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Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #200 (12/31/2025): 2025 Farewell

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #200 (12/31/2025): 2025 Farewell

airs Dec. 31, 2025 on Dave’s Gone By. Watch here: TBA

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the end of the year, 2025.

I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t had a cruddy year. If they’re not upset with politics and the government, they’re dealing with death, illness, financial stress, mental problems, dental problems — if you actually had a good year in 2025, please let me know your phone number so I can play it for Lotto.

But here it is, December 31st, and whaddya know? You survived. I’m not saying you thrived, but you endured. And I hope you got your jollies along the way. Not every news event was tragic, and a few sad stories had silver linings. Pope Francis died, but the new guy’s from Chicago. He’s on the conservative side, but what do you expect from a Pope, Ru Paul? And while inflation is scaring everyone who has to buy a house, a car, a health plan, or, you know, groceries, the stock market has remained a juggernaut. Therefore, if, by the time you retire, you haven’t given all your money to Aetna, you might have a few bucks left in your 401K… to spend on cat food.

Politically it was another Civil War-level year, with liberals screaming “disaster!” at Trump’s every move, and Trump often deserving the screams. Did he need to renovate the White House Ballroom and make the silverware goldenware? Did he have to put his name on the memorial Kennedy Center — I mean, Trump’s bullet missed! And did the President have to redact all those pages in the Epstein files that showed him to be almost as big a perv as Bill Clinton? Well, at least Trump is ridding the country of useless foreigners with questionable visas. Anybody seen Melania lately?

Meanwhile, antisemitism, disguised as antizionism, still gives college students and left-wing wingnuts a hard-on, but Israel and the Palestinians are holding to some kind of cease fire, while America’s been going after ISIS in Syria and Nigeria and stopping nukes in Iran. And while the mass murder at a Chanukah festival in Bondi Beach reminded us Jews are still hated, a clump of Jewish corpses granted us a day or two of sympathy before the clown cars returned with their Free Gaza circus act. God help us, New York elected a rabidly anti-Israel socialist mayor, but the good news is: Mamdani’s policies will be so ruinous, bankrupting, and unenforceable, no one’s gonna give an alqaraf what he believes!

Oh, and if it’s not already evident, let me assert that this Rabbinical Reflection was written entirely with my two little hands and my too-preoccupied brain. That is to say, any intelligence you happen to find in my prose may be unexpected but not artificial. 2025 was the year that everything on social media or the internet was suspect. From heartwarming parables about celebrities to the sloppiest slop, algorithms were telling us what to buy, how to think, and where to vent. It was the year academics gave up fighting A.I. and instead told students, “Hey, my ChatGPT wrote this exam. Have your Grammarly take it, and then my Copilot will grade it. And afterwards we can all meet on the unemployment line because nobody has to fucking know anything anymore.”

But I digress. Anger is not the endgame of my annual review of the annum gone by. Nostalgic melancholy is more the mood because now is time to remember those we lost. Musicians, authors, performers — folks who left their mark, so in poetic form, we mark their passing.

Farewell to Pope Francis, as Popes go, a goodie

Adieu, Diane Keaton, we loved you with Woody

With his gifted family, Sly Stone took us higher

And tears for Jill Sobule, who died in a fire

We lost Lalo Schiffrin and his orchestrations

Let’s hope Brian Wilson picks up good vibrations

Ace Frehley and Ozzy now sleep in the sand

And farewell Garth Hudson, the last of The Band.

We lost Malcolm-Jamal Warner when he lost his grips

Loretta Swit and Chuck Mangione have sealed their hot lips

Farewell to Rob Reiner, what great films he did!

If only Nick Reiner was Greta Thunberg’s kid.

Tom Stoppard whose plays were quite The Real Thing

Now joins Robert Redford in feeling death’s Sting

Bye bye to Hulk Hogan who wrestled with glee

And Loni Anderson, who put the T&A in KRP

Ta-ta, Charlie Kirk, whose death gave us chills

So long to George Foreman whose life gave us grills

Bill Moyers once anchored the news desk with grace

And Charles Strouse helped us put on a happy face

With David Johansen we rocked and got funky

And Jane Goodall taught us the mind of a monkey

So long, David Lynch, whose films got tongues waggin’

“Puff” went Peter Yarrow, and his magic dragon

Connie Francis could sing and Roberta Flack croon

Jules Feiffer satirized life by cartoon

Gene Hackman found dead in his run-down chalet

Steve Cropper now dead on the dock of the bay

Val Kilmer, Diane Ladd, each one a sad loss

And Jimmy Cliff has no more rivers to cross

No love for Dick Cheney and his years of fears

But raise up a glass for George Wendt and his Cheers

And keep that toast going for loved ones departed

We mourn them, we miss them, and though brokenhearted

We bravely go forward through kicks, sticks, and bricks

And hope for the best in 2026.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York. Happy Jew Year.

