Oy Oy Oy Gevalt

Step inside a fascinating world of Jews who relate to their Jewishness through the vehicle of punk—from prominent figures in the history of punk to musicians who proudly put their Jewish identity front and center. Why did punk—a subculture and music style characterized by a rejection of established norms—appeal to Jews? How did Jews who were genuinely struggling with their Jewish identity find ways to express it through punk rock? Oy Oy Oy Gevalt! Jews and Punk explores the cultural connections between Jews and punk in music and beyond, documenting how Jews were involved in the punk movement in its origins in the 1970s through the present day. Author Michael Croland begins by broadly defining what the terms "Jewish" and "punk" mean. This introduction is followed by an exploration of the various ways these ostensibly incompatible identities can gel together, addressing topics such as Jewish humor, New York City, the Holocaust, individualism, "tough Jews," outsider identity, tikkun olam ("healing the world"), and radicalism. The following chapters discuss prominent Jews in punk, punk rock bands that overtly put their Jewishness on display, and punk influences on other types of Jewish music—for example, klezmer and Hasidic simcha (celebration) music. The book also explores ways that Jewish and punk culture intersect beyond music, including documentaries, young adult novels, zines, cooking, and rabbis.

Explores the cultural connections between Jews and punk in music and beyond, documenting how Jews were involved in the punk movement in its origins in the 1970s through the present day.

Always remember the two rules of life: RULE #1: Never forget how to laugh RULE #2: Never forget Rule #1 From romance to rabbis, from housework to hearing, with Oy Vey: More! The Ultimate Book of Jewish Jokes Part Two, David Minkoff takes us on a hilarious, sideways look at Jewish life and culture. Picking up where off the first volume left off, this laugh packed sequel includes over 800 meandering stories, riddles, one-liners, and even a glossary of Yiddish terms for the uninitiated, so goys, no problem, you don't have to be Jewish to enjoy. With chapters on birth, death, matters of faith, people and professions, medicine, romance, families and more, all aspects of everyday life are covered. From marriage brokers (shadchen) to bar mitzvahs, from schmucks to gossips (yentas), Oy Vey: More! features a recognizable character on every page, including a special child-friendly section and a humor test for couples. Contemporary and traditional by turns, from young people, to couples and grandparents, this compendium of Hebrew hilarity is great fun for the whole family to enjoy.

A multidisciplinary approach to the study of veganism, vegetarianism, and meat avoidance among Jews, both historical and contemporary. In recent decades, as more Jews have adopted plant-based lifestyles, Jewish vegan and vegetarian movements have become increasingly prominent. This book explores the intellectual, religious, and historical roots of veganism and vegetarianism among Jews and presents compelling new directions in Jewish thought, ethics, and foodways. The contributors, including scholars, rabbis, and activists, explore how Judaism has inspired Jews to eschew animal products and how such choices, even when not directly inspired by Judaism, have enriched and helped define Jewishness. Individually, and as a collection, the chapters in this book provide an opportunity to meditate on what may make veganism and vegetarianism particularly Jewish, as well as the potential distinctiveness of Jewish veganism and vegetarianism. The authors also examine the connections between Jewish veganism and vegetarianism and other movements, while calling attention to divisions among Jewish vegans and vegetarians, to the specific challenges of fusing Jewishness and a plant-based lifestyle, and to the resistance Jewish vegans and vegetarians can face from parts of the Jewish community. The book’s various perspectives represent the cultural, theological, and ideological diversity among Jews invested in such conversations and introduce prominent debates within their movements. “Whether looking at the pages of the Talmud, vegetarian poems written in Yiddish, lyrics written by Jewish punk rockers, or into a pot of vegan matzo ball soup, this book explores the many ways in which Jews have questioned the ethics of eating animals. Labendz and Yanklowitz achieve their stated goal of exploring ‘what distinguishes Jewish veganism and vegetarianism as Jewish.’ You do not have to be a vegetarian or a vegan (or Jewish!) in order to learn from, and indeed grapple with, the many questions, dilemmas, and readings that the contributors raise.” — Jordan D. Rosenblum, author of The Jewish Dietary Laws in the Ancient World “Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism offers theological, pragmatic, ethical, environmental, and other ways to view non-meat eating as a viable, healthy, and holy Judaic strategy to consume the world. Anyone who eats or thinks about eating should take this volume seriously.” — Rabbi Jonathan K. Crane, author of Eating Ethically: Religion and Science for a Better Diet “From the Talmud’s ambivalence about human and animal suffering to the challenges of making a vegan matzo ball, Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism offers surprising views of the many ways Jewish practice, Jewish culture, and individual Jews acted and reacted in their encounters with a vegetable diet. This important and overdue book does much to introduce a long-neglected chapter of Jewish culinary practice and to inspire and instruct future research.” — Eve Jochnowitz, cotranslator of Fania Lewando’s The Vilna Vegetarian Cookbook: Garden-Fresh Recipes Rediscovered and Adapted for Today’s Kitchen

A National Jewish Book Award-winning autobiography that's "an astonishing fusion of learning and psychic intensity; its poignance and lucidity should be an authentic benefit to readers, Jewish and gentile" (The New York Times Book Review). Children have obligations to their parents: the Talmud says "one must honor him in life and one must honor him in death." Beside his father’s grave, a diligent but doubting son begins the mourner’s kaddish and realizes he needs to know more about the prayer issuing from his lips. So begins Leon Wieseltier’s National Jewish Book Award–winning autobiography, Kaddish, the spiritual journal of a man commanded by Jewish law to recite a prayer three times daily for a year and driven, by ardor of inquiry, to explore its origins. Here is one man’s urgent exploration of Jewish liturgy and law, from the 10th-century legend of a wayward ghost to the speculations of medieval scholars on the grief of God to the perplexities of a modern rabbi in the Kovno ghetto. Here too is a mourner’s unmannered response to the questions of fate, freedom, and faith stirred in death’s wake. Lyric, learned, and deeply moving, Wieseltier’s Kaddish is a narrative suffused with love: a son’s embracing the tradition bequeathed to him by his father, a scholar’s savoring they beauty he was taught to uncover, and a writer’s revealing it, proudly, unadorned, to the reader.

"Punk Rock Hora spans 13 years of covering edgy Jewish culture, with comedic behind-the-scenes anecdotes, insightful analysis of the songs, and unparalleled access to the artists. Read a revealing account of how Michael fell in love with Jewish punk, interviews with thought-provoking Jewish outcasts, playlists for Jewish holidays, and introductions to new bands. Connecting the dots of Michael's adventures in Jew-Punk Land, Punk Rock Hora is part memoir, part collection of articles, and part punk rock hodgepodge!"--Page [4] of cover.

Based on a rich range of sources, this pioneering book provides a comprehensive description of informal borrowings in American English.

Once the creator and star of Yiddish musical films in Poland between the wars, Raisel is now a grandmother (Bubbie) in ’70s New York. Bubbie longs to tell the stories of her acting troupe’s successes and heroism to her granddaughter Jenny. Sadly, her TV-comedy-writer daughter, Red, insists on leaving the past behind, unless Bubbie will talk about the events that have plagued them both since Red’s childhood.