click above to watch episode #1014click above to listen (audio only)
Here is episode #1014 of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook, Wednesday night, Dec. 31, 2025.
Featuring: Our annual New Year’s Eve celebration featuring Zoom-ins, Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection, a festive bunion watch, Passings of the Year, and a plumbus dropping at midnight.
Guests: theater critics Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Charle Gross, Eva Heinemann, and David Sheward; author Iris Dorbian; actress Vicki Quade; musicians Steve Herbst (“The Whistler”),Moshe Denburg, Richard Shore; Dave’s cousins Adam Glass and Debra O’Brien; Dave’s old friends Stephen Fisch, Jeff Goodman, and Ozer Teitelbaum; new friend Naomi Arney; Dave’s mom Brenda Lefkowitz; Dave’s aunts Bonnie Pinkow and Esther Brower; spiritual leader Rabbi Sol Solomon.
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce 00:04:30 GUEST: Leslie (Hoban) Blake 14:30:00 GUEST: Iris Dorbian 00:25:30 GUEST: Steve Herbst 00:37:00 GUEST: Eva Heinemann 00:44:30 GUEST: Richard Shore 00:52:30 GUEST: Adam Glass 01:05:00 NEW YEAR BUNION WATCH 01:10:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #200: 2025 Farewell 01:19:30 GUEST: Jeff Goodman 01:29:00 GUEST: Moshe Denburg and Naomi Arney 01:39:00 DAVE GOES FURTHER IN w/ Joyce 01:41:00 DAVE SAYS BYE: Passings of 2025 01:50:30 GUEST: Charles Gross 01:57:00 NEW YEAR COUNTDOWN 02:06:30 GUEST: Brenda Lefkowitz 02:10:00 GUEST: Bonnie Pinkow 02:14:00 GUESTS: Esther Brower and Debra O’Brien 02:20:00 GUEST: David Sheward 02:29:00 GUEST: Vicki Quade 02:40:00 Friends of the Daverhood 02:43:00 GUEST: Stephen Fisch 02:55:00 GUEST: Ozer Teitelbaum 03:07:30 DAVE GOES OUT
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.
This Rabbinical Reflection first aired Dec. 31, 2024 on the New Year’s Eve special edition of 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: Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection #190 (12/31/2024): 2024 FAREWELL
Shalom Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon with a Rabbinical Reflection for the end of the year, 2024.
You’d think from the punims of everybody walking around or jabbering on TV that this was the worst year ever. That 1861 and 1929 and 1939 and 2020 were nothing compared to the hellscape that was 2-oh-2-4. But really, unless you were personally touched (God forbid) by some horrible tragedy, or you’re the CEO of a health conglomerate and your bodyguard just quit, this past year was… just another year.
The rich got richer, and we allkvetched about inflation, but unemployment was low, Wall Street robust, the economy booming. Complain about illegal immigrants all you want, but are you gonna pick fruit? And, whatever you think of Luigi, American healthcare remains astronomical, inhuman, and indefensible. But if you made it through the year without dropping dead—the system worked.
If you think I’m joking, remember that just four years ago a million people died of COVID. Now we’re all sighing, “just how many boosters do I need?” Especially since the CEO of Pfizer made 33 million dollars in 2022 but ten million less the year after. If his salary goes below 20 mil, look for the polio booster to acquire a sudden urgency.
But again, it’s nice that COVID was no longer a nightmare, just a lingering annoyance. Like Ukraine. We want Zelenskyy to outlast Putin, but at this point, it’s not even Russians versus Russians; it’s Grumman versus Lockheed Martin for which mass murderer gets the bigger Christmas bonus.
Before you despair, however, note that 2024 was also the year that Jew-haters on university campuses slithered out of their green tents to discover nobody was listening anymore. Those left-wing peaceniks, many of them Jewish, spent months defaming Israel for just trying to survive. Meanwhile, these delusional dimbulbs ignored every African, Arab, Latin, Asian country that wouldn’t know a human right from a traffic light.
Protestors made some noise early on: breaking into buildings, stalling traffic, spraying graffiti. Celebrities wore their “Free Gaza” pins while the “Squad” wept for terrorists. But as Bibi Netanyahu cautioned the world on October 7th the year before: Israel will keep fighting until complete victory. That means getting all the hostages back and racking up more Hamas leaders on kebab sticks.
Happily, most Americans get this.They remember 9/11 and decades of hijackings, bombings, and beheadings perpetrated by the radical Muslim world. Some Americans even realize that thanks to Israel kicking butt, Syria ditched its dictator and the Iranian Ayatollah is watching his assahola. But try explaining that to a 19-year-old Communications major whose knowledge of history begins with Avatar and ends with The Matrix.
And yet, despite all the static, voters reelected the president. The previous president: Donald Trump. Vilified by the Democrats, mystifying to everyone else, the Donald will somehow return as the 47th leader of the free world. And why not? He was shot in the head, and his brain was still in better shape than Joe Biden’s!
Look, Biden’s been a decent president; it’s his party that was the pooper. No one cares about DEI when the national debt is an IOU. Liberals weep over Palestinian refugees and then shrug when illegal aliens set fire to women on the F train. And while trans people deserve the same rights as everyone else, they don’t deserve double the rights, just because they’ve got two sexes inside `em. So enough with the special bathrooms; build affordable housing, and then let the trannies decide which room they wanna take a dump in.
