Yiddish Word of the Day - "Eclipses and Other Celestial Events"

In 2020 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.

A full solar eclipse is coming on April 8. Now you can learn the Yiddish terms for "solar eclipse," "lunar eclipse" and other celestial phenomena!

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Adon Olam by Kedma: The Rising Song Piyyut Project

Kedmah is an ensemble of musicians and prayer leaders excavating the power and beauty of Mizrahi Jewish expression through ancient poetry and song. Their debut album, Simu Lev, is currently in production, and this video of Adon Olam is the first glimpse of the project.

Led by Rabbi Yosef Goldman and Yoni Avi Battat, Kedmah honors the artists’ Iraqi, Syrian, and Yemenite ancestry in conversation with their intersecting musical influences. Their interactive performances, workshops, and recordings allow listeners to experience the spiritual and emotional depth of Middle Eastern piyyut (liturgical poetry) and the ages-old tradition of Arab melodies that adorn them. Part educational initiative, part performance group, the social and pedagogical impact of this project is strengthened by a commitment to musical creativity, historical accuracy, spirituality, and public performance at the highest level.  

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Hasidic Comedian Mendy Pellin Reflects on His Comedic Roots in a Self-Biographical Monologue

Mendy Pellin is our favorite Chasidic comedian. We've been running his shtick for 14 years, and he keeps inventing new routines, from his Mendy Report on Chabad TV to the comedy midrash he created on the Jewbellish site that he co-founded.

Now Pellin has posted a monologue on YouTube in which he narrates his autobiography to the camera, telling us how he got started in comedy and how he has been able to turn his penchant for humor into a full-time occupation.

Enjoy!

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Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Cosmetic Surgeon for Dogs - A Candid Camera Classic

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."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

In this classic episode from 2000 Peter posed as a cosmetic surgeon for dogs at a dog grooming salon in Los Angeles. Watch as he tries to sell dog owners on tummy tucks and eyelid surgery for their pets.

Enjoy!

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An English Version of Hatikvah with Current IDF Footage from Israel

We have posted many versions of Hatikvah, Israel's national anthem over the years, but this is the first one in English, an exact translation of the Hebrew words.

The English words are shown over video images from the current war in Gaza in honor of the courageous men and women of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Jews everywhere.

Am Yisrael Chai!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "Waffles and Spaghetti"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a joke by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (YY) Jacobson, one of America's premier Jewish scholars in Torah and Jewish mysticism.

Rabbi Jacobson, an American Chabad rabbi from Monsey, New York, is one of the most sought after speakers in the Jewish world today, lecturing to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences on six continents and in forty states, and serving as teacher and mentor to thousands across the globe. 

He is considered to be one of the most successful, passionate and mesmerizing communicators of Judaism today, culling his ideas from the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and making them relevant to contemporary audiences. 

He served as editor-in-chief of the Algemeiner Journal, and as a choizer (transcriber) for Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

He also loves to tell jokes, and here's the start of one: "What's the difference between men and women kabbalistically?  Men are waffles, women are spaghetti..."

Enjoy!

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Happy Purim! Join Us in Celebrating with a Purim Song in Yiddish by Litvakus

Renowned Eastern European clarinetist, pianist, and composer Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch presents a uniquely thrilling klezmer experience with his new quintet Litvakus, which brings to soaring life the often overlooked Belarusian and Litvak (Belarusian-Lithuanian) Jewish musical heritage. 

Litvakus is reaching out to the modern audiences worldwide, making the old sound new and fresh, meaningful and hip.

Makhts Of - Open Up! is a traditional Yiddish song produced by the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in collaboration with Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York City), In this video Litvakus introduces the main characters of the Purim story.

The performers are Zoë Aqua, violin; Taylor Bergren-Chrisman, bass; Joshua Camp, accordion; Zisl Slepovitch, clarinet, gragger, vocals;  Sam Weisenberg, poyk (drum)

Enjoy, and have a Happy Purim!

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Welcoming Shabbat with V'Shamru at Sinagoga Shalom in Sao Paulo, Brazil

Today we join the Sinagoga Shalom in Sao Paulo's Shalom Community to welcome Shabbat in a Kabbalat Shabbat service with the singing of V'Shamru.

