click above to watch episode #1026click above to listen (audio only)
Here is episode #1026 of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, March 28, 2026.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews actress Iris Bahr and offers an April Fools Rabbinical Reflection; Greeley Times; Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Colfax); StoryTime (The Story of Baby Moses).
Guests: writer/performer Iris Bahr; spiritual leader Rabbi Sol Solomon
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce: balloons, Art Paul’s art, big burps, Hillel Slovak, Trump and Japan, Bin Laden blocked, JBS strike 01:13:00 GREELEY TIMES 01:50:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Iris Bahr 02:22:00 STORYTIME w/ Rabbi Sol Solomon: The Story of Baby Moses (by Alice Joyce Davidson) 02:43:00 Friends of the Daverhood 02:52:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #206: April Fooling 03:01:00 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED: Colfax 03:03:30 DAVE GOES OUT
Rabbi Sol Solomon’s mini-sermons, called RABBINICAL REFLECTIONS, air on the Dave’s Gone By radio program (Saturday mornings on facebook: (facebook.com/davesgoneby). When available, the archives include text, audio, and/or video.
click above to watch episode #1025 click above to listen (audio only)
Here is episode #1025 of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, March 21, 2026.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews actor Andrew Lloyd Baughman; Greeley Times; Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Cole); StoryTime (A Purr-fect Passover); Dave Goes Away (Rehoboth Beach).
Guests: writer/performer Andrew Lloyd Baughman; spiritual leader Rabbi Sol Solomon
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce: meat strike, news radio 00:30:00 DAVE GOES AWAY: Rehoboth Beach, DE 01:28:30 DAVE GOES FURTHER IN: Indian restaurant, groundhog, Ikea 01:47:00 GREELEY TIMES 02:11:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Andrew Lloyd Baughman 02:55:00 STORYTIME w/ Rabbi Sol Solomon: A Purr-fect Passover (by Jenna Waldman) 03:17:30 Friends of the Daverhood 03:27:30 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED (Cole, CO) 03:32:30 DAVE GOES OUT
For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Dave reads Margaret McNamara’s “The Luck of the Irish”
This segment aired March 14, 2026 as part of episode #1024 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.
All content (c)2026 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
click above to watch episode #1024click above to listen (audio only)
Here is episode #1024 of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, March 14, 2026.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews scientist Brantley Hall and offers a Rabbinical Reflection on Begorrah; Greeley Times; Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Cokedale); StoryTime; Dave’s Big Dictionary (rash); My Old Phlegm.
Guests: scientist Brantley Hall; spiritual leader Rabbi Sol Solomon
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN 00:10:30 MY OLD PHLEGM 00:15:30 DAVE GOES FURTHER IN w/ Joyce: newspaper, Art Paul’s painting, tornado warning, Ernie Anastos 01:03:00 GREELEY TIMES 01:33:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Brantley Hall 02:07:00 DAVE’S BIG DICTIONARY: rash 02:22:30 STORYTIME: “The Luck of the Irish” (Margaret McNamara) 02:37:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #204: Begorrah! 02:46:00 Friends of the Daverhood 02:57:30 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED: Cokedale, CO 03:00:30 DAVE GOES OUT
March 14, 2026 Playlist: “Drink Till I’m Drunk” (02:33:30; Dave Lefkowitz); “The Irish Ballad” (03:07:30; Tom Lehrer)
Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection #204 (3/14/2026): BEGORRAH!
This Rabbinical Reflection first aired March 14, 2026 on the Dave’s Gone By video podcast.
Rabbi Sol’s Rabbinical Reflections are heard on the long-running Dave’s Gone By radio/video podcast program (davesgoneby.com) and then archived as text and audio on the Rebbe’s blog, Shalomdammit.com, where a transcript of this Reflection may be read.
Rabbi Sol is also the creator of the stage show, “Shalom Dammit! An Evening with Rabbi Sol Solomon,” which played in NYC in Nov. 2011 and Aug. 2012.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
More on Rabbi Sol: shalomdammit.com
TRANSCRIPT: Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for mid-March 2026.
I delight in wishing my Irish viewers – of which I have several, many of them sober – a happy St. Patrick’s Day. Of course, this is not a holiday I celebrate. Patrick was a fifth-century Christian missionary who was kidnapped in England, sent to Ireland, escaped back to England, where he got accused of financial jiggery-pokery. So he hastened back to Ireland and spent his last years baptizing believers and doing whatever missionaries do when they’re not torturing people in Jesus’s name. As Saints go, Paddy was pretty nondescript, but because he helped make Ireland more goyishe, he’s the patron saint of the place.
