Is the Yo App Jewish?

Yes, Bloomberg reported that the incredibly popular, quirky and eccentric Yo app was invented by Jews in Israel.

Accordingly I'm awarding the app the Harris Epstein prize for great Talmudic inventions.

Stephen Colbert joined the Yo revolution with this take on it.



This reminds me of a song I heard as a kid at the first Broadway show I went to, "Milk and Honey". So I adapted the song lyrics for the app generation.

Yo, Yo,
You'll find Yo
The nicest greeting you know;
It means bonjour, salud, and skoal
And twice as much as hello.
It means a million lovely things,
Like peace be yours,
Welcome home.
And even when you say goodbye,
You say goodbye with Yo.

It's a very useful word,
It can get you through the day;
All you really need to know,
You can hardly go wrong,
This is your home as long as you say:
Yo,
The nicest greeting I know;
Yo,
Means twice as much as hello.
It means a million lovely things,
Like peace be yours,
Welcome home.
And even when you say goodbye,
If your voice has
"I don't want to go" in it,
Say goodbye with a little "hello" in it,
And say goodbye with Yo.

It's the most amazing thing
That I think I've ever heard
Wait till Berlitz hears of you
All my foundering's done
I'm a native with one little word

Yo, Yo,
I find Yo
The nicest greeting you know;
It means bonjour, salud, and skoal
And twice as much as hello.
It means a million lovely things,
Like peace be yours,
Welcome home.
And even when you say goodbye...
If your voice has
"I don't want to go" in it,
Say goodbye with a little "hello" in it,
And say goodbye with Yo.

Is Idina Menzel Jewish? Is Adele Dazeem Jewish?

Yes, Idina Menzel is a Jew. Yes, Adele Dazeem would be a Jew if she existed. That is the mangled name given to Idina Menzel by John Travolta at the Academy Awards in 2014. No, John Travolta is not a Jew.

To get a mangled Travoltafied version of your name, go to this website. Mine came out "Theo Zamirez". I kinda like that name.

Wikipedia reports on the early life of the actual Idina Menzel:

Menzel was born in Queens, New York. Her mother, Helene, is a therapist, and her father, Stuart Mentzel, worked as a pajama salesman. She has a younger sister, Cara. Her family is Jewish; her grandparents emigrated from Russia and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Her family lived in New Jersey (East Brunswick, Somerset and Marlboro) from when she was in kindergarten to third grade, but she considers herself raised in Syosset, New York.

When Menzel was 15 years old, her parents divorced and she began working as a wedding and bar mitzvah singer, a job which she continued throughout her time at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Menzel herself, however didn't have a Bat Mitzvah after she quit Hebrew school as a girl. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama at New York University prior to being cast in Jonathan Larson's rock musical Rent. She changed the spelling of her surname to Menzel to better reflect the pronunciation the Mentzel family had adopted in America. She was friends with actor Adam Pascal before they worked together in Rent.

Hat tip to our musical good friend who says all of this is amazingly hilarious :-)

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Is Rap Music Talmudic?

No, rap music is not Talmudic. Rap music is the complete utter opposite of anything Talmudic.

In setting a new epitome for bad taste and judgment, the owners of the Rap Genius web site continue to describe it as the Talmud for rap.

To take a page out of rap music, let me say to Mahmod Moghadam, Tom Lehman and Ilan Zechory, the founders/owners of Rap Genius, "Fuck you."

Rap music is profane. It claims to be profane. There is no doubt it is profane. Listen to it for ten minutes. It's vile, misogynist, sexist, racist, violent and obscene.

On October 16, 2013 Shalom Life reported that RG is the, "'Internet Talmud' which continues to grow exponentially, attracting approx. 30 million monthly users around the world." No, it is not the Talmud!

Shalom Life in Canada reported January 30, 2014, "Rap Genius Launches App for Mobile" opining that, "The Internet Talmud lives on."

