click above to watch episode #796click above to listen to the episode (audio only)
Here is the 796th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook Saturday morning May 1, 2021. Info: davesgoneby.com.
Guests: actors Christiane Noll and Jason Graae. theater critics Leslie (Hoban) Blake and David Sheward, Dave’s wife Joyce.
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews actress Christiane Noll; Jason Graae plays the Today/Yesterday trivia quiz vs. Leslie (Hoban) Blake and David Sheward; Dave Goes Off on Rash & Tag; Greeley Crimes & Old Times; Colorado Limerick of the Damned (La Garita, CO); Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection (Meron).
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce 00:10:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Christiane Noll 01:15:30 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES 01:26:00 TODAY/YESTERDAY Trivia Quiz: May 1 w/ Jason Graae, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, & David Sheward 03:05:00 Friends of the Daverhood 03:12:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #169: Meron 03:20:30 DAVE GOES OFF: rash `n tag 03:59:00 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED: La Garita, CO 04:01:30 DAVE GOES OUT Classy Noll / on youtube
Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for April 30, 2021.
Happy Lag B’Omer everybody! And if you’ve ever had your Omer logged, you know just how delightful that can be.
Lag B’Omer is a relatively minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, but our people appreciate it because it is a happy one. Well, not completely happy. God won’t let a Jewish holiday be completely happy. And this festival, in particular, is about putting a bookend on a time of gloom.
Some say Lag B’Omer is celebrated because that day marked the end of a terrible plague in the Jewish community. No, not bad drivers. Rabbi Akiva, who was a great sage — and a mediocre parsley — had a lot of disciples who started dropping dead between Passover and Shavuoth. Somehow, on this date, they stopped dying. Maybe it was Pfizer, maybe Moderna — whatever. Suddenly it was time to rejoice.
Now, a completely different explanation for Lag B’Omer involves one of Ravi Akiva’s disciples, Shimon bar Yochai. Lag B’Omer is the day he kicked the b’ucket. So who celebrates a death? Well, this Yochai guy was something of a mystic. By writing the Zohar, he started the Kabbalah ball rolling. He told his followers, now that I’m leaving my body, all my teachings and good deeds belong to the universe. So don’t mourn; go have a wedding, do a dance, get a fun haircut, light a bonfire because of all the light I’ve brought into the world. And marshmallows.
So that’s what Jews have been doing — taking a break during a somber time on the calendar, when everyone’s worried about the harvest, and having a party. And if you happen to be in Israel, you can go visit the tomb of Shimon bar Yochai, which happens to be in a town called Meron. I think you know where I’m going with this.
Year after year, hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Jews make a pilgrimage to Meron for feasting and fun. It’s like Woodstock — only Jews don’t take acid; we get acid reflux. The Yidlach gather for this festival — sometimes 400,000 people show up for this Lag B’orgy.
April 2021, because of COVID, only 100,000 came. Easy-peasy, right? Except, a few people slipped, folks behind them couldn’t go backwards — voila! Stampede. 45 people crushed to death like grapes in a Manischewitz pulper. 150 more wounded. It’s the worst peacetime disaster in the history of Eretz Yisroel. I know you’re waiting for a joke but no…that’s the emmes.
Who’s to blame? Everybody, of course. First of all, you have the insular Orthodox, who don’t think the greater community’s rules apply to them. We saw this with the Haredis in Brooklyn, who were holding massive, unmasked weddings and funerals when the governor was begging everyone: don’t even hold small unmasked weddings and funerals. Were Cuomo’s restrictions draconian? Did the Orthodox exacerbate a health crisis? Or vice versa: by disregarding protocols, did they prove that, at least for people under 60, we’ve all been going overboard with a punishment that’s worse than the disease?
Even if that were true, and Governor Cuomo was erring on the side of caution — well, not with his schmeckel but with everything else — what the Haredi were doing was unbelievably selfish and thoughtless. “We follow American laws to the letter…up until the moment we don’t happen to agree with them. Who needs police? We police ourselves.” So elected officials who crave the Orthodox vote look the other way when rules are bent.
