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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Jewish Humor

TV legend Norman Lear turns 100, with a song and an Instagram

ANDREW LAPIN, JTAPublished July 27, 2022

(JTA) – Jewish comedy titan Norman Lear turns a century old on Wednesday, and he’s still got a spring in his step. Lear took to Instagram to reminisce the day before his 100th birthday with a video, singing a lick from the classic tune “That’s...

Were the Three Stooges a lot more Jewish than we realized?

Benjamin Ivry, The FowardPublished July 25, 2022

The news that the ketubah, or Jewish marriage contract, for Moe Howard from the Three Stooges has sold at auction for a hefty sum might provoke some reconsideration about the slapstick comedians’ Yiddishkeit. Some Jews remain decidedly opposed...

No idea why my zayde would say this in Yiddish, but he did, a lot

No idea why my zayde would say this in Yiddish, but he did, a lot

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 27, 2022

Since joining the Jewish Light, I’ve reflected on my own Jewish experience growing up, and part of that was the Yiddish, my grandparents would use, particularly my maternal grandparents, Mama and Baba. Both would use Yiddish on occasion, and not...

My bubbe told me to do this after meeting my future wife

My bubbe told me to do this after meeting my future wife

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 21, 2022

Since joining the Jewish Light, I’ve reflected on my own Jewish experience growing up, and part of that was the Yiddish, my grandparents would use, particularly my maternal grandparents, Mama and Baba. Both would use Yiddish on occasion, and not knowing...

A case for why time loops are inherently Jewish

By Rachel Klein, Hey Alma!Published June 15, 2022
These cyclical stories, from "Russian Doll" to "Palm Springs," are the Jewish answer to the Christian apocalypse narrative.
A 1986 Mad magazine cover designed by Mort Drucker. Courtesy of DC Entertainment

Everything I learned about Jewish humor I learned from Mad magazine

By Jim Sullivan, The ForwardPublished June 14, 2022

I grew up in central Maine in the ’60s and ’70s, and while we weren’t exactly the Mayberry of the North — the fictional town of “The Andy Griffith Show” — if you were looking to find a nearly 100% all-white Catholic and Protestant enclave...

The SpongeBob SquarePants theme song is now in Yiddish

The SpongeBob SquarePants theme song is now in Yiddish

JACKIE HAJDENBERG, JTAPublished June 13, 2022

(JTA) — Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? ShvomBob Kvadrat-hoyzn, of course. And now the Jewish world knows how to say “SpongeBob SquarePants” in Yiddish, thanks to a translation of the animated kid show’s theme song by Eddy Portnoy, the...

My bubbe told me to do this if I was "bored." Bet yours did too.

My bubbe told me to do this if I was “bored.” Bet yours did too.

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished June 13, 2022

It’s truly amazing how long it takes till you really understand your bubbe or at least a part of her, you took for granted. Since joining the Jewish Light, I’ve reflected on my own Jewish experience growing up, and part of that was the Yiddish,...

Jurassic Park returns, new Rob Reiner projects and ‘E.T.’

NATE BLOOM, Special For The Jewish LightPublished June 9, 2022

The sixth “Jurassic Park” movie, “Jurassic World Dominion,” opens in theaters on June 10. In this sequel, humans and dinosaurs now live near each other all over the world and the question is: Who will emerge as the “apex predator?” The...

Next up for Adam Sandler’s production company: A YA bat mitzvah novel adaptation

CALEB GUEDES-REED, JTAPublished June 7, 2022

(JTA) — Last month, Adam Sandler threw his daughter a star-studded bat mitzvah party.  Now it looks like his production company is making a bat mitzvah-themed film. The casting site Backstage has posted a casting call for an in-the-works adaptation...

This pep talk from Andy Cohen’s son is all we need

Lior Zaltzman, KvellerPublished June 7, 2022

Jewish dad Andy Cohen and his kids, three-year-old Ben and baby Lucy, are truly a blessing to us all. Cohen recently posted a video of Ben giving him a pep talk in the car — and it will not only cure all of your potential road rage but will also...

Molly Picon (right) as Yente the Matchmaker in the 1971 film Fiddler on the Roof (via Digital Yiddish Theatre Project).

Where does the word ‘Yenta’ come from?

Jordan Palmer, Chief Digital Content OfficerPublished May 26, 2022

How did a popular Yiddish woman's name come to mean gossip and busybody? In the first of our new Word of the Week mini-series, we trace the evolution of the word yenta. Producer Jen Richler talks with Fiddler on the Roof scholar Jan Lisa Huttner, comedian...

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