The Ukrainian Jewish community may call it “the Shiksa race” but non-gentiles around the world love watching. If you plan on joining the race, just don’t tell bubby.
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'Family Goy' Replaced by Ellen to Host Oscars
Funnyman Seth MacFarlane was replaced as host of the Oscars due to anti-Semitic jokes, according to The Forward.
Can gentiles make Jewish jokes? Can white folks make black jokes? This has always been the big question that most comedians have. Some cross the line but most play it safe and only make fun of their ‘own kind’. Seinfeld had this episode addressing the longtime comedian ‘honor code’ implying that only Jews can make Jewish jokes and a conversion won’t help if one converts solely for the jokes:
What are your thoughts? Was it the right thing to replace the edgy gentile for the safer gentile? Should they have over compensated and gave the hosting gig to Woody Allen or Larry David? Can gentiles make edgy Jewish jokes?
The Forward on MacFarlane being replaced:
LOS ANGELES – Comedian Ellen DeGeneres has been chosen to host the annual Oscars telecast in March, after last year’s host and “Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane got into hot water over jokes about Jews in Hollywood and provocative dance routines.
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Ellen DeGeneres
This would be her second stint as master of ceremonies for the Oscars. DeGeneres, the star of her own daytime talk show “Ellen,” previously hosted the Academy Awards, the film industry’s highest honors, in 2007.
“I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time,” DeGeneres said in a statement. “You know what they say – the third time’s the charm.”
DeGeneres, 55, earned an Emmy nomination for her performance in 2007 in which she departed from traditional Oscar hosting decorum and ventured into the audience for spot gags, at one point handing director Martin Scorsese a script of her own.
Whoopi Goldberg and DeGeneres are the only women to have served as solo hosts of the Oscars. Goldberg has hosted the Oscars four times, most recently in 2002.
Disney-owned ABC will broadcast the Oscars on March 2.
The Forward on Macfarlane’s Jew issues:
The animated sitcom “Family Guy” isn’t exactly high art. The Sunday night, 30-minute program, which airs on the Fox television network, is filled with off-color jokes. Nonetheless, many fans were disappointed when the show’s creator, Seth MacFarlane, took things to a new extreme November 8 during a variety special titled “‘Family Guy’ Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show.”
MICHAEL BECKER/FOX
More Flack: Seth MacFarlane, left, and Alex Borstein perform during a Fox show.
In the special, part of a Fox night of programming celebrating MacFarlane with multiple “Family Guy” episodes, the screenwriter’s Jewish co-star, Alex Borstein, (who, like MacFarlane, voices a character on the animated series), protests his singing “Edelweiss” from “The Sound of Music,” a tribute to Austria. MacFarlane tells Borstein that the television show is not the place to bring out her “Hebrew baggage.” Still arguing, Borstein reveals that her mother and grandmother “barely escaped” the Nazis. In response, MacFarlane implies that if World War II were never to have occurred, Borstein would have more competition in Hollywood from Jewish female comedians. “Right now, it’s just you and Sarah Silverman,” he says. Defeated, Borstein joins MacFarlane in song.
The variety show included a bit that mocks Jewish actress Marlee Matlin, who is deaf. When asked if she found the show’s controversial jokes offensive, Matlin told EW.com: “Offensive. No. Sick, very. But that’s Seth and Alex. Humor comes in all forms and everyone has their cup of tea about what makes them laugh.”
Questions regarding MacFarlane’s humor about Jews have long circulated. In 2000, he penned a “Family Guy” episode titled “Once Upon a Weinstein.” The show’s Catholic protagonist, Peter, happens upon a Jewish man, and the encounter leads him to conclude that converting his dim-witted son, Chris, to Judaism will increase the boy’s intelligence. Father and son race off to Las Vegas for an instant bar mitzvah, prevented only by the family matriarch, Lois. Due to its controversial content, the episode did not air for several years.
In October, the Forward reported that Fox took flack for airing an episode titled “Family Goy,” in which Lois discovers her mother is Jewish. The episode was laden with stereotypes.
Ossie Schectman – The original Jordan Farmar
When you think of basketball, Jews are not the first thing to come to mind. Not for alte-kakers that have been around from the start of the sport. They’ve witnessed Ossie Schectman score the very first basket in the history of the NBA. Mr. Schectman died July 30th 2013 at the age of 94.
In 1956, a Jewish player named Ossie Schectman scored the first basket in the first game of what would become the National Basketball Association.
In fact, Jewish links to basketball are deeply rooted, according to David Vyorst, who chronicled that history in his new documentary film, “The First Basket.”
“Until I started doing research for the film, I didn’t really know the profound impact that Jewish players had on the game, or the profound impact the game had on the Jewish community,” Vyorst said.
Benjamin “Ossie” Schectman, the man who scored the first basket in NBA history, for theNew York Knicks, has died, the team announced.
Schectman was 94.
He played for the Knicks in 1946-47, averaging 8.1 points and two assists per game, though he is widely known for his layup on Nov. 1, 1946, against the Toronto Huskies.