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Dave’s Gone By Skit: STORYTIME (12/20/2025): Rabbi Sol Solomon Reads “The Parakeet Named Dreidel”

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For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Rabbi Sol Solomon reads the children’s book, “The Parakeet Named Dreidel” by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

This segment aired Dec. 20, 2025 as part of episode #1012 of the “Dave’s Gone By” video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Full episodes also available on youtube, Facebook (davesgoneby), and on DavesGoneBy.com.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: shalomdammit.com.

Dave’s Gone By Skit: STORYTIME – Rabbi Sol Solomon Reads “Mendel’s Hanukkah Mess Up”

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For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Rabbi Sol Solomon reads the children’s book, “Mendel’s Hanukkah Mess Up” by Chana & Larry Stiefel.

This segment aired Dec. 13, 2025 as part of episode #1011 of the “Dave’s Gone By” video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz. Full episodes also available on youtube, Facebook (davesgoneby), and on DavesGoneBy.com.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: shalomdammit.com.

Dave’s Gone By Skit: STORYTIME – Rabbi Sol Solomon Reads “The Pout-Pout Fish”

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For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Rabbi Sol Solomon reads excerpts from the children’s book, “The Pout-Pout Fish” by Deborah Diesen.

This segment aired Nov. 1, 2025 as part of episode #1006 of the “Dave’s Gone By” video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz. Full episodes also available on youtube, Facebook (davesgoneby), and on DavesGoneBy.com.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: shalomdammit.com.

Dave’s Gone By Skit: STORYTIME w/ Rabbi Sol Solomon: “Penrod’s Pants”

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Dave’s Gone By Skit (11/1/2025): STORYTIME: Rabbi Sol Solomon Reads “Penrod’s Pants”

For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Rabbi Sol Solomon reads excerpts from the children’s book, “Penrod’s Pants” by Mary Blount Christian.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: shalomdammit.com.

Dave’s Gone By Skit (10/25/2025): STORYTIME w/ Rabbi Sol Solomon: “A is for Activist”

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Dave’s Gone By Skit (10/25/2025): STORYTIME: Rabbi Sol Solomon Reads “A is for Activist”

For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Rabbi Sol Solomon reads excerpts from the “children’s” book, “A is for Activist” by Innosanto Nagara.

This segment aired Oct. 25, 2025 as part of episode #1005 of the “Dave’s Gone By” video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz. Full episodes also available on youtube, Facebook (davesgoneby), and on DavesGoneBy.com.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: shalomdammit.com.

Dave’s Gone By Skit: STORYTIME w/ Rabbi Sol Solomon: “Guide to Getting it On”

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For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Dave reads excerpts from the textbook, “Guide to Getting it On” by Paul Joannides.

This segment aired Oct. 4, 2025 as part of episode #1002 of the “Dave’s Gone By” video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz. Full episodes also available on youtube, Facebook (davesgoneby), and on DavesGoneBy.com.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: shalomdammit.com.

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #198: 1000 Daves

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #198 (9/20/2025): 1000 Daves

airs Sept. 20, 2025 on Dave’s Gone By. Watch here: https://davesgoneby.net/?p=127752

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for September 20, 2025.

It is an honor, a privilege, and a joy to wish Duvid Lefkowitz mazel on his 1000th episode of the Dave’s Gone By radio-internet-podcast-Morse Code program. This would be a stunning achievement even if he didn’t spend three full hours a week talking his head off about absolutely nothing. But he manages this feat in a surprisingly non-annoying way, and has been doing so for 24 years.

I was there from the very beginning, you know. On the debut episode of Dave’s Gone By, the host brought me on to talk about breast-cancer awareness. I am aware of both breasts and cancer, so this was a natural fit for me. Despite complaints to the radio station about my calling breasts “boobs,” instead of—I dunno, hooters, jugs, melons, or love lumps—my segment was a hit. And it set the template for what would become my Rabbinical Reflections—mini-sermons about life, Judaism, politics, and my non-stop nagging prostate.