The fundamental objective of the Shalom Community in Sao Paulo, Brazil is to create a Kehilat Kodesh, that is, a religious community that can provide support and encouragement to the spiritual quest of many who seek a space to grow spiritually and progress Jewishly. The synagogue is dynamic and alive, in the permanent search for meaning within Jewish values.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Purim Comedy Special: Stand-up Comedian Elon Gold on Purim

We've been following Elon Gold and posting some of his shtick on Jewish Humor Central for the last 12 years. 

Elon is an American comedian, television actor, writer and producer. He starred in the television series Stacked.  He also starred in the short-lived sitcom In-Laws. 

 

Known for his impressions, including those of Jeff Goldblum, Howard Stern and Jay Leno, Gold was a judge on the ABC celebrity impersonation competition series The Next Best Thing. Gold was also in the movie Cheaper by the Dozen as a cameraman from the Oprah Winfrey show.

Gold attended the Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, NY and the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA)/Yeshiva University High School for Boys in Manhattan, NY. He is a practicing Orthodox Jew.

Today we're sharing a video clip of Gold on stage in a short bit of observational comedy about the holiday of Purim which is only 3 days away.

Enjoy!

 

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A Star Wars Video for Purim - Return of the Jewdi by Temple Beth Shalom - Annapolis Maryland

Purim is only four days away, so it's time to share some new funny Purim content. It's traditional to have funny Purim plays (Purimshpiel) to accompany the megillah reading, which this year occurs on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

We're always on the lookout for original Purim content to share with you. So far this year we haven't seen many new video satires and spoofs. Maybe it's because of the ongoing war in Israel. But we're supposed to increase our joy during the month of Adar, so we keep looking for humor to share.

Here's a shout out to the BAYTY Senior Youth Group of Temple Beth Shalom in Annapolis, Maryland, who put lots of effort into creating a Star Wars parody called Return of the Jewdi featuring Darth Haman and Jabba the Hutt as King Ahasuerus.

Special effects include realistic battles with light sabers and the Temple's rabbi as the voice of King Jabba.

Kol Hakavod to the Purim players! Enjoy!

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A Seven Week Online Series "Is Anything Okay? The History of Jewish Comedy in America" Launches on Thursday

From the earliest jokes told on the Lower East Side to the comedy routines honed in the Catskills, Ashkenazi Jews developed radically new forms of comedic output in the 20th century. On film and television, pioneering Jewish comics broke norms and challenged taboos of American culture.

In the newest online course from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, we can delve into the history of Jewish comedy and its explosive development in the United States. We will see hundreds of unique archival objects, including vintage jokebooks, early comedy records, film, television, and radio clips, photographs, and posters, along with interviews and discussions with leading scholars and personalities from the world of Jewish comedy.

The 7-week course, just in time for Purim and co-sponsored by the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum will launch on Thursday, March 20 online, with a new episode coming every week. The course is free but registration is required.

As Alan Zeitlin wrote in The Jewish Journal,

The first of seven episodes will be “Roots: Jewish Humor in Traditional Ashkenazi Jewish Life” and the last one will be “Contemporary Jewish Comedy” while others will explore the Catskills’ and internal Jewish conflict. The course will continue with a new episode dropping every week.

There will be lectures given by scholars and academics; Jewish comedians, writers and producers will also share their insights,. While it will focus on Ashkenazi Jewish humor, there will be some detours to the humor of Sephardic Jews. 

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "A Full Conversion"

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: Sidney Soboroff was an observant Jew all of his life, but he decided to convert to Christianity. And then...

Enjoy!

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10 IDF Couples Get Married in Mass Wedding Ceremony in Savion, Israel

Last week in the Israeli town of Savyon, ten couples stood underneath their wedding canopies, which were lined up side by side on a large stage. 1,500 guests looked on as the brides and grooms took their vows in one of the largest joint marriage ceremonies to ever take place in Israel.

As Jennifer Hassan-Smith reported for i24 News,

The unique ceremony was organized by the Savyon Chabad Community as part of an initiative called "Marrying the Warrior." They are helping couples like these — whose previous wedding plans were derailed by the war — finally celebrate their unions. 