The RG web site claims to be the Talmud for rap lyrics, i.e., a place where commentaries expose the meaning of texts - not texts of the sacred Torah, as the Talmud and Midrash does, but texts of the utterly profane lyrics of rap music.

And three Jewish Guys are making piles of money off of the talents of hundreds of black musicians. Wow, very clever raising $15 million from Ben Horowitz of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. You guys are awesome Jews!

Oh, tough break when Google discovered that you were gaming their SEO algorithms. You quickly admitted that you "Effed up." How gallant of you (after you were caught): "Google Squashes Rap Genius 'Scheme'.

...Google discovered that Rap Genius was garnering successful results at search engine optimization - if you typed in the lyrics to any rap song, chances were rap genius would appear first - not because of its excellent technologies and millions of loyal fans; no, it appears the three dudes behind our beloved site were actually running a backlink scheme.

Tech expert John Marbach outlines how the scheme works exactly in a blog post from earlier this week; apparently bloggers were encouraged to insert backlinks to lyrics on Rap Genius for the new Justin Bieber album: Journals. Rap Genius promised to these bloggers that, in exchange, they would tweet a link containing these links, which optimizes SEO for all parties involved.

Google, however, looks down on such behavior as, besides being a tad unfair, leading to poor results for people using the search engine platform.

"We effed up," wrote Rap Genius founders Ilan Zechory, Mahbod Moghadam (check out our exclusive interview with Moghadam here), and Tom Lehman...

You know, don't tell anyone. I listen to rap music and admire the music and its utter chutzpah. That doesn't mean I officially like it...

But please, please, please don't keep calling Rap Genius, the "Internet Talmud"!

עונג שבת (עונ"ש):עֵת לָלֶדֶת וְעֵת לָמוּת: פרידה מפיט סיגֶר- Oneg Shabbos Blog's Pete Seeger and the Jews Post

A fine Pete Seeger and the Jews post - in Hebrew.

Time to be born and a time to die: Farewell Pete Seeger

בלוג עונג שבת 

רשומה: עֵת לָלֶדֶת וְעֵת לָמוּת: פרידה מפיט סיגֶר

קישור: http://onegshabbat.blogspot.com/2014/01/blog-post_29.html

P.S. Seeger was not a Jew. Wikipedia: Seeger was born at the French Hospital, Midtown Manhattan. His Yankee-Protestant family, which Seeger called "enormously Christian, in the Puritan, Calvinist New England tradition", traced its genealogy back over 200 years. A paternal ancestor, Karl Ludwig Seeger, a physician from Württemberg, Germany, had emigrated to America during the American Revolution and married into an old New England family in the 1780s. Pete's father, the Harvard-trained composer and musicologist Charles Louis Seeger, Jr., was born in Mexico City, Mexico, to American parents

Here is another story about Seeger's Jewish songs.

Is Bruno Mars an Orthodox Jew?

As far as we know, Bruno Mars is not Jewish, Orthodox or otherwise... the pop singer is from Hawaii, part Filipino and part Puerto Rican.

His Grammy winning album is Unorthodox Jukebox and let us make this clear, this music is not suitable for Orthodox Jews (or others) who wish to avoid music with explicit themes about sex or swear words. Other than that, we like the album a lot.

Previously on the subject of Bruno Mars (6/5/12) we waxed Talmudic:

We like the popular music of Bruno Mars. It is mostly happy and upbeat. Even the unrequited love theme in "Grenade" comes out as a positive lyric in some strange ways.

The blog Jewlicious pointed us to a music video that wonderfully draws on a Bruno Mars song, "Marry You."

Dancing Jews, um, Juice: Everybody thinks Bruno Mars is singing “dancing Jews” instead of the actual lyric, “dancing juice” (slang for booze). But who cares, this amazing, joyous video gives us plenty of reasons to post it.

Jewlicious does not explicitly tell us that the amateur video shows some friends of the couple dancing dressed up like "dancing Jews" (men wearing hats and fringes - tzitzit) who appear in and out of the frame at the right times in the song.

