Israel's Magic Mushrooms Lead the Way in Psychedelic Medicine

Israel has quietly become one of the world leaders in the research and use of medicinal psychedelics. In Israel there is a company called PsyRx that is leading research in psychedelic medicine.

As Brian Blum wrote in Israel21c,

With military service mandatory and conflicts breaking out every few years, most Israeli families have experience with PTSD. There’s also trauma in communities near the Gaza border that are under regular but unpredictable rocket attack. 

In early 2019, Israel became the first government worldwide to approve a “Compassionate Use” program for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. The United States followed Israel’s lead when the FDA approved limited MDMA therapy in December 2019.

This video shows the lab trying to produce psychoactive compounds in fungi. Mushrooms can help with conditions like anxiety or PTSD. The PsyRx lab focuses on developing mushrooms that help with depression.

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A Joke to Start the Week: "Luck of the Jews"

It's another Monday, and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're bringing you another joke told by David Apfel.

Now living in Modiin, Israel, David Apfel is an accomplished entertainer and chazzan. He sings in several languages with repertoire ranging from the musicals to opera. He has officiated internationally at several orthodox synagogues and he also specializes in ''Kosher Komedie''.

Here's the setup for today's joke: A long time ago in the Soviet Union in a very severe winter, there was a long line of people waiting to buy food. And then...

Enjoy!

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Yiddish Word of the Day: "The Computer"

Last year the Forverts 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 2020. Now that the Forverts is continuing the series, we'll continue sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of Jewish Humor Central.

Today's subject is the computer and the many expressions that result from its use.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Lecha Dodi Modzitz Medley by Colin Schachat and Avreimi Roth

Since we started sharing various Shabbat melodies in our Friday posts, we've included 43 versions of Lecha Dodi, the central liturgical poem in the Kabbalat Shabbat service. 

 

While all versions are worthy of emulating, so far none has been as ebullient and joyful as the one we're sharing today.It's a medley of Modzitz melodies for Lecha Dodi sung by with orchestra and choir arranged and conducted by Maestro Ofir Sobol from Colin Schachat's album The Cantorial Collection.

South African born Colin Schachat has established himself internationally both as a renowned baritone and cantor. He performs a wide range of popular repertoire including Broadway, Yiddish, Opera, Chassidic, Israeli, Italian and Spanish songs.

 

Avremi Roth, who is often associated with his deep and powerful voice, has recently changed his musical style and released a number of recent pop hits that have been a resounding success on radio stations and playlists. “I would not say that I have really changed my style,” Avremi Roth points out. “I just make the necessary adjustments to the current musical style and put out songs that will also suit the current era. But the authentic cantorial cantata and music are still ingrained in my soul forever.”

 

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

 

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Smith and Dale - "Tax Consultant and Avoiding Taxes"

It's another Throwback Thursday and today we're turning the calendar back 54 years to an appearance by the comedy team of Smith and Dale on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Joe Smith (originally Joseph Seltzer) and Charlie Dale (originally Charles Marks) grew up in the Jewish ghettos of New York City. Many of the famous comic performers of vaudeville, radio and movies came from the same place and the same era, including Gallagher and Shean, George Burns, Eddie Cantor, George Jessel and The Marx Brothers. 

Seltzer and Marks met as teenagers in 1898 and formed a partnership. They named their act "Smith and Dale" because a local printer gave them a good deal on business cards reading "Smith and Dale" (intended for a vaudeville team that had dissolved). Joe Seltzer became Joe Smith, and Charlie Marks became Charlie Dale.

During the 1920s, they became famous for their signature sketch "Doctor Kronkheit and His Only Living Patient," which like "Who's on First?" for Abbott and Costello, became one of the famous comedy sketches of the 20th century. The name of the doctor is an inside joke: Smith and Dale, both being Jewish, named the physician Kronkheit, which is Yiddish and German for "sickness". Thus we have a doctor named "Dr. Sickness". Indeed a hospital in German is called a Krankenhaus, or literally "sick house".

In today's skit, Joe Smith goes to see tax consultant Charlie Dale for help in avoiding taxes.

Enjoy!

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   #Throwback Thursday     #TBT

Comedy Showcase: Avi Hoffman's "Too Jewish, Too! - Welcome To The Catskills"

At age 10 Avi Hoffman (born Avrum Ber, in 1958) made his theatrical debut in a Yiddish Folksbiene Theater production called Bronx Express. In the decades that followed, the performer, a son of Holocaust survivors, has appeared in a wide range of theatrical endeavors, both in New York City and regionally.