In all of these couples, either the groom or bride have been serving in the IDF reserves, and have had to reschedule their dream day several times before the organizers stepped in with the special offer. 

Such is the case of Moshe and his bride, who were supposed to get married on October 12.  While a mass ceremony is the opposite of their initial plans for an intimate wedding, they were grateful for the chance to celebrate their coming together as a family, and participate in a larger display of joy and solidarity amid the war.

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Welcoming Shabbat with Lecha Dodi as Sung in the Shtetl of Mszana Dolna, Poland

Mszana Dolna is a town in Poland, with 7,431 inhabitants. Mszana Dolna lies 50 kilometers south of Kraków. The town is located in a deep valley, surrounded by several ranges, including the Gorce Mountains featuring Gorce National Park.

The Jewish community in Mszana Dolna is mentioned in the 1891 official record of Jewish congregations. However, Jews must have started living there much earlier. The first Jews to settle down in Mszana Dolna were innkeepers, which is confirmed by 18^th century data.  Inns were leased to those Jews by the local nobility. 

January 17 is the Day of Judaism in Poland. Workshops were conducted with three groups of young people, who learned the basic concepts of the Jewish religion and culture and elements of the celebration of Shabbat.

sztetlmszanadolna.com is a website dedicated to saving the memory of the Jews of Mszana Dolna and building kind relations with the descendants of the few among them who survived the Shoah. Its organizers take care of the sites of memory and martyrdom of the Jews of Mszana Dolna, organize anniversaries of the Shoah in the town, as well as Remembrance Days and Remembrance Walks. Together with the town’s youth they plant crocuses at the mass murder sites to commemorate the youngest victims. Every week they light the Shabbat candles and bake challah and they also light the menorah during Chanukah. 

In this video, members of the community sing the traditional version of Lecha Dodi to welcome Shabbat.

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Comedy Special: Allan Sherman's "A Waste of Money" Parody of Herb Alpert's "A Taste of Honey"

One year ago we posted a video clip of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass performing their 1965 hit A Taste of Honey. Today we were going through a collection of parody songs by Allan Sherman and came across his takeoff on this musical classic called A Waste of Money. 

In Sherman's version, he is trying to win girlfriends with a Mercedes-Benz car and some jewelry, but it doesn't work out so he calls it a waste of money.

Enjoy!

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  #Throwback Thursday      #TBT

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Showcase: Office Managers Buy Expensive Stupid Tech Products - A Candid Camera Classic

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."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

In this classic episode office managers were brought into a high-tech showroom to see demonstrations of three ridiculous expensive office machines. And one actually bought them.

Enjoy!

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Catskill Comedy Special: "Ten Cents a Bagel" Yiddish Sketch From "Catskill Honeymoon"

Catskill Honeymoon is a raucous marriage ceremony between Yiddish-American cinema and the Borscht Belt. Billed as a “Yiddish-American Musical Revue,” it was one of the very last Yiddish-language films to premiere on Broadway. Its success demonstrated that by 1950 the center of Jewish-American entertainment had moved from New York City to the Catskill resorts of upstate New York . 

With its performers, emcee, and audience often filmed separately and awkwardly intercut, Catskill Honeymoon has the airless feel of “canned vaudeville,” as critic J. Hoberman put it. Nevertheless, it became one of the longest-running Yiddish films.

Up to the late 1970s, it was still a favorite in elderly and rehabilitation homes, having outlasted the Yiddish theatre scene and Young’s Gap Hotel, which closed in 1967. Increased social mobility and assimilation doomed the Catskills resorts, but not before they introduced performers such as Danny Kaye, Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, and Jerry Lewis. Catskill Honeymoon preserves the performances of a grab-bag of entertainers from this tradition, allowing viewers to enjoy a night in the mountains.

Here is a classic sketch from the film set in a Catskills lunchroom in which the three actors, Max Bozyk, Henrietta Jacobson, and Julius Adler, standing on principle, gradually throw all their possessions out the window.

The black and white movie clip is in Yiddish with English subtitles. Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "The Speaker"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. Today we're sharing a joke by Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak (YY) Jacobson, one of America's premier Jewish scholars in Torah and Jewish mysticism.