JStandard.com: My Talmudic Advice Column for January: Shul Boycott and Carlebach Conundrum

Dear Rabbi: Your Talmudic Advice Column
Published in The Jewish Standard

Dear Rabbi,

Several years ago I attended a Bat Mitzvah at a Conservative synagogue in a Midwestern city. I recall witnessing something that has troubled me since that time. The principal of the Orthodox day school in the city attended the event but during the service he would not enter and he stood outside of the sanctuary in the hall. I found this action discourteous and disrespectful. Am I wrong to have been offended? Am I wrong to be raising this question after much time has passed?

Polite Jew
Teaneck

Dear Polite,

It's not surprising or remarkable that you continue to recollect years later the event you describe. The scenario has all the trapping of a traumatic passive-aggressive social confrontation.

First, it's an odd circumstance that you describe that more likely would occur out-of-town than in one of the big metropolitan areas. In the small community context, on the one hand the rabbi likely felt obliged to accept the invitation because people in town would know if he did not. On the other hand, the dictates of his right-wing Orthodoxy prohibited him from entering a church or any non-Orthodox place of worship.

The rabbi's ill-conceived compromise was to partially attend the event. He would have been better advised to make an excuse and not be present at all. Of course, that's easier to do in a big busy town.

By all ordinary social conventions a person invited to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah comes to see and hear the child be called to the Torah and be accepted into the adult community. It seems that the rabbi's religious inhibitions were like blinders that prevented him from understanding the discourtesy of his actions.

Unfortunately, often we use the arena of the synagogue as a small field on which to play out the dramas of our larger social and communal lives. And do note that among these arenas, there are good synagogues and communities and bad ones.

In a healthy synagogue and community, dramas unfold with dignity and can be resolved with polity. In a toxic environment, spectacles can lead to insolence and be poorly worked out, leaving contempt and recriminations in their wake. These ill after effects can and will linger for years.

In this case that you raise, the rabbi acted out the conflict between Orthodoxy and Conservative Judaism by his personal actions of standing in a synagogue hallway.

He came to the event with this baggage. Orthodoxy maintains first that it is the only true form of Judaism, that all other varieties are falsifications of the religion. Orthodoxy maintains second that Jews must shun other forms of Judaism lest they be granted "legitimacy". In the system of thought that justifies Orthodoxy, it's okay to do what needs to be done, and even to disrespect other forms of Judaism, because the very survival and future of Judaism (and the world) hangs in the balance.

And yet, basic human courtesy does persist as a factor even in the face of such strong sentiments. In your scenario, the rabbi you reference felt impelled to be polite, in a way that was offensive to you.

Yes, you are right to have been affronted. And no matter how long ago it took place, you are not wrong to object to social abusiveness cloaked in the camouflage of religion. Our community benefits greatly from those who reject divisiveness and narrow-mindedness and who instead pursue comity and understanding with vigor and persistence.

Dear Rabbi,

Our synagogue has a periodic Carlebach service based on the melodies of the famous singing rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. I have problems with that new practice. First I come to synagogue to hear the traditional melodies for the prayers, not newly invented tunes. Second, I have heard that Rabbi Carlebach was banned by his peer rabbis for his experimentation with the liturgy and for his personal shortcomings.

Am I wrong to object to the Carlebach minyan in our synagogue?

Tradition, Tradition
Engelwood

Dear Tradition,

You left out from your inquiry the factor that most troubles synagogue-goers when it comes to the Carlebach-style prayer service, usually conducted on Friday night. That is, because of all the extra singing, the service can take much longer than the ordinary Kabbalat Shabbat.

On the specific point that you raise, of course, you may object to any and all innovations in the synagogue. But I don't know if that will get you anywhere. It's undeniable that avant garde is not desirable in a place where millennia old liturgy is cherished. Yet the hum-drum boredom of many of our congregations motivates people to seek in different directions for new forms of spirituality.

And true, some say that the Carlebach tunes are inspiring. But I have heard classically-trained hazzanim object vociferously to the extra-liturgical innovations that those songs contain. They say the rabbi did not honor the parameters of the prescribed and sanctioned chanting and singing.

