Friedman competed in the Maltz Museum's competition to find Cleveland's Funniest Rabbi
The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage held its second ever Cleveland's Funniest Rabbi contest earlier this week. Dr. Kiva Shtull of Shir Shalom in Chagrin Falls won the prized Gold Chicken with his wealth of moyel and Geauga County jokes. But while he may have been the funniest rabbi, he certainly wasn't the only funny rabbi who performed for the crowd Wednesday. Rabbi Shmuel Friedman from Chabad cracked up the crowd with his stories of converting rabbis and jokes about his "casual Amish" wardrobe. The other competing rabbis were Rabbi Ephraim Karp from Menorah Park, defending champion Rabbi Dan Roberts from Temple Emanu El and Rabbi Lauren Werber. The contest was judged by Bert Stratton, Violet Spevack and Steve Presser. Come back all this …
Temptation to switch is the real story of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Would you switch from Coke to Pepsi? What about changing your driving habits to reduce carbon emissions? Would you Occupy Wall Street? Would you change your religion? Temptation to switch is the real story of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which begins this year on Sat., Dec 8 at sundown, and lasts for eight days. It’s relevant today as a way to think about what we’re willing to give up. How much pop culture can we accept into our lives, and how much of our tradition (be it Indian, Catholic or Jewish) do we want to preserve? Pressure to conform Some 2,000 years ago, Greeks dominated the world from Western Europe to India and imposed their cultural philosophy, “Hellenism,” on their subjects. Greek culture, language and philosophy were …
Take our poll and tell us about your family's traditions in the comments
Families around the region are celebrating the start of Passover with a family seder tomorrow night, and we want to know what your favorite Passover tradition is. Mom blogger Kally Rubin Kislowicz shared hers: "My favorite Passover tradition is a song my family sings at the point in the Seder where we talk about the 4 sons. It is a long song, sung in English to the tune of 'Oh My Darling Clementine'. As a preteen I hated it. I felt embarrassed to be singing this random and weird song in front of our guests. But when I left home and spent my first seder away from my family I found myself missing the song terribly - it had grown on me, and in my mind it was as much a part of the matzah and the bitter herbs. "I now have seders with my in-…
HeathCliff Rothman
5:38 pm on Monday, April 9, 2012
My favorite Passover song - "The Ballad of Passover" - to the tune of "On Top of Old Smokey" - with lyrics by Elaine Bratman! http://bit.ly/Hsq8In more ›