Today marks my 198th Rabbinical Reflection, and I thank Dave for allowing me this platform to expound upon my small world at large. It hasn’t been easy. My defense of Israel and Zionism has cost Dave a number of friends. They’re self-hating Jews and miserable anti-Semite bastards, but still, they’re missed. By the same token, I am appalled at the MAGA cancel culture going on right now, with late-night television hosts in the crosshairs of a despotic purge. I hate to say it, but the left-wingers were right: Columbia gadfly Mahmoud Khalil might be a lump of rancid hummus, but if he wasn’t breaking any laws, he had the right to peaceful protest, whether he was an American citizen or just a visa visitor. Now he’s being deported, and the government has gone from over-prosecuting “hate speech” to indirectly silencing anyone who doesn’t bow down to the orange clown.

So Dave, I celebrate your longevity and success. Such as it is. But I also urge you to speak your mind. You’re no Steven Colbert. You’re no Jimmy Kimmel. (If you were, let’s face it, you’d still be banging Sarah Silverman.) But you are you, an opinionated aging Jew with a moral sense of right and wrong and the linguistic skill to share your beliefs with those willing to listen. And if you’re sometimes reticent to tackle certain subjects and put your tuchas on the line for free expression, I am generally not. I promise, oh Captain, that as long as you keep allowing me to be part of your podosphere, whether doing interviews, Reflections, or baking shmura matzohs for you and your lovely missus, I will remain me. I will say what I feel needs saying, seriously or joking, and if ABC or Disney or Paramount-Skydance doesn’t like it, shtup `em. It’s not like they’re signing my checks. (Of course, if they do want to hire me, please forget everything I’ve said the last two minutes and God bless our stable-genius President.)

No matter what, though, I congratulate you, Dave, on giving the world 1000 examples of your humorosity. As you know, without comedy, irony, silliness, self-reflection, and a healthy b.s. meter—plus a little showbiz b.s.—this world would be a poorer place. Or just Newsmax.

I will close, Duvid, with a poem I have composed in your honor:

Hear, O Israel, about a Jewish guy

Who created a show called “Dave’s Gone By”

He tells of his bunions, his harelip, and phlegm

That turns off some people, but guess what? Fuck them!

He talks about theater, sometimes to excess

He jokes about life and how it’s a mess.

He lets me do interviews, though I’m controversial

He goes for three hours—with not one commercial!

From terrible puns to trivia quizzes

To bantering with his unseen mizzus,

To crafting a loathsome limerick rhyme

Dave makes shabbos a happier time.

So, mazel tov, Dave, on your 1000th show

May good fortune follow wherever you go.

Amen.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York.

–> https://shalomdammit.wordpress.com/2025/09/19/rabbi-sol-solomons-rabbinical-reflection-198-9-20-2025-1000-daves/

Dave’s Gone By Skit (8/2/2025): STORYTIME w/ Rabbi Sol Solomon: “Spock, Messiah!” (pt. 1)

Dave’s Gone By Skit (6/28/2025): STORYTIME: Rabbi Sol Solomon Reads from “Spock, Messiah!”

For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Dave reads the beginning of “Spock, Messiah!” by Theodore R. Cogswell and Charles A. Spano, Jr.

This segment aired Aug. 2, 2025 as part of the 993rd “Dave’s Gone By” video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz. Full episodes also available on youtube, Facebook (davesgoneby), and on DavesGoneBy.com.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: shalomdammit.com.

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #197 (7/10/2025): Airport Shoes

RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #197 (7/10/2025): Airport Shoes

airs July 12, 2025 on Dave’s Gone By. Watch here: —> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoVkSYV2-60

Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for mid-July 2025.

Rarely do I enjoy going barefoot. It’s nice in the shower, lying in bed, giving my bunions a soak in a shissel of epsom salts. Otherwise, I prefer my feet covered. Even on a beach. On a blistering summer day, didja you ever try to run from a blanket to the ocean on hot sand? When you finally get your burning tootsies in the water, you step on a clam shard and a jellyfish stings your big toe. This is not enjoyable.