During his life, Rabbi Carlebach indeed was chastised for his unorthodox actions and innovations. And most recently his daughter Neshama announced that she was converting to Reform Judaism. Her decision may be controversial, but it makes good sense to me, since Orthodoxy prohibits women from singing in public.

Now, you don't tell me if your congregation is Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or Reconstructionist. Carlebach services are held in all of those venues. But to answer your question, yes, you are wide of the mark to object to a minyan in your synagogue that was instituted by the proper procedures of your community. Although you may have good arguments in your corner, remember that synagogue attendance is voluntary. When there is a service that takes place that does not meet with your liking, you may stay home or attend another synagogue.

The Dear Rabbi column offers timely advice based on timeless Talmudic wisdom. It aspires to be equally respectful and meaningful to all varieties and denominations of Judaism. You can find it here on the first Friday of the month. Send your questions to DearRabbi@jewishmediagroup.com

Neshama Carlebach Converts to Reform Judaism

So there is no ambiguity - Bravo to Neshama Carlebach for her decision to convert to Reform Judaism.

I'm sure it was difficult for her even though it is such a rational move. A person who grows up Orthodox has a hard time leaving Orthodoxy. It is a really "sticky" form of Judaism.

Neshama explains her decision in a highly personal essay published 12/18/2013. I think it is important because of the sensitivity and metaphor with which Carlebach expresses her choice. She calls her decision "Aliyah" and her relationship to Orthodoxy that of a "refugee".

Although I am Orthodox and nearly all of the women in my family are too, it amazes me that women can tolerate Orthodox Judaism at all in the 21st century. Perhaps some Orthodox women would care to explain to me how they accept the idea that they sit in the back of the shul, that they don't count for a minyan, that they cannot be called to the Torah, that they cannot train to become rabbis and that they cannot sing in public. I'd like to hear the reasoning so that I can understand.

Carlebach has done a logical thing, and here is how she explains it. (Hat tip to KS for sending me the link!)

Why I Am Making 'Aliyah' to Reform Jewry
Reb Shlomo's Daughter on Being 'Refugee' From Orthodoxy

By Neshama Carlebach

(JTA) — I grew up Jewish. Simply Jewish.

My late father, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, raised us in an observant Orthodox household. Our lives were filled with beautiful ritual and we celebrated the wonder of a familial spiritual connection.

That said, we also danced along the fine line of progressive Judaism. My father’s Torah was an expression of the beauty of Judaism. He taught the world to love and cherish Shabbat – even on a Tuesday – and to love Jewish rituals in an open hearted, expansively spiritual way that often set him apart and alienated him from many established religious groups.

God Is Dead? Is Black Sabbath Kosher?

Google Play gave me a holiday gift last week - 26 free songs (December Deals) - and I have listened to them all several times. Wow. There is in this grab bag stuff in Google's offering of music I would never listen to, let alone own. (See the FREE PLAYLIST December Deals. All month long, Google Play is giving away free tracks and discount albums from some of music's biggest stars. Grab these while you can, and check back next week for another batch of gifts by your favorite artists by the Google Play Music Team.) (iTunes - goodbye! Google Play is so here!)

I am obliged to comment on one track among the free ones: God is Dead? by Black Sabbath?. It's heavy metal and yet I like it. Well, maybe like is too strong. I can abide it. As music I reluctantly admit it is kosher, it is intriguing and fun. Not certain about the group being kosher. Here is the official music video - not bad too.



No we should never do this. Song lyrics are not messages of philosophy or theology. But anyway, what does the song say? Here is the dramatic ending:

Nowhere to run
Nowhere to hide
Wondering if we will meet again
On the other side
Do you believe a word
What the Good Book said?
Or is it just a holy fairytale
And God is dead?
God is Dead [x4]

Right!