Sometimes that’s fine — sometimes it enables catastrophe. Wifebeaters and child molesters keep on beating wifes and molesting childs while the Rabbis try to fix things behind the scenes. Ask the Catholic church how well that works. And it’s this entitled arrogance of the Haredi attitude that tells Bibi Netanyahu, “We’re gonna put a hundred thousand people on a road meant for 30,000. HaShem will be our crowd control.” But they forget: God likes crushing things. Look what He did to Samson.
Jews have good reason for being wary of outsiders. From Roman soldiers to Spanish inquisitors to Cossacks — if a goy was on your doorstep, he wasn’t holding a check from Publishers Clearing House. However, when it comes to legitimate concerns about public safety — whether you’re spitting corona droplets on your cousin or getting pushed so close to a stranger your quarter shoes land on his forehead — it would be nice if my brethren would show a little consideration for the bigger picture.
Besides, what’s so wrong with a few more weeks of distancing? We’re Jewish. We shouldn’t be going to mass.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches.
Click above to watch a video of Dave Lefkowitz’s phone interview with his aunt, Bonnie Pinkow.Click above to listen to the interview.
Dave Lefkowitz chats with his aunt, BONNIE PINKOW
Topics include: New Year’s, family, Israel, Jordan.
Segment aired Dec. 31, 2019 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” 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)2019 TotalTheater Productions
More information on Dave’s Gone By? Visit www.davesgoneby.com.
Click above to watch in-studio footage of Rabbi Sol Solomon’s phone interview with David Broza.Click above to listen to the interview.
Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with musician DAVID BROZA
Topics include: Israel, Townes Van Zandt, music, Judaism, Bob Dylan.
Segment aired Aug. 24, 2019 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” 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.
click above to watch episode #710Click above to listen to the entire episode.
Here is the 710th episode, “Broz Before Hoz,” of the long-running podcast, Dave’s Gone By.
Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guests: musician David Broza, Dave’s wife Joyce
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN (work photo, Netflix Greeley, Hickenlooper, dog diaper) 00:42:00 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES 01:12:00 TODAY YESTERDAY – Aug. 24 02:01:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews David Broza 01:37:00 INSIDE BROADWAY (news & review (01:50:30; Bat Out of Hell)) 02:50:00 New Potato! 02:54:00 STORYTIME – Why Fish Fart, pt. 7 03:09:00 Friends of the Daverhood 03:16:30 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED – Marble 03:18:00 DAVE GOES OUT
Aug. 24, 2019 Playlist “Rock `n’ Roll High School” (01:34:30; Ramones). “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (01:55:00; Meat Loaf). “The Woman by My Side” (02:00:01), “Time of Trains” (02:41:00), & “Silver Dollar” (03:24:00; David Broza).
Click above to watch in-studio footage of the entire episode.Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 678th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018. More info: davesgoneby.com
Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guest: author Joseph Rotenberg (“Timeless Travels”), Dave’s wife Joyce
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Joseph Rotenberg, Greeley Crimes & Old Times, Inside Broadway, StoryTime (Jamie O’Rourke, pts. 2), Colorado Limerick of the Damned (Dacono), Dave’s Big Dictionary (marigold), Saturday Segue (in the news).
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce (“a egg,” Columbia Christmastime) 00:16:30 FLUSHIN’ FRENZY! 00:37:00 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES 01:03:00 INSIDE BROADWAY 01:28:30 COLORADO LIMERICK OF THE DAMNED – Dacono 01:32:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Joseph Rotenberg 02:08:00 STORYTIME – Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato, pt. 2 02:19:00 Friends of the Daverhood 02:27:30 MY SICK MIND – Penny Marshall 02:32:30 DAVE’S BIG DICTIONARY – marigold 02:39:00 SATURDAY SEGUE – In the News 03:18:00 DAVE GOES OUT
Dec. 22, 2018 Playlist: “The Flesh Failures” (01:24:00; Hair 1968 Broadway cast). “Magic Penny” (02:40:00; Malvina Reynolds). “Good Year for the Roses” (02:46:30; Elvis Costello). “Lungs” (02:49:30; Townes Van Zandt). “When I Get to the Border” (02:53:30; Richard & Linda Thompson). “My Defenses are Down” (03:09:00; Annie Get Your Gun 1946 Broadway cast). “Let the Sunshine In” (Hair 2009 Broadway cast).
Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of March 25, 2018.
What does Israel really need? What’s missing from the land of milk and honey? Oh, some would say peace between Jews and Arabs. Others might suggest curing cancer or irrigating more of the Negev. But a couple of Rabbis have a different idea. They say what Israel needs most of all is a theme park.
No, I am not kidding. A story in the Jerusalem Post explains that entrepreneurs have been visiting Eretz Yisroel in the hopes of building a Jewish equivalent of Disney’s Magic Kingdom. In fact, planning is well under way for a 60-acre tourist attraction in the heart of Dimona—a city which, until now, was best known for housing the secret arsenal of Israel’s nuclear weapons. What better place to bring kids for a Hebraic vacation or, as I call it, Shlepcot.
The theme park will consist of five “worlds”: “World of Spirits, World of the Jewish Nation, World of Society, World of Time, and Oasis.” Someone got lazy with the last one, there. (Either that, or Noel Gallagher is really out of ideas.) But this is beautiful – Lea Malul, CEO of the project, told the Jerusalem Post, quote, “The park will have the same rides and the same layout as Disney World but with content. It will be 90% fun and 10% content.” Because God forbid Jews should have 100% fun at anything. No, always gotta make room for disappointment and boredom. Even at Passover, a happy holiday where we escaped from slavery and entered the holy land, we pour out 10 percent of our wine glasses. Why? Because Egyptians died, and we’re not supposed to celebrate too much. So now they’ll have a theme park where the last 10 seconds of the roller coaster slows down for a physics lesson.
But seriously, although the original idea for Shlepcot was put forward by a New Jersey Rabbi, the venue won’t be one of these biblical passion pageants. Nevertheless, it will promote Talmudic values. For example—and again, this is right from the Jerusalem Post—the popular Splash Mountain ride will include a theme of six work days and then, after the drop, a calm zone representing the day of rest. There’ll also be a People of the Book Roller Coaster. Which I guess means that Genesis and Exodus go really fast, and the last three books go two miles an hour and put you to sleep before Deuteronomy. They also might consider branding the long lines in the hot sun as representing 40 years in the desert, and making The Haunted Mansion Leona Helmsley’s old apartment.
If the project goes forward, developers expect the surrounding area to be built up with shopping malls, hotels—I’d say falafel stands are a good bet. More importantly, officials from Dimona hope to make that city an international destination. Said one official, quote, “Every year, four million cars pass by en route from Beersheba to Eilat. We want them stopping in Dimona.” What they don’t say is that the city was originally settled by North Africans and later got an influx of Russians. So the theme park will have both rhythm and fixed elections.
Here’s one more quote from Malul, the CEO: “Jewish history is mostly sad – with the Holocaust and so on.” I love that, `the Holocaust and so on.’ Like she’s browsing through a catalogue. But, she says, “this will be a unique way for Jewish values and learning to become fun.” Well, 90 percent fun.
Most promising is the idea that this park will not have Mickey Mouse or Goofy but “alternative characters who will represent the heroes of tomorrow,” unquote. One can only imagine: Ephraim, the plucky lizard. Stingy Duck. Winnie the Jooh. Captain Shnook. Shmuella DeVille. Shimon E. Cricket. And of course, Lilo and Stitch, the stitch being part of grandpa’s hernia operation. And I guess you need seven dwarf-equivalents: Yitzi, Chaiki, Shloimi, Rivki, Doc (who is a Jewish doctor), Gassy, and Grumpy because, let’s face it, Grumpy was always the Jewish one anyway.
