New Streaming Platform "Izzy" Joins Netflix, Hulu with All-Israeli Films and TV

If you've run out of new films and series to watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, and you're looking for some new content from Israel, here's some good news.

 A new streaming platform called "Izzy" has just made its debut, with all Israeli shows and films.

As Jessica Steinberg wrote in The Times of Israel,

“Shtisel,” “Fauda,” “The Baker and the Beauty, “When Heroes Fly” — these are some of the binge-worthy Israeli shows that have happily made it to Netflix.

There are other local shows and films that have not reached the global platform, but are worth watching. And now that content may become available on Izzy Stream Israel. 

Izzy is the new media content platform created by 30-year-old Josh Hoffman, a Los Angeleno immigrant who came to Israel on Birthright, was introduced to Tel Aviv, and never left.  

The for-profit platform charges $4.99 a month, and has gathered 5,000 viewers since its May 21 launch, said Hoffman. He is hoping to double that figure each month.

The streaming service currently offers more than 100 titles, including feature-length films, shorts, and documentaries. It can be accessed on your smart TV, computer, smartphone, tablet, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast, and more.

According to Izzy's promotional material, the service is like “if Netflix and Israel had a baby,”

Enjoy!

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Yiddish Word of the Day - "Yom Kippur"

As people continue to spend their days and evenings at home, due to coronavirus social distancing restrictions, the Forverts has launched a daily series of short informal video clips called Yiddish Word of the Day.

The series, written and narrated by Forverts editor Rukhl Schaechter, aims to give non-Yiddish speakers an introduction to familiar Yiddish words and phrases and how they might be used in everyday situations. 

Schaechter, who was appointed the new editor of the Forverts in 2016, is the first woman to helm the paper in its 119-year history, its first editor to have been born in the United States, and likely its first editor who is shomeret Shabbat.

We posted the first of this series in May. Now that the Forverts is continuing the series, we'll be sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of Jewish Humor Central.

Now that Yom Kippur 5781 is over, we're taking a look back at some Yiddish phrases that are based on the holiday experience. These expressions were common among Yiddish speakers for whom Yom Kippur has been a reference point far beyond its basic theme of repentence and atonement.
 
Enjoy! 

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Yom Kippur Coronavirus Special: Comedian Joel Chasnoff Updates Confession to Include Pandemic Misdeeds

Every Yom Kippur, Jews collectively acknowledge our “sins” during the Vidui Confession. Below is Joel's updated version of the Confession, based on all the misdeeds we committed during the pandemic. It's in alphabetical order, like the real thing! 

The Corona Confession:

א  Apcheenu - We sneezed without covering our noses

ב  Barachnu - We left a Zoom meeting early under false pretenses

ג  Googalnu - We Googled Corona statistics for no reason

ד Dacheenu We delayed taking a Covid test to avoid being quarantined

   D’mei Havtalnu We applied for unemployment benefits unnecessarily

ה Heeshta’alnu - We coughed into our hands and wiped it on our friends’ furniture

ו  Ve-Heesh’arnu We left our cell phones at home during quarantine so we couldn’t be tracked

   WiFinu - We claimed the WiFi was down to explain having missed an 8AM staff meeting

ז  Zoomeenu BeShaina - We slept during a Zoom session

ח Cholanu - We faked having a sore throat and dry cough to avoid visiting our mothers-in-law

ט Televeeznu - We watched TV during an online bar mitzvah

 י Yadeinu Tamanu - We touched fomites without rubber gloves

 כ Kafkafeenu - We wore our slippers outside

    Kalavnu - We borrowed our neighbor’s dog and took him for a walk, just to get some fresh air

 ל Leechlachnu - We touched silverware without first washing our hands

 מ Maseichanu - We wore our masks below our chins

 נ Netflixnu - We used the pandemic as an excuse to watch Netflix

 ס Sacheetnu - We squeezed fruit in the grocery store, then put it back on the shelf

 ע Aleenu - We took the elevator when it would have been more hygienic to take the stairs

 פ Purellnu - We finished all the Purell

 צ Chateteenu - We chatted privately in Zoom meetings about others in attendance

    Tza’adnu - We failed to take off our shoes before entering the house

 ק Quarantinu - We self-quarantined to take a break from our families

 ר Routernu - We changed the password to the family WiFi router and didn’t share it

 ש Sheekarnu - We lied about having washed our hands with soap

 ת Tachtoneemnu - We wore underwear to a Zoom meeting

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Welcoming Shabbat with "Mi Ha'ish" by Shofar Man Amit Sofer

We previously posted some videos of the shofar being used for more than the blasts during the Rosh Hashanah service, but until now we haven't seen it being used as a serious musical instrument.

Shofar Man Amit Sofer, a musician who plays the trumpet and the shofar, has perfected the art of playing the shofar to produce an amazing range of notes. This week Sofer released a a video with him playing Mi Ha'ish, an excerpt from Psalm 34, to piano accompaniment.

Mi Ha'ish is said during the early part of the Shacharit service on Shabbat morning.

Who is the man who desires life, who loves days to see goodness?   מִֽי־הָ֖אִישׁ הֶֽחָפֵ֣ץ חַיִּ֑ים אֹ֘הֵ֥ב יָ֜מִ֗ים לִרְא֥וֹת טֽוֹב: Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceitfully.   נְצֹ֣ר לְשֽׁוֹנְךָ֣ מֵרָ֑ע וּ֜שְׂפָתֶ֗יךָ מִדַּבֵּ֥ר מִרְמָֽה Shun evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it. ס֣וּר מֵ֖רָע וַֽעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב בַּקֵּ֖שׁ שָׁל֣וֹם וְרָדְפֵֽהוּ

How does Sofer do it? After all, a shofar usually produces only one note. In an interview at the Weitzman Institute of Science in Israel, he explained:

First of all, we need to understand how I produce a sound from the shofar, since it is simply a horn that can produce two sounds at best. The key is having a sufficiently large mouthpiece. Just like in a trumpet, I need a large shofar mouthpiece so it would be comfortable for my lips. Once I have a comfortable mouthpiece, I can use my lips to make two basic sounds.

To get a wider spectrum of sounds, I use motions with my left hand on the shofar’s opening. I call these left-hand motions “the trombone effect:” Similarly to a trombone player who elongates and shortens the instrument in order to obtain different sounds, I play with my fingers, moving my left hand to and away from the shofar to get a wider spectrum of sounds.

When Sofer “plays with his fingers,” he effectively changes the shape of the shofar’s opening. This has a similar effect to the bell shape at the end of a trumpet, which causes low pitch sounds with long wavelengths to sound higher.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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