But still the voices in my head
Are telling me that god is dead
The blood pours down
The rain turns red
I don't believe that God is dead
God is Dead [x4]

And finally, the title. What is with the question mark?? I surmise that some producer decided a song with the title God is Dead will not fly. So he added a question mark to it. Just my guess. The song might strike you as a bit Kohelet-like. If you dared to make the comparison.

Is Rapper Kanye West Anti-Semitic?

Is Kanye West Anti-Semitic?

Abe Foxman thinks he is because he said Jewish people have "connections." Slow racism day, Abe? Gotta go digging for publicity, Mr. Foxman?

Hey ADL! We do have "connections" whatever that means! Abe! We have you, the ADL. What better "connection" than that?!

Kanye West said some silly meaningless general things about blacks, Jews and "oil people". He is entitled to make dumb statements. He is a rapper, that's what he is paid to do. Rap is provocative and really dumb. It's not philosophy or political or social commentary.

Kanye! Keep entertaining us with your really dumb things and saying your dumber things. That's what makes you so gosh darn charming and popular.

You are hereby certified as rap-kosher.

Here is the post with the scoop, "Kanye West upsets Jewish leaders with Obama commments:"

Outspoken rapper Kanye West has found himself in trouble with U.S. Jewish officials over remarks he made in a radio interview last month.

While chatting to Power 105 in New York on November 26 , West was asked for his opinion on U.S. leader President Barack Obama - and his thoughts appear to have upset the national director of the Anti-Defamation League.

The rapper said, "People want to say Obama can't make these moves or he's not executing. That's because he ain't got those connections... Black people don't have the same level of connections as Jewish people. Black people don't have the same connections as oil people."

His statement has been called anti-Semitic by Abraham H. Foxman, who is demanding he apologizes.

The ADL director says, "This is classic anti-Semitism. There it goes again, the age-old canard that Jews are all-powerful and control the levers of power in government. As a celebrity with a wide following, Kanye West should know better.

"We hope that he will take responsibility for his words, understand why they are so offensive, and apologise to those he has offended."

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Is Sam Horowitz' Bar Mitzvah Dance Video Kosher?

Sam Horowitz performed a dance at the Omni Hotel in Dallas to celebrate his bar mitzvah. Sam danced on stage in November 2012 with eight (visibly taller) women dancers in a number that lasted less than three minutes where he appears on stage about halfway through. As of 8/18/2013 the video has received 726,000 views on YouTube.



I think that yes, the video is kosher and an appropriate way to mark the coming of age of a young man. It is a cute and sweet and entirely wholesome performance. I assume that Sam likes to dance. He does it well. And now that he is 13 he chose to descend to the stage to enter and dance with the women in an innocent and shy way.

Some rabbis disapprove of the ostentatiousness, the cost and what they perceive of as the inappropriateness of the event. David Wolpe wrote (ranted) in the Washington Post, "The egregious, licentious and thoroughly awful video that is circulating ‘celebrating’ a Bar Mitzvah contains so much that is offensive that it requires restraint to hold oneself to three ways in which this display slaughters the spirit..." I guess I saw a different video - one that elevated my spirit.

For the record, the bar mitzvah is a rite of passage ritual that began in medieval times and has been associated with calling a boy to receive an aliyah to the Torah at his thirteenth birthday. To the rabbis who innovated that ritual that was an appropriate way to mark the coming of age of young boy. The rite presumes that an aliyah to the Torah has positive meaning in a community and that a young boy will appreciate an aliyah as a symbolic way to mark his turning into an "adult". That may be the case.

Yet, I have attended synagogues in which aliyahs are granted in a less than wholesome and equitable way to wealthy donors and to the favorites and cronies of the rabbis and gabbais. And I have seen many bar mitzvah boys endure the requirements of an aliyah performance as an anxiety ridden ordeal, rather than a pleasant ritual.

In his dance, Sam looks to me happy and full of positive expression. I deem what he did to celebrate, a proper and kosher expression of his coming of age. Mazal tov Sam!