Rabbi Jacobson, an American Chabad rabbi from Monsey, New York, is one of the most sought after speakers in the Jewish world today, lecturing to Jewish and non-Jewish audiences on six continents and in forty states, and serving as teacher and mentor to thousands across the globe. 

He is considered to be one of the most successful, passionate and mesmerizing communicators of Judaism today, culling his ideas from the entire spectrum of Jewish thought and making them relevant to contemporary audiences. 

He served as editor-in-chief of the Algemeiner Journal, and as a choizer (transcriber) for Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.

He also loves to tell jokes, and here's the setup: This lecturer gets up to give this lecture. He speaks for two hours and 50 per cent of the crowd leaves. And then...

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: Hava Nagila Performance in Georgia

Georgia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the southeast. 

Georgia covers an area of 26,900 square miles. It has a population of 3.7 million, of which over a third live in the capital and largest city, Tbilisi. Georgians, who are indigenous to the region, constitute a majority.

We wouldn't expect to see a performance of Hava Nagila in Georgia, but since just about every country in the world has adopted one of Israel's most famous songs, we weren't surprised to find another version on the internet.

Here a group called Melomoney (მელოMoney) sings Hava Nagila on a Georgian TV show. It's the 122nd version that we've posted since starting Jewish Humor Central in 2009.

Enjoy!

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Welcoming Shabbat with Shalom Aleichem Sung by The Shalva Band

The song Shalom Aleichem is traditionally sung in many Jewish households, and asks the angels to protect us and bless us with peace. The Shalva Band has brought together Israeli communities in the diaspora, alongside evacuees from the south and the north, as well as families of abductees to join in prayer, singing together for peace in Israel.

Since 2005, the Shalva Band has been inspiring crowds worldwide. Having perfomed at Eurovision and for the President of the United States, the band uses music as a language to unite people.

From all corners of the globe, we celebrate the unbridled unity of Israelis and Jews around the world, and pray that we can welcome home the hostages for a Shabbat soon.

Enjoy the Shalva Band's version of Shalom Aleichem, and Shabbat shalom!

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Throwback Thursday Musical Showcase: Jan Peerce Sings "Because" on the Ed Sullivan Show

Today we're turning the calendar way way back 72 years to 1952 when Jan Peerce appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show to sing Because, a song that was a regular part of most weddings.

Peerce, who was born Yehoshua Pinkhes Perelmuth in New York, was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recording artist. Peerce became the brother-in-law of fellow American tenor Richard Tucker when Sara Perelmuth, Peerce’s only sister, married Tucker, who was then a part-time cantor, in 1936.

Enjoy!

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  #Throwback Thursday     #TBT

Wacky Wednesday Comedy Special: Movie Madness - A Candid Camera Classic

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."

Peter Funt joined the show professionally in 1987 when he became a co-host with his father. During this time the show was being broadcast on the CBS television network. In 1993, Allen Funt had a serious stroke, from which he never fully recovered. This required Peter to host the show full-time. 

The show went through a few revivals. During his time on the show Peter was a producer, host and acted on the show. He also produced and hosted over 200 episodes. 

This classic episode first aired in 1999. New Yorkers are told about a crazy new movie theater policy that requires ticket buyers at the box office to line up in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

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It's Tuesday, But Let's Go to Tel Aviv for Funny Monday -- Israeli Standup Comedy in English

Comedians Yohay Sponder and Shahar Hason got their start as comedians in Israel catering exclusively to Hebrew-speaking audiences. As the two became more and more well-known to Hebrew speakers throughout Israel, they noticed a huge demographic in the country that was missing out on the laughs. 

Sponder and Hason took the risk of crafting and re-writing their material from Hebrew to English (and from Israeli humor to American humor), all the while unsure whether or not they would even get a laugh out of an English speaking crowd. Their hard work and dedication to broadening the audience of one of Israel’s most unique cultural elements has launched the growing scene of Israeli Stand-up in English.

Sponder, Hason, and some of their friends carry on each Monday in Tel Aviv with their standup comedy show, Funny Monday. Their English is a bit hard to understand, but it's worth a try.

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.

A Joke to Start the Week - "The Facts of Life"

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: My wife had been on my case for weeks. She kept saying "You have to talk to the boy. He's 13 years old, he's getting big." And then...

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.