JDub Records

I have neither a bride nor any other detail in place for my wedding; except that anyone who tries to pull a stunt like this will be ordered shot on-site.

I’m all for shtick at Jewish weddings. Heck, crazy stunts at weddings are even documented in the Talmud. Then again, so is throwing down glass in front of people who overdo their wedding merriment. And these chuppah-crashers deserve a big chandelier in the face.

Aside from being kitchy and irreverent, no one who delays the meal at a Jewish wedding should live to tell about it.

Two weeks ago, I attended my Zayde’s funeral. I’ve written about him before, but Zayde was a simple and pious man.  He was notorious for his fiery personality, witty one-liners, and an impeccable attention to detail which he incorporated into his life stories.  Snippets from those last few months of stories are now branded family folklore: fighting for his right to be a Sabbath-observant hospital orderly; the possibility that we may have a long-lost relative in Argentina; the time he punched out a ranking army officer for saying Hitler should have “finished the job.” And then there’s the one that I was around for: At a recent family bar mitzvah, Zayde, a cantor for many years, was getting irritated. During the mussaf service, a pretty standard revue of centuries-old Shabbat prayer melodies, Zayde, hard of hearing in his old age, angrily turned to us and shouted, “Who chose these nigunim [melodies]? It sounds like an Irish wake!” Turns out it was our cousin, the bar mitzvah boy.  Classic :~)

In memory of Zayde, who loved Jewish music, here’s a Jewish-Yemenite melody for havdalah that actually does sound a little like an Irish wake. Yehi Zichro Baruch.

For some reason, deaf Jewish themes have been coming up in conversation recently. Last Shabbat dinner, I met a guy a bit older than me who was scheduled to have a cochlear implant this week. That reminded me of a powerful documentary about “deaf culture” I once saw on PBS called Sound and Fury, which explores the tension between technology and tradition. In a separate conversation, I was reminded of a blind-deaf theater & restaurant in Tel Aviv/Yafo, Israel, called Nalagaat. If you find yourself on that side of the Atlantic, it’s a profoundly beautiful performance. If you brush up on your Hebrew sign language video, maybe you won’t be tongue-tied while trying to order a drink from the deaf bartenders at the café.

Last night at Central Park Summer Stage, prolific bluegrass artist Bela Fleck showcased the results of his endeavor to bring the banjo–evidently influenced by African string instruments–back to Africa.  After playing a dazzling set alongside Malian Afropop star Toumani Diabate, Fleck introduced “Throw Down Your Heart,” a film by his half-brother, Sascha Paladino, documenting his banjo jam sessions with African musicians.  While watching the film, my eye was drawn to signs of globalization on the African continent: a plastic bucket used to carry water, Maasai herdsmen discussing the allure of making money in the city versus the village, one of Mali’s most successful musicians cruising in a Lexus, and of course, Afropop itself.

As a traditional preservationist (and partly due to my white American Jewish guilt), I can’t help but mourn that Africa wasn’t left to persist or culturally evolve independently of the influence of Western civilization.  Do global events, the evolution of communications and technology, and the movement of civilizations render the notion of a “pure” culture totally naive and unattainable?  I hope not.

Still, perhaps the creation of beautiful music, and the use of music as a medium for dialogue, softens the blow of cross-cultural  pollination to the traditional soul.  Maybe that’s why Bela bought the banjo back to Africa, and why JDub exists for the Jews.

P.S. In case you missed it, Girls in Trouble’s Alicia Jo Rabins recently exported some American bluegrass to South America. Have a look. And check out JDub’s cantorial afropop kings, The Sway Machinery.

Just got my invite for Google Voice, which offers you a single number for all your phone numbers and eerily records way more conversations than you’d ever want wiretapped. The upshot of this? Jewish vanity numbers! Get ‘em while they’re still available, and if you do, tell us in the comments below!