Avi is the CEO of the Yiddishkayt Initiative, a not-for-profit organization that celebrates and promotes Jewish history, life, and culture and their positive and far-reaching impact on the world. From performing arts, publishing, and education to language, philosophy, and literature, YI offers a global clearinghouse of Jewish culture and entertainment. 

Avi is known for his shows, Too Jewish and Too Jewish Too. Today we're sharing Welcome to the Catskills, an excerpt from Avi's second show Too Jewish, Too. Enjoy! 

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Hava Nagila Around the World - With Shofar Intro by Folkadu with Yael Gat

Folkadu is an ensemble which takes us on a musical journey from traditional Jewish tunes to Israeli folk songs, sung in diverse Jewish languages such as Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino, accompanied by a unique instrument combination of trumpet, accordion and oud. 

Hava Nagila (Hebrew: "הבה נגילה"‎, "Let us rejoice") is an Israeli folk song traditionally sung at Jewish celebrations. The melody is based on a Hassidic Nigun, composed in 1915 in Ottoman Palestine, when Hebrew was being revived as a spoken language for the first time in almost 2,000 years. 

We are now in the middle of the Hebrew month of Elul. As Rosh Hashanah approaches, it's traditional to blow the shofar each day of the month. By doing so, inevitably we’ll feel remorse over past misdeeds and set ourselves upon a fresh new path. We don't think that the rabbis who started this tradition had it in mind as a prelude to Hava Nagila, but why not take Yael Gat's interpretation as a foretaste of the coming holidays? 

Folkadu are: Yael Gat - Shofar & Trumpet 

Pier Paolo Bertoli - Acoordion 

Doron Furman - Oud

Performance at Berlin Music Festival 2021 

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Chauffeur Rabbi"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today Mickey Greenblatt is back with another good one.

Marshal (Mickey) Greenblatt received degrees from Columbia (BA and BS in Flight Sciences), a DC from Von Karman Institute (1963) and his PhD from Princeton in Aerospace Sciences. He worked as a researcher for NASA and the Naval Research Laboratory. 

With four other scientists, he founded Fusion Systems Corporation, which invented microwave-powered UV lamps for drying coatings. He founded and served on the boards of technology companies and is active in volunteer work. He served on the executive committee of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington for many years.

Mickey also loves Jewish jokes and sent us this one to share with you. Here's the setup: A renowned rabbi is scheduled to lead a discussion in a strange town. He's tired and so he says to the chauffeur who drives him to all of these lectures: "You know, I'm not up to leading the discussion tonight."  And then...

Enjoy!

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Yiddish Word of the Day: Liquor

Last year the Forverts 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 2020. Now that the Forverts is continuing the series, we'll continue sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of Jewish Humor Central.

Today's subject is liquor and many words and expressions related to imbibing strong drink.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem by Mandy Monreal

Mandy Monreal is a Jewish Contemporary Musician with a background in voice, piano, composition, and education. In this arrangement of Shalom Aleichem, she blends her two passions: music and faith.

Cantor Devorah Avery of Temple Shalom in Dallas visited Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in a cantorial capacity to serve Jewish communities there. She has performed in concerts in the United States, Israel, Ukraine, and Belarus. Hallie Weiner joins in the vocals and James Darling plays the hand drum.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Andy Kaufman Performs on the Johnny Carson Show in 1977

In August 1977 comedian and performance artist Andy Kaufman made an appearance on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  

After doing impressions in his Foreign Man accent, a masterful Elvis Presley impersonation, and playing a wild song from the Islands of the Caspian Sea on the bongo drums, Kaufman sat for an interview with Carson. 

In the interview, he explains the origin of his Elvis character and tells a story of how his Foreign Man character got an autograph from a woman in a massage parlor on 42nd Street in New York.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

"What Kind of Person is a Mentsh?": Philip (Fishl) Kutner on Preserving the Yiddish Language

Since 2010, the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexner Oral History Project has recorded hundreds of in-depth video interviews that provide a deeper understanding of the Jewish experience and the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture. 

The interviews in the growing collection are conducted in Yiddish and/or English with narrators of all ages from a variety of backgrounds. 