Alicia Keys Performs in Tel Aviv 7/4/2013 - Video

Hand-held video quality alert - Our neighbor (and favorite) Alicia Keys featuring Idan Raichel performing in Tel Aviv - fallin' - mimaamakim - אלישה קיז ועידן רייכל פוליינג ממעמקים



Hat tip to Alicia for performing in Tel Aviv.

Hat tip to Blog in D Minor for the link to the video.

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Music Video: Talmud Beach - Time on Highway 5

Great name for a band. Nice sound. I like it. Except the end is a little strange...



Talmud Beach – Time On Highway 5 from Hevosburger on Vimeo.

תפילה לירושלים מילים הרב שאר ישוב כהן Video: Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen's Inspiring Prayer for Jerusalem

Aaron Reichel, my friend of many years, sent me this update about a video of Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen's inspiring Prayer for Jerusalem and related matters:

Thanks to Rabbi Itzchak Marmorstein, whose work relating to the late Chief Rabbi Kook our Harry and Jane Fischel Foundation has supported, I just received a you-tube link to the Prayer for Yerushalayim, to be recited or sung annually on the Shabbat before Yom Yerushalayim, authored by the Chairman of the Board of our Foundation and President of the Machon and of Ariel, Chief Rabbi Emeritus Shear Yashuv Cohen (also former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem), chanted by a chazzan and a full ORCHESTRA! I don't know about you, but I can't think of ever having heard ANY prayer -- let alone a prayer intended for recitation in Orthodox synagogues (though not exclusively, of course) -- chanted with such an orchestra! I hope you will savor this you-tube presentation as I did. I'm not a music connoisseur, so I won't offer any comments of evaluation. The u-tube presentation (of course made on a weekday) speaks -- sings? -- for itself!

Cantor Avremi Kirshnbaum תפילה לירושלים מילים הרב שאר ישוב כהן from YouTube

Aaron adds:

While on the general subject of special prayers sung in Orthodox synagogues but composed in relatively recent times, a few weeks ago, the very prominent Rabbi J. J. Schacter spoke at the West Side Institutional Synagogue as the featured "scholar in residence" and guest speaker at the annual Rabbi Herbert S. Goldstein Memorial Lecture (subdivided into three full-length lectures), in conjunction with the recent publication of the augmented biography of Harry Fischel, originally edited by Rabbi Goldstein. Rabbi Goldstein was the father-in-law of Chief Rabbi Cohen, who wrote the preface to this augmented edition. Rabbi Schacter was as eloquent and informative as ever, but among the things that stand out about his presentation is that despite the fact that, unlike me (who might be considered biased in favor of Rabbi Goldstein, notwithstanding the objective documentation in the biography I wrote), Rabbi Schacter would be expected to be biased AGAINST Rabbi Goldstein, having been the rabbi of a historically competing synagogue, on various levels, The Jewish Center, and having co-authored a book about Rabbi Goldstein's "nemesis" -- Mordechai Kaplan, the first rabbi of the Jewish Center and the founder of reconstructionist Judaism, and, to some extent, the CJI before it, of which Rabbi Goldstein became the first director. Yet Rabbi Schacter was extremely gracious in his praise of Rabbi Goldstein and Rabbi Goldstein's place in history, and even had some kind words about the biography of Rabbi Goldstein, which he cited extensively. These tangents now lead up to the main tangent to what I'm leading up to, in the context of the you-tube link.

At the Shabbat at the WSIS featuring Rabbi Schacter (referred to above), the Chazzan of the WSIS, Zev Muller, sang Avinu Shebashamayim, a/k/a the Tfila L'Shlom Hamedinah (the prayer for the country of Israel) a rendition composed by Cantor Sol Zim, with a solo at the beginning and at the end, which was absolutely mesmerizing, no less than what listeners of the you-tube link below are about to hear. Among the other compositions that Chazzan Muller sang was Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach's Mimkomcha. Rabbi Schacter, the guest speaker, began his primary speech -- the Shabbat morning sermon -- with some words about the synagogue and the current rabbi and the history of the synagogue and its founding rabbi, but he also said that had he come to the West Side just to hear this chazzan (Chazzan Muller) sing these two compositions, it would have been worth it! I've heard many guest speakers and many notable chazzanim, but I never before heard any guest speaker make such a statement about any chazzan!  I would hope that the readers of this email will come to the WSIS and/or encourage other people to come to the WSIS for many reasons, but now they can add this one!