The Irish have given us great music, genius plays, warm sweaters. Awright, the food (makes a so-so hand gesture), but it’s definitely a country and a culture to celebrate. That being said, I feel bad for “begorrah.” You’ve heard the phrase: faith and begorrah. “Ooh, Irish Spring soap smells like a dead geranium – faith and begorrah!” “My wife is dragging me to see Riverdance on tour: all three nights. Kill me. Faith and begorrah!”
“Begorrah” stands in for a mild oath: By God. By gosh. By golly: begorrah. The sad part is you never hear “begorrah” by itself. It’s always with “faith.” Faith and begorrah. After 200 years, I can’t imagine “begorrah” has any self-esteem. Here it is, knocking around with “faith,” and “faith” is a whore. (The word, I mean.) Faith links up with a million words. It’s out on the town with hope and charity. People have blind faith if they have can’t see or Percy Faith if they can’t rock out. You can take a leap of faith or do something in bad faith. “Faith” is faithless. But begorrah? She’s sitting home alone, monogamous, while her partner is out getting shitfaithed.
Think of begorrah, getting coffee at a Dublin Starbucks. “Your foam latte,“ says barista. “Hey, where’s your better half?” “She’s out.” “Oh, well tell her the gang says `hey.’ She’s the best. No offense.” Poor begorrah shuffles off with her overpriced Mountain Blend. She cries silently in her kitchen, waiting for her partner to return. She flips on the radio only to hear Billy Joel sing, “Keeping the Faith.” “Oh God!”, sobs begorrah. “Who will keep me?”
I make this idiotic spiel because in our lives, we all know faiths and we all know begorrahs. We admire and want to linger in the orbit of faiths who are the life of the party, preternaturally magnetic, effortlessly befriended. Begorrahs? We deal with them when we must, vaguely pitying or patronizing them, wishing they weren’t there. Like street mimes.
Wouldn’t it be nice if sometimes we went to a begorrah and said, “You matter, too. You’re no faith, but you don’t have to be. I’m going to say you all by yourself: `Begorrah, that’s the dumbest TikTok video I’ve ever seen.’ `Begorrah! The dog just crapped on the rug!’”
See? Begorrah, though Irish, need not be the red-headed stepchild. And since begorrah truly means “by God,” then HaShem has placed this word close to him, and by extension, to us. So this St. Patrick’s Day, when you’re wearing the green, having a pint, making believe you enjoy listening to The Chieftains, spare a Euro for the begorrah at the end of the bar. By my faith, it would be a b’mitzvah.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York. Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!
click above to watch episode #1022click above to listen (audio only)
Here is episode #1022 of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Saturday morning, Feb. 28, 2026.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews actor Jason Carmichael and offers a Rabbinical Reflection of Purim Jokes; Greeley Times; Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Coburn); StoryTime (“The Essential Compendium of Dad Jokes”); Dave Says Bye (Neil Sedaka).
Guests: actor Jason E. Carmichael; spiritual leader Rabbi Sol Solomon
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce: snow 00:18:30 DAVE SAYS BYE: Neil Sedaka 00:36:00 DAVE GOES OFF: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 00:55:30 DAVE GOES FURTHER IN: Art Paul Schlosser’s Art 01:08:00 GREELEY TIMES 01:31:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Jason Carmichael 02:25:00 STORYTIME: The Essential Compendium of Dad Jokes (ed. Thomas Nowak) 02:46:00 Friends of the Daverhood 02:52:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #202: Purim Jokes Return 03:02:00 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED: Coburn, CO 03:04:00 DAVE GOES OUT
click above to watch the interviewclick above to listen (audio only)
Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with actor JASON CARMICHAEL
Topics include: Tied, Howard University, racism, teaching, theater
Segment airs Feb. 28, 2026 as part of episode #1022 of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio/video podcast program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.
Please Note: Segments extracted from “Dave’s Gone By” may have music and other elements removed for timing and media re-posting considerations. For the full interview with all elements, please visit the audio of the complete original broadcast.
All content (c)2026 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for Purim time 2026.
Yes, my friends, it’s Purim! Arguably the happiest holiday on the Jewish calendar – and I’ll argue about anything. Purim commemorates a story in the book of Esther wherein a Jewish woman, married to a Persian king, turns the tables on his highness’s anti-Semitic advisor. Instead of Esther’s people dying, evil Haman gets the noose, plus the Jews are granted permission to kill their oppressors. To put this in a modern context, imagine if, the day before October 7th, we hung Yahya Sinwar and were then given the go-ahead to annihilate Hamas, Al Qaeda, and Queers for Palestine.
So on this festive holiday of Chag Purim, we’re supposed to drink like the Irish, dance like the schvartzes, and wear costumes so ridiculous, even Chappell Roan would go, “Nahhh, too much.”
I celebrate Purim the best way I know how: telling jokes. Sharing humor and then commenting upon it, because nothing improves a joke like explaining it.
