same movie theater free of charge, to sing through any future breakdowns.

Silvers wrote the lyrics for Frank Sinatra's "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)". Although he was not a songwriter, he wrote the lyrics while visiting composer Jimmy Van Heusen. The two composed the song for Van Heusen's writing partner Johnny Burke, for his wife Bessie's birthday. Substituting Sinatra's little daughter's name Nancy at her birthday party, the trio pressed the singer to record it himself. The song became a popular hit in 1945 and was a staple in Sinatra's live performances.

He was a guest on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he appeared in a skit with composer Jerome Kern about Kern's famous song Old Man River from the musical Show Boat. 

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Car Trouble"

It's another Monday, and it's time for another joke to start the week. Here comes another one from Toronto's Jewish Folks Telling Jokes, a night of comedy to benefit Jewish Family and Child, one of the foremost Jewish service agencies in North America.

We previously posted a few jokes that were told at the event, a Canadian contribution to the world of Jewish humor, probably inspired by the off-Broadway show Old Jews Telling Jokes, still touring around the USA.

We'll be posting more of these jokes on upcoming Mondays. Here's another one, told by Joey Leventhal.

Here's the setup: Ruchel came home from work, and her husband says "Hey Ruchel, how come you're late today? You're always on time." And she says "Oy, I'm having trouble with the car." And then...

Enjoy!

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Comedy Showcase: Sebastian Maniscalco Goes Out to Dinner with His Jewish in-Laws

Sebastian Maniscalco is one of the funniest of today's ethnic comedians. As an Italian-American married to a Jew, he has acquired a pair of in-laws who keep giving him material for his stand-up comedy routines and his Netflix specials.

We have previously posted his descriptions of his first Passover seder and how he tried to baptize his Jewish baby. 

Today we found another one of his sets on YouTube when he returned to The Tonight Show with jokes about his experiences eating out at restaurants with his wife and in-laws. 

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem for French Horn and Orchestra

Dnipro is the third largest city in Ukraine and it's the home of the chamber orchestra of the Dnipro State Conservatory. 

Today we're welcoming Shabbat with the orchestra's version of Shalom Aleichem from Lev Kogan's Hassidic Tunes for Horn and Orchestra with Dmytro Taran playing the French horn.

Enjoy, and Shabbat Shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Allan Sherman Sings "Smog Gets in Your Eyes"

Allan Sherman dominated the world of song parody during the 1960s and recorded eight albums, starting with My Son the Folksinger.  

Listening to or reading his lyrics is a crash course in pop culture of the 1960s, with Sherman taking satiric swipes at summer camp, psychiatry, fad diets, Hadassah ladies, school dropouts, and upward mobility.

The popularity of his parodies got him many guest appearances on TV variety shows. In this video clip, Sherman prefaces his rendition of Smog Gets in Your Eyes, a take-off on Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach's song Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, with a joke on how the California city of Van Nuys got its name.

Enjoy!

 

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#Throwback Thursday   #TBT

Comedy Showcase: Jeff Rothpan at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival

Comedian and writer Jeff Rothpan is originally from Montreal. His comedy career began when he was just 16 years old. Soon after that he moved to Los Angeles and worked hard to perfect his comedy.

He hit his stride by the time he turned 23 and landed an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

These days Jeff is one of the busiest comedy writers in LA, working on TV shows, films and providing material for Jeff Dunham, whom Forbes magazine consistently ranks as one of the top grossing comedians in the United States.

In this video clip from the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Jeff jokes about his appearance, his parents, his Bar Mitzvah, and his wife.

Enjoy!

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Israeli Inventor of the USB Flash Drive Reminisces After 20 Years

It's been 20 years since computer users worldwide started to plug in the small flash drives (also known as thumb drives or memory sticks) into USB sockets on their laptop or desktop computers.

It's not well known that this device was invented in 2000 by Dov Moran, an Israeli entrepreneur, inventor, and investor. But it's only one of many hardware and software inventions that originated in Israel.