Cantor Muller, by the way, is to be one of the guests of honor at the forthcoming dinner of the WSIS, and I'm sure that, PG, he will do more than a simple acceptance speech! So if you want to hear him during the week, this is an opportunity to do so.

--Aaron

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Amazon.com: Incredible Free Album of Shabbat Music

Tzvee writes: 15 track album, mostly guitar, incredible quality music, and free today. Craig Taubman Presents Acoustic Shabbat Various artists | Format: MP3 Music Price: $0.00 Download or play now in Cloud Player.   1. Silent Prayer, Andrew Dennen 3:35 2. Angels Around Me, C Lanzbom 2:57 3. Eshet Chayil, C Lanzbom 5:37 4. Mi Shebeirach, Debbie Friedman 4:13 5. Swingin' on the Tree of Life, Eric Komar 4:11 6. Stairway to Shabbos, Larry Milder 2:39 7. Shalom Alechem, Laurence Juber 3:33 8. Nign Lshabes Vyontif, Pete Rushefsky 2:34 9. Kaddisch, Richard Locker 4:02 10. Hashkivenu, Sean Harkness 4:40 11. Lcha Dodi, Sean Harkness 3:55 12. Shabbat Prayer, Sheryl Braunstein 2:47 13. Shalom Aleichem, Salam Aleikum Sol Tevél 3:30 14. Elohai Naomi, Less 4:16 15. Hoshia Na, Hillel Tigay 2:42

For more albums of Craig Taubman music MP3 downloads on Amazon see these seventeen albums.

Is Punk Rock Jewish?

No, punk rock is not Jewish. Yes, there are a few Jewish punk rock musicians. The Times' story, The Orthodox Fringe Moshiach Oi! Merges Orthodox Judaism and Punk Rock, misses the point entirely.



The fact is that both Orthodox Judaism and punk rock are quirky versions of their respective genres. And so the story of Orthodox-punk-rock is an account of quirkiness to the second power. Maybe nine people are involved in this globally. Get it? We don't.

Helfgot and Perlman Take Brooklyn by Storm

Israel-born American violinist Itzhak Perlman, performed tonight with Manhattan’s Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. It was the new arena’s first Jewish event.

In November, 2006 we interviewed Helfgot for the Jewish Standard prior to his concert at the Metropolitan Opera House...

Internationally renowned Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot will perform “Helfgot Sings Cantorial Classics,” the first solo cantorial concert at the New York Metropolitan Opera on Sunday, December 3. At press time the event has nearly sold out the 4400 seating capacity of the Opera House. Dr. Mordechai Sobol arranged the music for the orchestra and choir. The orchestra will include members of the New York Philharmonic conducted by Matthew Lazar with Cantor Daniel Gildar on the piano. The choir will be coordinated by Cantor Azi Schwartz. The invocation prior to the concert will be offered by the chief rabbi of Israel, Yisrael Meir Lau.

New York Times Merges With Tzvee's Talmudic Blog

The New York Times announced that it has merged with Tzvee's Talmudic Blog to form "The New York Times Talmudic Blog."

The Times was already known as a premier Jewish newspaper in the city with high visibility Jewish editorial writers like Tom Friedman, Roger Cohen and Paul Krugman and Israeli news bureau chief Jodi Rudroren.

"We lacked Talmudic depth of analysis," said Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Chairman & Publisher of the Times. "This merger with the Talmudic blog will fill in that lacuna in our content."

Tzvee Zahavy, Chairman & Publisher of the Talmudic Blog said, "Contrary to some popular opinion in the Talmud blogosphere, we always liked the Times' Jewish stories and its coverage of Israeli politics." In Talmudic style he added, "Sometimes we vehemently objected to the Times and everything that it stands for. This merger will advance the ability of the Times' Jewish writers to seek out new modes of conflicted Jewish identity."