So, okay: wear socks. I LOVE SOCKS! Around the house, creeping on the porch to grab a newspaper, visiting friends without getting shoe-shmutz on the carpet. Socks enable you to go shoeless yet still perambulate safely, liberated from the tyranny of heavy footwear. You’re home? Unlace those Florsheims and relax. Taking off your shoes means freedom.

Except, for the last 19 years at airports, when Uncle Sam ordered you to ditch your shoes at the worst possible time. You’ve been waiting in a massive line while carrying half a ton of luggage and trying to inch forward. Then you pull your shoes off, toss them in a bin, walk on filthy carpeting, pass through a metal detector (that somehow detects weapons between your head and your ankles but no lower), show your I.D., grab your belongings, and at long last wrench your shoes back on while a dozen angry people behind you give you side-eye for taking so long.”

At the time, the government’s reasoning seemed reasonable: fear of Arab terrorism. In the late 1990s, an English putz named Richard Reid got Islamicized and traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to learn all sorts of ways to destroy the western world. By 2001, he was ready. Three months after 9/11, Dickie Reid boarded American Airlines Flight 63, and, rather than watch the in-flight movie or grapple with one of those neck-pillow things, he tried to blow the plane up. An attendant noticed him lighting a match and warned him it was a non-smoking flight. (I guess she didn’t think to warn him it was also a non-mass-murder flight.) Passengers saw Reid light another match and discovered he had a fuse connected to his shoe. They wrestled him to the floor and prevented him from detonating the explosives he’d stuffed into his Aspen workboots. Hilariously, the main reason Reid didn’t go kaboom was his nervous foot sweat dampening the fuse. It reminds me of the time, at our temple’s Purimspiel, when, as a gag, one of my parishioners lit his fart . . . except it was more than a fart and he had to pay $3,000 to clean the Torah. And Mrs. Feinberg’s blouse.

But the point is Richard Reid, an incompetent moron, was just one of a gazillion airline passengers since the Wright Brothers achieved liftoff. Leave it to the American government under George W. Bush to take this anomalous episode and make it another reason why we can’t have nice things. The Transportation Security Administration, citing aviation safety, ordered all flyers henceforth to remove their shoes before boarding an aircraft. This was such an urgent matter after the December 2001 shoe-bomb attempt, that the TSA rule took effect immediately…in August 2006.

You can’t make this shit up. Actually, they did make this shit up, because, obviously, the shoe mandate had nothing to do with safety and everything to do with the government testing just how much control they could exert over the American sheeple. Turns out, quite a lot. And it came in handy when they forced small stores to close during COVID, and now, when they’re sending ICE to randomly check if brown people are American citizens.

The ballsiest hypocrisy of all is that for years, you could pay for a TSA PreCheck. Eighty dollars meant skip the line, and keep your computer zipped, your belt buckled, and your shoes tied. Bounce onto the Boeing while all your fellow travelers glare and mutter, “Who does he know, and who did he blow?”

Truth is, money talks, always. Either that, or Homeland Security somehow believed that jihadists would spend months planning a hijacking but then balk at spending an extra 80 bucks. Jews would haggle, but Arabs? Arabs have so much oil money, they use 80 dollar bills to clean their 10 dollar bills.

The shoe rule was one big sham and scam, security theater creating the illusion of protection. Like putting an unopened condom on your nightstand before having sex. It looks reassuring, but if it’s not on your hoo-ha, it ain’t doin’ doo-dah.

Anyhoo, this is all by way of sharing some actual good news for once: 19 years after instituting the sandal scandal, the TSA is finally discontinuing its shoes-off nonsense. They’re trying it at selected airports and then expected to roll it out cross country, even Newark. Will this speed up airport check-ins? Will this make the boarding process less pointlessly anxious? Will air travel stop feeling like sitting between Lizzo and Shrek on a crosstown bus?

As a practical pessimist, I’m guessing none of the above. But at a time when everything feels worse—even if it isn’t, and the government, albeit with good intentions, brazenly threatens Constitutional free speech and free assembly, at least let us shower kudos on whoever in power put one ridiculous regulation in reverse: you can do as you choose with your Jimmy Choos. It’s a win for de-feet. Now, is it too much to ask for four ounces of shampoo in a carry-on?

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York. One, two, buckle my shoe—and keep it buckled!

—> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoVkSYV2-60

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=12924