A special number for that special Jewish woman/grandmother in your life:

(973) MY-BUBBE
(530) JEW-GIRL

The undiscovered jewish hipster slogan that you’re too cheap to print to T-shirt:

(732) 4-SHTETL

In honor of Tisha B’av Wednesday night/Thursday:

(304) 9THOFAV
(513) FAS-TDAY

Props to your favorite jewish/israeli news source?

(405) JTA-0-ORG
(347) HAARETZ

Shout out to your favorite hebrew school prayer:

(760) MAHTOVU

And of course, who could turn down a JDub-themed number?!

(775) JDUB-REC
(719) WAILING
(559) SOC-ALLD
(262) SAG-OL59
(361) 4-DELEON
(440) 54-GOLEM
(240) 366-SWAY

Tisha B’Av–the second most-observed fast day in the Jewish tradition after Yom Kippur–falls out this year on Wednesday Night/Thursday, July 30th-31st. On Saturday, August 1st, PBS will air Leonard Cohen’s performance from London. Guess what I’ll be doing after shabbat… Great stuff on Tisha B’Av at My Jewish Learning. My summary below. Read More »

Juicy Jews & sports news. Last week was Jewish Heritage night at the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game. This week, the 18th Maccabiah Games , a.k.a. the Jewish Olympics, are underway in Israel. Hard to keep track of scores, as the official website isn’t particularly user friendly. There is live video feed plus a Twitter feed that is really under-tweeting, in my opinion, for an event of this magnitude (The Cyclones, in contrast, are awesome tweeters). From what I’ve gathered:

- BREAKING NEWS: USA men’s basketball, led by University of Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl, just wrapped up a 112-13 potching of Mexico. On Sunday, USA youth Basketball beat Germany 96-18, including a 21-0 second quarter. Reminds me of a nasty 100-0 high school victory that caused a lot of controversy earlier this year. Should there be a mercy rule in Jewish Olympic competition? Talk amongst yourselves. Also, what was the story behind Azerbaijan’s technical forfeit to Argentina? Read More »

Sexy Movimiento - Wisin & Yandel ft. “Victor el Nazi”

Signs that your neighbor doesn’t quite grasp the gravity of the Holocaust: the popular reggaeton producer who’s adopted the stage name Victor “el Nasi.”  For those of you who don’t habla español, that probably means… Victor “the Nazi.”

Unless, of course, you want to give Victor the benefit of the doubt.  In that case, maybe he’s referring to the high-ranking member of the Sanhedrin, the assembly that convened in Temple times.  Or perhaps Victor is claiming Jewish roots in tribute to the illustrious Sephardic Nasi family, although the cross in the image to the left makes that a tough sell.

If you’re an anthropologist (or apologist), you might side with the findings of an anonymous “Yahoo! Answers” post claiming that “you’re the nazi/terrorist” is slang for “you’re the s***.”

What’s the proper course of action here? Should we let this one slide, or should we be letter-writing right now?

Synopsis: The video in question starts with a shoulder bump between the tallest wanderer in a clan of mizrachi yeshiva kids and the tallest member of a clan of less-religious-looking mizrachi kids. The situation quickly escalates to a dance-off. For those unfamiliar with Israeli street etiquette, spontaneous dance-offs must be settled by the SHORTEST representatives of wandering child-clans in conflict.  The other rule: if the tiny yeshiva kid break dances, battle is over, and both parties must acquiesce to learning the hustle together, while tacitly singing thanks to their Maker in the chorus.

I still believe in hip-hop dance as a medium for Jewish unification. I just don’t think this is how it would play out…

Last Friday, the Rhapsody Soundtreks blog had a story on Jewish hip-hop, and JDub was well-represented. Tomer Yosef, Sagol 59 The African Queen release

, and So-Called all got nods. So did a few non-JDub artists, including Hip Hop Hoodios and Blood of Abraham, whom Dr. Doughnuts

Sam Kinison: Breaking the Rules

Sydney White on dvd taught you about in an earlier post Lethal Weapon 2 psp .

Elegy release

Run for the Money trailer

• The Last House on the Left the movie

• Wild River full

JDub Records: your one stop shop for Jewish hip-hop knowledge.