Schectman, a 6-foot guard, scored the opening basket of the Huskies’ game against the Knicks, which was the first in NBA history.
In a 2003 interview with ESPN, Schectman recalled the basket as a layup on a give-and-go.
“I scored on a two-handed underhand layup, which was the standard chippy shot back then,” he said in the interview. “I also remember being on the receiving end of a give-and-go, but I can’t remember who I received the pass from.”
Schectman was born in Queens and grew up in Manhattan. He played college basketball at Long Island University. He helped LIU win the NIT championship in 1939 and 1941.
David Draiman's Jewbellish Score Just Went Up
Disturbed heavy metal front man David Draiman took a stand against Roger Waters today. After much analysis, our counsel has determined that his JEWBELLISH SCORE has been raised 3 POINTS today.
Below is his ALL CAPS tweet against Roger Waters followed by his gracious tweet responding to his 3-point Jewbellish Score rise.
I URGE ALL MY FOLLOWERS COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS TO CONDEMN ROGER WATER’S FLAGRANT DISPLAY OF ANTI-SEMITISM. RT http://t.co/aRhlRAQihz
— DAVID DRAIMAN (@DAVIDMDRAIMAN) July 25, 2013
@jewbellish LOL…THANKS
— DAVID DRAIMAN (@DAVIDMDRAIMAN) July 25, 2013
Are Kate Middleton and her Royal Baby Jewish?
According to Alan Dershowitz the Royal Baby’s Jewbellish Score is pretty high:
– His great bubby and zaidy were Ronald & Dorothy Goldsmith. – 3 points
– His father is already starting to go bald like a Brooklyn accountant. – 1/2 point
– There is a street in Israel called ‘King George’. – 1/2 point
– His bubby from his father’s side, Princess Diana, is the biological daughter of Sir James Goldschmidt. – 2 points
– If little George has a Mohel perform a ‘royal cut’ – 3 points
TOTAL JEWBELLISH SCORE FOR THE ROYAL BABY: 6 POINTS (or 9 POINTS W/ CHOP)
As reported in the Algemeiner by Simcha Weinstein
Mazel Tov! After much anticipation, at 4:24 p.m. in London on July 22, the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth. The Royal bundle is an 8lbs. 6oz. son, future King — and perhaps a real Jewish Prince.
For those of you who haven’t heard, according to lawyer Alan Dershowitz, Kate’s mother, Carol, is the daughter of Ronald and Dorothy Goldsmith (whose parents, he claims, were also Jews). The Jewish line may thicken with hubby Wills. It’s been speculated that the late Princess Diana’s mother, Frances Shand Kydd, was born a Rothschild. If that weren’t enough, the London Daily Mail reported that Diana is actually the biological daughter of Sir James Goldschmidt, also a Jew.
Royal ancestry-mavens consider all this hearsay, but between William and Kate, chances are some Jewish blood runs through the bluish.
In fact, the new heir was born in a “Jewish” wing of St. Mary’s hospital. A Sephardic Jew, Frank Charles Lindo, paid for the wing in 1937! He must be shepping some nakhes!
From the day it was announced that the royal couple was expecting, reporters, photographers, and people on the street went wild! How ironic, I thought. In an atmosphere of zero or low population growth, where having more than 1.5 (I’m not a statistician) children are often met with frowns from those who count carbon footprints, this arrival was met with a fervor rivaling the coming of the Messiah.
True, the babe will insure the family business continues for at least the next few generations and, according to Jewish Law, this is critical. In Jewish tradition, we have tremendous respect for government and authority. In the Talmud, Rabbi Chanina teaches: “Pray for the security of the government, for were it not for the fear of its authority, a man would swallow his neighbor alive.” As a child growing up in England, I can still recall special blessings for the royal family, for to have the utmost respect for royalty allows one to recognize the ultimate kingship in this world.
And the people are feeling it. One man who waited outside St. Mary’s hospital for 12 days, said: “We’ve got a lovely married couple and baby will make three — and they will be a family.”
King Solomon, who was called “the wisest of all men” for a reason, used the analogy of a threefold cord: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” He reminds us that a one-strand cord is weak by itself, a two-strand cord is stronger, and a three-strand rope is stronger than either. Children, create a threefold cord.
True, unlike most newlyweds today, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge don’t have to worry about finances, debts, child care, or university. Ever since Kate, who stems from the tiny village of Bucklebury, became the new fairy tale Duchess, she’s become the “IT” girl of the century, and she’s a “hit.” Modern, educated, and hands-on, everything about her becomes “trendy.” So, let’s watch the birth rate!
The national and international mood is soaring at this mind-blowing and mind-changing event and I can hope that the royal blessed event will make having children a “hit” once again.
Each and every child born has the power to replenishment spirit, soul, and humanity. Each and every child is a King.
Rabbi Simcha Weinstein is a best-selling author who recently was voted “New York’s Hippest Rabbi” by Channel 13 in New York. He chairs the religious affairs committee at Pratt Institute, and recently published the book, “The Case for Children: Why Parenthood Makes Your World Better.”