Jokes aside, I am all for anything that brings joy and tourism to Dimona. And if some shmegegge employee accidentally pushes the wrong button, and instead of starting the Magic Carpet ride blows up half of Lebanon? Well, that would sure be worth the price of an E-Ticket.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches, in Great Neck, New York. (sings) “Leave a small tip after all, leave a small tip after all…”
Click above to listen to the interview (audio only).
Dave Lefkowitz chats with legendary comedian Robert Klein
Topics include: Judaism, Israel, the Holocaust, Rodney Dangerfield
Segment airs Jan. 6, 2018 as part of the “Dave’s Gone By” radio 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)2018 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com DOWNLOAD VIDEO
Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of December 24, 2017.
When you think of Israel, what’s the first place that comes to mind? Haifa? Jaffa? Ramat Gan? No, shlemiel, we think of Jerusalem. The holy city. Home of the ancient temple and the Wailing Wall. The place Jews have lived and worshipped for centuries. The site of both the Israeli Parliament and the Holocaust Museum, not to mention the markets, the Old City, the zoo, and my retired gastroenterologist. All are part of the Jewish fabric of this Jewish city in the Jewish state of Israel.
Did I say Jewish? Goddamn right, I did. Israel, the itty-bitty country that has been the unofficial Jewish homeland for 5,000 years and the official one since 1948, has a capital, and that capital is Jerusalem. Bill Clinton said it, Dubya Bush said it, Obama said it. Donald Trump said it but, unlike the others, acted upon it. And of course, the left wing goes into an orgy of self-righteous, ignorant misery. Many among them are self-hating Jews who won’t be happy until the Arabs push us into the Dead Sea. Or, as I’m sure the Muslims would prefer, push us into the sea, dead.
But here’s an example. If the governor of New York State wants to move the capital from Albany to Rochester, is it a big deal? No. It’s still New York. If Colorado wants to move its capital from Denver to Fort Collins—big whoop. The same goes for Israel. If the United States wants to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, why not?
Jerusalem is not occupied, it’s not rented, it’s not on a 100-year lease; it’s a city in the Jewish homeland just like Paris is for France, like Rome is for Italy, like the Candy Kingdom was for the Land of Ooo. We can all despise Kim Jong Un and wish him dead and disarmed, but even then, we don’t tell him the capital of North Korea shouldn’t be in Pyongyang.
Hostile Arab nations and ignorant assuagers of terrorists have no business telling Eretz Yisroel what do with its own land. I can get along great with my next-door neighbor, but she better not tell me how to paint my living room. And she certainly can’t move into my bedroom . . . unless her tits are spectacular. And with all due respect to Mahmoud Abbas, his tits are unimpressive at best.
I have said time and time again on these Rabbinical Reflections, that Israel is a teeny-weeny country, the only land in the world that is specifically earmarked for the tormented Jewish nation. We are surrounded by enemies, and in world history, any place we’ve gone that has been nice to us can turn on a dime—look at Germany, Spain, Russia, CNN. Even the United States, the greatest country in the world and the best second home Jews have ever had, offers no guarantee. With Donald Trump and his half-Jewish family, we’ve got a friendly administration that puts its matzoh where its mouth is and will protect us against the Arafats and Bin Ladens and Al-Assads. But a president lasts four, maybe eight years. And who knows what comes after? Had Jimmy Carter been reelected, he would have cut Israel in half and let the PLO bomb us into Olam HaBah. We all know how well that peanut-picking putz dealt with Muslim extremists.
I have also explained in my sermons, and on my TV program, and in my highly acclaimed easily tour-able stage show that the Arabs own millions of miles of land spread out over 22 countries— not to mention countries in Africa and Asia whose populations are mostly Islamic. So when Palestinians say they have nowhere to go but Gaza or the West Bank or Jerusalem, they’re full of hummus. They could go anywhere if their Arab brothers and sisters would only let them. But no. Palestinians demand the one place they can’t have. And the Arabs send terrorists and lethal commercial airplanes into our country because we refuse to fall onto their carpets and bow before their shariah law.