Our first joke of the day – a classic – is set on a flight bound for Israel. Two Arabs board the plane, taking a window and a middle seat. Moments after they’ve settled, my cousin Chaim checks his ticket and, bad luck, he has the aisle seat next to them. But the Arabs read their Koran, Chaim reads his Tanakh, all is quiet.
As the flight progresses, the Arab in the window seat calls to Chaim and says, “Excuse me, I’m so thirsty. I’d rather not get up, so would you mind getting me a glass of Coca Cola?”
“No problem,” says my cousin, who goes off to the beverage cart. While he’s gone, the Arab grabs Chaim’s bible, opens it to a random page, spits in it, then closes the book and puts it back.
Chaim returns with the beverage. The Arab in the middle seat says, “Wait, before you sit. I’m thirsty, too. Would you mind also getting me . . . ?”
“No problem,” says Chaim, who goes to get another Coca Cola. As soon as he’s down the aisle, the middle Arab grabs my cousin’s Tanakh, opens it, spits, replaces the book.
Chaim comes back with the second beverage and hands it to the other Arab. Both friends tip their cups to Chaim and drink, giggling to themselves over their practical joke.
My cousin sits quietly for a moment, then he sighs, “When will it end?”
“What do you mean?” the Arabs reply.
“The animosity between our people,” says Chaim. “The fighting, the retribution. The spitting in prayer books. The pissing in Cokes.”
Now, what do we learn from this joke? Well, we learn the reason why flight attendants serve everything in those little cans. But we also recognize the tragedy of neighbors who should be able to get along side by side and yet can’t. We also see — as Jews have seen repeatedly in history – people who do bad things to us get far worse done to them. Hitler may have killed six million Jews, but World War II took out eight million Germans. Hamas murdered twelve hundred Israelis on October 7th; the Gaza War? 70,000 Palestinians biting the sand. The lesson? If you expectorate in our Exodus, God will pee in your Pepsi.
Next joke: I heard Paul Reiser tell this one in a podcast for YIVO. My uncle Shimon is walking down the street and sees a businessman in a tailored suit — the most gorgeous outfit Shim’s ever seen. He says, “Where did you get that suit?”
The businessman says, “Isn’t it exquisite? It’s from my tailor in the Garment District. Here’s his card. But I warn you, it’s super expen – “
Before the man can even get the words out, my uncle is running with the card in his hand down 38th Street. “Are you Pinsky the tailor?”, he says when he gets in the shop.
“I am,” says Pinsky.
“I need a suit like the guy I just saw. It’s double breasted, grey with – “
“I know the one,” says Pinsky. “You understand that suit will cost you $18,000?”
“Eighteen grand?” says my uncle. “You know what? I don’t care; I need it. Although I’d like to know why such a price?”
Pinsky says, “You get what you pay for. The cloth comes from a rare silkworm that takes six months to spin out a yard of fabric. The buttons come from the ivory of specially bred elephants, where it takes a year to grow and another year to get through customs. The zipper on the pants is sterling silver from a mine that’s so dangerous they only go into it once every three years. Then, when everything’s assembled, I stitch by stitch by stitch for weeks on end. So, please understand, for this suit you might wait four or five years.”
“Oy,” says Shimon. “I have a Bar Mitzvah Saturday.”
Pinsky says, “It’ll be ready.”
The point of this joke is not that the tailor is telling deliberate, outlandish lies. It’s that when you have a bird in the hand, you don’t beat about the bush. If I am asked a theoretical question, I look at all the angles, the pitfalls, the risk-versus-reward analyses. But if you tell me, “This is happening!”, all the blackboard calculations in the world won’t accomplish anything. I just have to do it. And lo and behold, it gets done. I do feel bad for the silkworms, though, who must feel really rushed under those circumstances.
Okay, one more joke: Last night I asked my dear wife Miriam Libby, “Darling, why did you marry me?”
She said, “Sol, because you’re so funny.”
I said, “Oh. That’s nice I guess. It’s not because I’m handsome or great in bed?”
My wife said, “See? That’s hilarious!”
You never know what will bring people together. For Miriam Libby, it was my sense of humor. For me, it was Miriam’s personality and wide hips for bearing many, many, many children. It matters not why couples or friends become attached; what counts is the long-term connection, the sharing of joys and burdens. If we can bring that togetherness not just to our inner circle but to everyone around us, maybe there’ll be less spitting and pissing, more honest tailors, and wives even more fertile. As Mordecai and Esther would say, “I’ll drink to that!”
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York. A freilichen Purim tsu dir!
Dave’s Gone By Skit (2/21/2026): STORYTIME – Polar Bear’s Underwear
For this week’s StoryTime segment on Dave’s Gone By, Dave, dressed as a potato, reads Tupera Tupera’s “Polar Bear’s Underwear.”
This segment aired Feb. 21, 2026 as part of episode #1021 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.
All content (c)2026 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