In this video excerpt from an interview, Philip (Fishl) Kutner, founder of "Der Bay" a website for Yiddish networking information, explains why he thinks people should learn Yiddish today, and how its rich culture and unique terminology make Yiddish a language worth preserving. 

Fishl is also the founder of the International Association of Yiddish Clubs (IAYC). Jewish Humor Central's publisher Al Kustanowitz is a member of the IAYC Advisory Board.

 

To see the full interview and learn more about the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project, visit: https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/interviews/woh-fi-0000861/philip-fishl-kutner-2016.

 

Fishl also runs an hour-long Zoom Yiddish discussion every Tuesday at 2pm Eastern Time. If you're interested in joining FYG (Fishl's Yiddish Group) you can register and get more information at this link: Join Fishl's Yiddish Group.

Enjoy!

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Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: The Gat Brothers Sing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" in a Beit Shemesh Forest

Aryeh and Gil Gat, known as The Gat Brothers and The Breslov Brothers and to some, The Amazing Rabbis, made a big hit on the Israeli TV talent show Rising Star in 2013 when they performed Simon and Garfunkel's hit Sounds of Silence before a cheering audience. 

When we posted the video here we got some of the highest ratings from our readers since we started Jewish Humor Central. We've been keeping an eye on Aryeh and Gil, looking for their performances on stage or in the streets of Jerusalem, where they sometimes take up residence on Jaffa Road and in the Mamilla Mall.

Last year they found a new location for their jam sessions -- a forest near Beit Shemesh, a city 19 miles west of Jerusalem.

In this video, they play Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind, complete with harmonica accompaniment.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week: "A Priest, a Minister, and a Rabbi Go to the Dentist"

It's been a long time since we posted a "priest, minister, and rabbi" joke. So when we came across this one by Dr. Jay Orlikoff, we couldn't resist sharing it with you even though we may have posted a variation years ago with a barber instead of a dentist.

Jay Orlikoff is a retired dentist from Centereach, New York, a community on Long Island in Suffolk County.

After a distinguished and meritorious dental career, he is shifting his focus to telling and posting jokes on YouTube. We were fortunate to find some of his jokes and we're sharing one of the family-friendly ones with you today. 

Here's the setup: A priest comes into a dental office and the dentist asks him what the problem is. The priest tells him that he has a toothache. And then...

Enjoy!

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Yiddish Word of the Day - The Theater

Last year the Forverts 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 2020. Now that the Forverts is continuing the series, we'll continue sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of Jewish Humor Central.

Today's subject is the theater and words and expressions related to the theater.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Ana B'Cho'ach by Jerusalem Street Performer Rabbi Tomer

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 Rabbi Tomer, a Jerusalem street performer who can often be found entertaining passers-by in Zion Square.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Groucho Marx Sings Duet with His Daughter Melinda

In the 1950s when quiz shows were the rage on television, one of the most popular was Groucho Marx's show You Bet Your Life.

In one of the episodes announcer George Fenneman introduced an 8-year old schoolgirl as one of the contestants. She happened to be Groucho's daughter Melinda, who joined her father in singing a duet from The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday     #TBT

Top 20 Weird, Wacky and Remarkable Things about Israel

Did you know that Israel is a global leader in medical clowning, a group of Netanya artists made the world's largest mosaic made of 12,000 socks, and that Israel is roughly half the size of Lake Michigan.

These and other wacky and remarkable facts have been posted by Facto Me, a YouTube channel that posts interesting fact-based videos every day.

Enjoy!

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Israel's Linoy Ashram Wins Gold Medal for Rhythmic Gymnastics in Tokyo Olympics

Israeli athlete Linoy Ashram has won the gold medal for rhythmic gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics.

As reported by the staff of The Times of Israel,

Rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram won Israel’s third-ever Olympic gold medal on Saturday, beating out tough competition to take the top spot on the Tokyo 2020 podium and ending over two decades of Russian dominance in the sport.

Ashram is the first Israeli woman to win a gold at the Olympics.

“It’s what I dreamed of for all my life,” Ashram said after the win.

“It’s an amazing feeling to stand in this place, at this time, on the podium and in first place,” said the 22-year-old gymnast who has now been picked to carry the flag at the closing ceremony.

“It’s a crazy experience that I still haven’t fully digested and with peak levels of excitement,” Ashram said.