And for those of you who say that Jerusalem should be an international city, a place for everyone because so many religions have sacred spaces there, I say, sure! Jerusalem already IS an international city. When has Israel prevented a Christian from stopping by to retrace Jesus’s mythical childhood and death march? And every year, millions of Muslims peacefully worship at the Dome of the Rock or the Al Aqsa Mosque, or the amazing falafel stand just outside Beit Hanina. And if Israeli police check the Mohammedans’ bags for explosives, wouldn’t you? Turn over Jerusalem, or half of Jerusalem, to the Palestinians, and within one generation, mark my word (or my many words), the place will be off-limits to outsiders, not to mention dangerous and probably mixed up in some Arab civil war.
So shut up, liberal lokshen heads, and up yours, United Nations. If calling Jerusalem Israel’s capital hurts the so-called peace process, well, the Arabs had 70 years to make nice. Instead they made trouble—all over the world and with no end in sight. 128 countries in the UN General Assembly think America has crossed a line simply by acting on the true, the fair, and the obvious? Fine, let them live without American money for awhile. Next time there’s famine in Bangladesh, or flooding in Indonesia, or a shortage of ladyboy hookers in Thailand, see how much aid they get from Lebanon or Sudan. Maybe they’ll airlift you a scorpion and a hundred Korans.
In the meantime, thank you, Donald Trump, for doing what’s right and what has been right from the beginning. And don’t let Roger Waters, Danny Glover, the aptly named Lupe Fiasco, Emma Thompson, Samantha Bee, and other celebrity know-nothings sway you with their blather. If these Hollywood types were so concerned about partitions, why didn’t they put one in front of Harvey Weinstein’s dick?
Oh, I know. Harvey Weinstein’s Jewish. And I’m not proud of that. But I am proud of our president, and considering that so many other things he and the Republicans have done are stupid, scary, and crazy, I’d call this oasis of sanity— you should pardon the expression—a Christmas miracle.
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches, in Great Neck, New York, and maybe someday in Yerushalaim shel zahav.
Click above to watch in-studio footage of the entire episode.Click above to listen to the episode (audio only).
Here is the 633rd episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on UNC Radio and Facebook, Dec. 23, 2017. Info: davesgoneby.com. Dec. 23, 2017 (show #633): YULE TIED
Host: Dave Lefkowitz Guest: Dave’s wife Joyce
Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon offers his Rabbinical Reflection on Jerusalem. Plus: Inside Broadway, Greeley Crimes & Old Times, Saturday Segues (Morose Xmas, In the News), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (harding-not Tonya), My Sick Mind (Amtrak).
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce (tio de nadal, New Year’s Eve, solstice) 00:31:00 GREELEY CRIMES & OLD TIMES 01:08:30 Sponsors 01:11:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – In the News 01:44:30 INSIDE BROADWAY 02:06:30 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (harding) 02:25:30 MY SICK MIND (Amtrak) 02:30:30 Friends 02:39:30 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #151 (Jerusalem) 02:51:00 SATURDAY SEGUE (morose Christmas). 03:18:30 DAVE GOES OUT
Dec. 23, 2017 Playlist: “Crash” (01:12:30; The Primitives). “Boy with a Coin” (01:15:00; Iron & Wine). “Embraceable You / “I Got it Bad, and That ain’t Good” (01:19:30; Louis Prima & Keely Smith). “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” (01:22:00; Stevie Wonder). “The Rum Tum Tugger” (02:01:30; Cats 1982 Broadway cast w/ Terrence Mann). “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine” (02:11:00; Joan Baez). “Down Along the Cove” (02:14:30; Bob Dylan). “All Along the Watchtower” (02:17:00; Taj Mahal). “All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue” (02:52:30; Over the Rhine). “We Killed Santa Claus” (02:57:00) & “My Doggy’s Christmas Gift” (02:58:00; Dave). “Christmas in Prison” (03:01:30; John Prine). “I’ll Be Killing You This Christmas” (03:05:00; Loudon Wainwright III). “Oh Holy Night” (03:08:30; Steve Mauldin). “On a Holiday” (03:24:30; Brian Wilson).
Dec. 23, 2017 (show #633): YULE TIED
