Category: Celebrities

Bat "Mitzvahpalooza"

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date December 23, 2005

Exclusive photos of Mitzvahpalooza are online here. This is the bat mitzvah spectacular put on by Long Island defense contractor David H. Brooks for his daughter’s entry into Jewish responsibility. Here’s a link to the original NY Daily News article. At the simcha, performances were by everyone from 50 Cent to Don Henley to Stevie Nicks to Aerosmith. As Blogger Tabloid Baby pointed out, “Brooks got better talent than the NBC Katrina relief benefit.”

While 50 Cent didn’t play at my Bar Mitzvah (October 1989 for those wondering), The People’s Choice band did and they were, well exactly what you’d expect from a Bar Mitzvah band in the late 80s. The truth is that Sam Thomas was an amazing DJ who traveled with The People’s Choice to play Run DMC and Beastie Boys music while the adults ate and the kids danced.

And if you want to learn more about the Bar and Bat Mitzvah culture of the 70s and 80s, I recommend the new book Bar Mitzvah Disco. You can check out their very funny promotional video here.

Funny Jew Stuff

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date December 22, 2004

Funny selections from Jewsweek’s Jewriffic Awards.

Best reference to child molestation:
“Rabbi Feldman, stop touching me!”
— Adam Sandler on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno explaining what he was thinking when the director of his new movie, Spanglish, told him to channel a time from his childhood that would make him cry on cue.

Best rip-off of Fiddler on the Roof by a hot woman: Gwen Stefani riffs on Fiddler on the Roof on her new CD Love, Angel, Music, Baby with the song “Rich Girl,” a take off of Tevye’s “If I were a rich man”.

“Now that you’ve let the secret out that I’m not Jewish, I expect my career to be done. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. My career is officially over.”
— Jason Biggs thanking the women of “The View” for alerting the world to the fact that he’s not Jewish.

Best piece of political critique: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a time when the party that controlled the Senate, the House, the White House and the Supreme Court was so out of sorts about how little respect they get. At a certain point you want to say, “OK, Goliath. Stop pretending.”
— Jon Stewart writing about the recent elections in Rolling Stone Magazine.

Antisemitism Celebrities

THE PASSION OF MEL GIBSON: Does his new movie about Jesus, crucify the Jews?

Post author By Rabbi Jason Miller
Post date February 25, 2004

The Passion of the Christ hits theatres tomorrow (Ash Wednesday). Jonathan Schwartz of the American Jewish Committee saw a preview of the movie and articulates the very real concerns of the Jewish community in this article.