In this video, Dov Moran sits down with the ISRAEL21c video network to talk about his life, the early days of Israel start-ups, how he became an entrepreneur, and what Israeli life was like in the 1950's.

Enjoy, and kvell!

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.

A Joke to Start the Week - "So Much Nachas"

It's another Monday, and it's time for another joke to start the week. Here comes another one from Toronto's Jewish Folks Telling Jokes, a night of comedy to benefit Jewish Family and Child, one of the foremost Jewish service agencies in North America.

We previously posted a few jokes that were told at the event, a Canadian contribution to the world of Jewish humor, probably inspired by the off-Broadway show Old Jews Telling Jokes, still touring around the USA.
 
We'll be posting more of these jokes on upcoming Mondays. Here's another one, told by David Goldstein.

Here's the setup: These two old friends are talking, and one says "How's your daughter, the one who's married to the surgeon?" "Oh, she's doing terrific, fine." And then...

Enjoy!


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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Meet Mike Hanopol, the Filipino Jewish Rock Star

Drew Goldberg, who uses his childhood nickname Binsky when he travels, is close to achieving his goal of visiting each of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations. In just a few months, the 28-year-old will have done it. 

It started when he spent part of his college junior year in Prague after a Birthright trip to Israel. Then he got hooked on travel and never stopped.

As Josefin Dolsten wrote in The Times of Israel, 

Goldberg grew up in a Jewish family in Scottsdale, Arizona. He attended Temple Chai, a Reform congregation, where he had his bar mitzvah.

After graduating with an economics degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Goldberg took a job teaching English in South Korea. He created a travel blog to document his experience traveling throughout Asia over the next 18 months.

Goldberg makes a point of visiting Jewish communities in the countries he visits, and he says traveling has helped him connect with his Jewish identity. He has visited Jewish communities in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Ethiopia and the Philippines.

“I feel more connected with the religion from a global perspective because I’ve really gone in the houses of Jews around the world,” he said.

We'll share some of his videos in the next few weeks, starting today with his video report about meeting Mike Hanopol, the Filipino Jewish rock star. 

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.

Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem in Toronto's Temple Sinai

Today we welcome Shabbat with a choir from Temple Sinai in Toronto, Ontario. Their version of Shalom Aleichem is the 36th that we've posted in our welcoming Shabbat series.

It was recorded last November at the installation of Rabbi Jordan Shaner and Cantor Sharon Brown-Levy.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday at the Oscars: Norma Shearer and Carl Laemmle - Jewish Winners in 1930

With all the glitz and glamour associated with the Academy Awards coming up on February 9, we're going back 90 years to take a look at the laid back awards announcement that was made in awarding the Oscars for best performances in 1930. 

It was a year that saw two Jewish nominees walk away with the coveted gold statuette. Norma Shearer received the Oscar for her Best Actress performance in The Divorcee. And Producer Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures, took home the award for All Quiet on the Western Front as Best Picture.

As P.J. Grisar wrote in The Forward,

Norma Shearer, a Canadian-American actress who converted to Judaism in 1927 to marry MGM mogul Irving Thalberg, holds the distinction of being not only the first Jewish woman to win an Oscar, but the first performer overall. (Writers Benjamin Glazer, Ben Hecht, Joseph W. Farnham, né Frohman, and director Lewis Milestone, né Lieb Milstein, were the first Jewish winners in the first Oscars ceremony.)

Oscar winner producer Carl Laemmle was born in 1867 to a Jewish family in Laupheim, in the German Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1906, Laemmle quit his job and started one of the first motion picture theaters in Chicago.

Laemmle remained connected to his home town of Laupheim throughout his life, providing financial support to it and also by sponsoring hundreds of Jews from Laupheim and Württemberg to emigrate from Nazi Germany to the United States in the 1930s, paying both emigration and immigration fees, thus saving them from the Holocaust.

Let's go back to 1930 and watch these two members of the entertainment world receive their awards. 

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#Throwback Thursday    #TBT