She was visibly moved as Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, rang out through the gymnastics center as the flag was raised.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week: "Astronomical Angst"

It's another Monday, and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're bringing you another joke told by David Apfel.

Now living in Modiin, Israel, David Apfel is an accomplished entertainer and chazzan. He sings in several languages with repertoire ranging from the musicals to opera. He has officiated internationally at several orthodox synagogues and he also specializes in ''Kosher Komedie''.

Here's the setup for today's joke: Goldstein went to an astronomy lecture. The professor said "I have reason to believe that at the end of 50 billion years the earth will be swallowed up by a massive universal explosion." And then...

Enjoy!

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Yiddish Word of the Day - Parts of the Face

Last year the Forverts 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 2020. Now that the Forverts is continuing the series, we'll continue sharing some of the words and phrases as a regular feature of Jewish Humor Central.

Today we get to learn the Yiddish word for parts of the face.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem by the Navarrete Sefardi Project

Music fusion is probably the best description of the artists who jointly created the Navarrete Sefardi project: Magda Navarrete and Grzech Piotrowski

The melodies of the ancient world intersect in a fascinating way. This version of Shalom Aleichem has flamenco influences. 

Flamenco is said to have originated when the Jewish melodies of people expelled from Spain grew out with Arabic influences. This Shalom Aleichem was performed in Warsaw in 2020 by Magda and her quintet: Kalixt Cajon, Marek Fedor, Maciek Szczycinski, Wojtek Braszak, and Mateusz Pliniewicz.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Showcase: Jackie Mason Does His Ed Sullivan Imitation on the Ed Sullivan Show

Today we're continuing our tribute to legendary comedian Jackie Mason, who died two weeks ago. While his humor didn't appeal to all, and made some people uncomfortable, there's no denying that he was funny and topical in his political incorrectness. 

Mason had a special insight into societal trends, attitudes and actions that defied common sense. His matter-of-fact observations played out to large appreciative audiences on highly rated TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show.

His appearance on the show almost cost him his career when he gestured to Sullivan in a way that Sullivan interpreted as obscene. But two years later they reconciled and Mason appeared on the show to give an inspired impersonation of Sullivan strutting around the stage.

Enjoy!

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#Throwback Thursday    #TBT

Ashkenazi vs. Sephardi - A War of Words

Ashkenazi and Sephardi/Mizrachi Jews have many language and cultural barriers to bridge. This video, posted by the outreach organization Aish HaTorah features great banter and comedy as Ashkenazim have to guess the meaning of Arabic and other Sephardi (in the loose sense of Sephardi) words, while their counterparts have to struggle with Yiddish! Who will win the war of words? 

Beneath the fun and games, Eli Birnbaum, Moshe Levy, Shloimie Gertner, Mark Jacobs and some Chassidic guests from Stamford Hill navigate: Feshnogges (an Ashkenazi Jewish Jelly delicacy), Allah Ma'ak (Middle Eastern blessing), Schmaltz herring (European Jewish fish delicacy), Ich faf dich uhn (Yiddish for 'I whistle on you!'), Mabrouk (Arabic version of 'Mazel Tov'), Mimulaim (Syrian Jewish stuffed cabbage), Ich hob dich in dem boidem (even one of the Ashkenzis struggles with that one!) Kubaneh (OK, that's actually Yemenite, a traditional yeast bread), Ful Medames (so is that, and its a bean dish) Pashkevilim (Yiddish poster announcement), Yoch (East European Jewish word for soup), Farglivet (Yiddish for 'greasy'), Farblondjet (Yiddish for 'lost' or 'hopeless'), Mahasha (Indian stuffed peppers), 

But behind the hilarious struggles to understand each others words, is a message of Jewish unity. Whatever the words, and whatever cultural differences Asheknazi Jews and Sephardi / Mizrahi/ Yemenite Jews have developed, we can laugh together, and celebrate that what unites us is far greater than those funny moments that make our communities unique. 

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: California's Bullis Charter School Choir Sings "Hinei Ma Tov"

Charter schools such as the Bullis Charter School in Los Altos, California are unique public schools that offer an additional educational choice to California families. 

Charter schools are allowed the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. As a public charter school, BCS is free to innovate and implement new programs and teaching methods in order to provide the best education possible for our students.

The K-8 school has four choirs comprising more than 145 students. The Spring concert of their Cambiata choir included a virtual rendition of the Hebrew folk song Hinei Ma Tov.

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.