vs. We all have those stories of people with funny names. I happen to know a Rabbi Jesus, a Mashiach Ben David and a lovable guy a year older than I whose legal first name is Doctor. I kid you not. We all also know people who have been given highly recognizable and slightly suspicious nicknames. Some of us are ...
I live in a sort of self-imposed exile. That must be how I managed to avoid hearing about Dexter Morgan until late into the second season of our growing fascination with him. Dexter Morgan - trauma survivor. Emotionally absent, morally driven, thoughtful, tormented. Dexter Morgan - forensic analyst, gourmand, relationship counselor, loving brother, supportive friend. Dexter Morgan - serial killer. Dexter is the story of, among other ...
I am about to make Shabbos in a place where I have never been before, yet I have been here a million times during the week. The Upper West Side of Manhattan is busy, loud, expensive and very Jewish. There are plenty of kosher restaurants and tons of young singles mulling about. Walking around Manhattan on Shabbos won't be different than any other day, it ...
The fact that there are disputes over land in Israel is not a statement that would shock anyone. Israelis and Palestinians have been quarreling over territory for years now. Egypt, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinians have all been fighting with Israel over land since the 1947 UN Petition Plan. Worse is that, in the attempt to settle these disputes, other arguments over land have arisen ...
The Before Shot A few weeks ago I attended a ceremony which celebrated a beautiful custom of some Jews, an Upsherin. For those of you unfamiliar with the upsherin let me break it down. For the first three years of a little boy's life, we (those who keep this custom) refrain from cutting his hair. In the Torah, man is compared to a tree. The halacha ( Jewish law) ...
Warning: This post is not for all Jewneric readers. Readers without a sense of humor and below the age of 16 are likely to not understand this post. While trying to give gifts to my newest niece, I came to the realization that when giving gifts to a newborn/baby you aren't really looking to give the child joy. Those complicated, shiny noisemakers ...
Location, location, location. Memorize the names of cities like Intercourse PA, Metuchen NJ and most importantly Sheboygan WI and incorporate these cities into your act to help sell the jokes you know in your heart just aren’t that funny. It’s all about how you word it. Use hard K’s and funny sounding words as much as possible. The more descriptive sounding the better. If you end a joke by saying, “I was in my underwear ...
A friend of mine (who is not Jewish) called me today to ask me, “What do Jews do on Christmas?” I asked him if he wanted the stereotype or the truth. He asked for the stereotype first. I told him that, “We eat Chinese food and play cards.” He laughed and said he had just seen that in a cartoon. We started talking about it and I told him the origins of Jews ...
Festivus is celebrated each year on December 23rd. For the uninitiated, Festivus comes from a Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza's father creates a holiday because he is sick and tired of the commercialism of the "holiday season," you can read more about it here. What started as a sitcom plot point is now celebrated by many people around the world each year. The question ...
Just because this country is religiously free doesn’t mean it’s religiously unbiased. Mitt Romney’s blatant inadequacies as a candidate will not be the reason he doesn’t get the Republican nomination, but rather he will fail because of his beliefs about Jesus. People would rather be entertained than educated. If every kid who could play Guitar Hero on expert level picked up an actual guitar, the United States of America would have the single greatest ...