In other Jewish media merger news, the three major Jewish comedy publications announced that they will join together, "The Jewish Press," "The Onion" and "The Borowitz Report." The new entity will be called, "The Everything Bagel."

In worldwide Purim news, our old friend the peripatetic master journalist Yori Yanover reports on major developments from Israel and Cleveland:

• First White Power Talmudic Yeshiva Opened in Ohio
• Defying Boycotts, Jagger, Stones, to Honor Israel’s 65th Birthday

Whence and Wherefore

God's Favorite Prayers

Roman Vishniac Photographs Exhibit at the International Center of Photography

The photographs of Roman Vishniac are on display at the ICP at 6th Avenue and 43rd Street.

We don't expect that Vishniac's portrait of our dad is in the exhibit.



Portraits of Albert Einstein and Marc Chagall made it into the exhibit.

    

The portrait selections in the exhibit are just one part of a larger collection. The catalog describes the portraits this way:

Portrait Studio and Nightclubs, New York

Upon arriving in New York in 1941, Vishniac turned to photography to support his family, opening a portrait studio on the Upper West Side. Always resourceful, he mined his connections in the Russian and German-Jewish expatriate communities to secure famous subjects for portraits—Marc Chagall, Albert Einstein, and Yiddish Theater star Molly Picon among them. These photographs of well-known artists, intellectuals, and performers helped establish Vishniac's reputation in New York, attracting a broad clientele to his studio, including Jewish émigré dancers, actors, musicians, artists, intellectuals, and scientists. His success in portraiture ultimately allowed Vishniac to pursue photomicroscopy, biology, and scientific research—fields that would become his primary focus over the next fifty years.

Vishniac also turned his camera to the city's nightclubs, where war- weary New Yorkers, abetted by a swell of immigrant performers and off-duty servicemen, sought distraction at a frenzied pace. His dynamic and skilled work, focusing on jazz musicians, actors, comedians, and dancers, exhibited here for the first time, incorporated highbrow and lowbrow, popular and avant-garde, focusing primarily on three Jewish- owned nightclubs: New York's first integrated nightclub, Café Society, The Village Vanguard in bohemian Greenwich Village, and the burlesque joint Leon & Eddie's. Much like his earlier work in Eastern Europe, Vishniac's portraits of Jewish émigré intellectuals and performers capture the vitality and resilience of Jewish life, this time from the perspective of a different segment of the diaspora, facing its own set of challenges.

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Moses vs Santa Claus and Is Snoop Lion Jewish?

We warn you. It does not get any sillier than this video on YouTube, "Moses vs Santa Claus. Epic Rap Battles of History".

This image of the rapper wearing a Jewish star and playing Moses prompted our inquiry, Is he Jewish?

No, Snoop Lion is not a Jew. According to Wikipedia, "A DNA test read by George Lopez on Lopez Tonight revealed Snoop Dogg to be of 0% East Asian, 23% Native American, 6% European, and 71% African descent."

And see the additional video on the making of the nonsense, Behind the scenes of Moses vs Santa Claus.

Teaneck gets The Shalom TV Channel

Optimum in Teaneck has The Shalom TV Channel on 138 now as a full time channel in addition to the previous On Demand service. Via PR:

Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) today announced the addition of the new Shalom TV Channel to Optimum’s comprehensive line-up. Shalom TV, available on channel 138, is America's Jewish television network with a strong array of shows covering the panorama of Jewish life and of interest to everyone.

Shalom TV programming addresses everyone with a sense of Jewish identity and those seeking their roots. Televised offerings resonate with anyone who has a passion for learning and a desire to gain a greater understanding of Jewish tradition, Jewish life and the land of Israel. Viewers can tune-in to daily news from the Israel Broadcasting Authority, timely interviews with the leading personalities in the Jewish world, live call-in programs, Friday evening Sabbath services and Jewish children's programming every morning and afternoon....