But again, let’s not dump on 2024, a year that gave us a cool solar eclipse, an adorable pygmy hippo, respect for women’s basketball (mostly played by real women), and artificial intelligence answering every question we could possibly ask, up to and including, “Does this look infected?” The real downside of the year, as with every year, is losing great people. Actors, musicians, writers—their work lives forever. They don’t. So here’s a poetic tribute to the passings of paragons:
We lost Kris Kristofferson, and all his fine rhymes
Farewell to John Amos, yes, for the Good Times
We’ll miss Quincy Jones and his tuneful panache
So long, Donald Sutherland, whose M*A*S*H was a smash
There’s Dame Maggie Smith, for whom we are pining
and Shelley Duvall, up in heaven, now shining
The laughs have left Fernwood; so long, Martin Mull
At least O.J. Simpson is now just a skull
Bon soir Richard Simmons! To the oldies he’s sweatin’
Pete Rose was called home; bet he’s up there now, bettin’
Ta-ta Teri Garr, you were Fronkensteen’s girl
and we lost two Joneses: Quincy and James Earl
Steve Lawrence has now joined Edyie Gorme
Alas, Willie Mays will no longer say “hey”
No more shall Richard Lewis comedically fret
And adieu, Olivia Hussey, jolie Juliet
Both West Side and East Side miss Chita Rivera<
And Bob Newhart’s gone: the end of an era
Charles Osgood filled us with homespun truth
And we learned about nookie from old Dr. Ruth
So sad that Phil Donahue has asked his last question
We mourn Morgan Spurlock’s supersized indigestion
We pine for Paul Auster and all his fine fictions
Is Kreskin in heaven, telling God his predictions?
Peter Marshall, Chuck Woolery — those affable hosts
have joined Roger Corman; all three are now ghosts
And so, adios, to our friends who are gone
The rest of us: what can we do but go on?
But try to find joy in being alive
Shalom `24! Shalom `25!
This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York. Happy Jew Year.
click above to watch episode #924click above to listen (audio only)
Here is the 924th episode of the long-running radio show/video podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired live on Facebook Saturday night, Dec. 31, 2023.
Featuring: Our annual New Year’s Eve celebration featuring Zoom-ins, Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection, a festive bunion watch, and a pointy orb dropping at midnight.
Guests: spiritual leader Rabbi Sol Solomon, actors Vicki Quade, Ronald Rand, Nancy Redman, Stephanie Trudeau, musicians Judi Mark, Moshe Denburg, Steve Herbst, author Iris Dorbian, critics Charles Gross, Leslie (Hoban) Blake, Eva Heinemann, old friends Jeff Goodman, Ozer Teitelbaum, and Stephen Fisch, Dave’s cousin Adam Glass, Dave’s aunts Bonnie Pinkow and Esther Brower, Dave’s mom Brenda Lefkowitz. Dave’s mother-in-law Rosemary Weil.
00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN w/ Joyce
02:02:00 CEREMONIAL NOSE & EAR-HAIR SHAVING
00:04:30 GUEST: Nancy Redman
00:20:00 GUEST: Stephanie Trudeau
00:27:00 GUEST: Iris Dorbian
00:33:00 GUEST: Moshe Denburg
00:42:00 GUEST: Judi Mark
00:47:00 GUEST: Leslie (Hoban) Blake
00:58:30 GUEST: Bonnie Pinkow
01:01:30 GUEST: Esther Brower
01:07:00 GUEST: Charles Gross
01:16:30 DAVE GOES FURTHER IN w/ Joyce (log-in issues)
01:26:00 GUEST: Ronald Rand
01:32:00 GUEST: Eva Heinemann
01:42:00 GUEST: Adam Glass
01:51:30 GUEST: Vicki Quade
01:55:00 GUEST: Jeff Goodman
01:58:00 POINTY ORB COUNTDOWN!
02:07:00 BUNION WATCH
02:14:30 GUEST: Brenda Lefkowitz
02:16:00 GUEST: Rosemary Weil
02:23:00 DAVE SAYS BYE: Passings of 2023
02:33:00 RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #180: 2023 Farewell
02:48:00 GUEST: Steve Herbst (“The Whistler”)
03:04:00 Shout Outs
03:08:00 GUEST: Ozer Teitelbaum
03:18:30 GUEST: Stephen Fisch
03:26:00 DAVE GOES OUT
Dave Lefkowitz chats with his mother-in-law, ROSEMARY WEIL
click above to watch the interviewclick above to listen to the interview (audio only)
Topics include: New Year’s
Segment aired Dec. 31, 2023 as part of the annual Daverhood New Year special edition 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)2023 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: davesgoneby.com
Although we didn’t do a new Dave’s Gone By episode on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023, Dave did take to Facebook for a few minutes to say hi and promote the annual Daverhood New Year’s Eve special taking place Sunday night, Dec. 31.
Dave Lefkowitz chats with old friend, STEPHEN FISCH
click above to watch the interviewclick above to listen (audio only)
Topics include: New Year, Billy Joel, concerts
Segment aired Dec. 31, 2023 as part of the annual Daverhood New Year special edition 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)2023 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: davesgoneby.com
click above to watch the interviewclick above to listen (audio only)
Topics include: New Year, whistling, To Tell the Truth, therapy
Segment aired Dec. 31, 2023 as part of the annual Daverhood New Year special edition 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)2023 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: davesgoneby.com
Segment aired Dec. 31, 2023 as part of the annual Daverhood New Year special edition 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)2023 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: davesgoneby.com
click above to watch the interviewclick above to listen (audio only)
Topics include: New Year’s, theater
Segment aired Dec. 31, 2023 as part of the annual Daverhood New Year special edition 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)2023 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: davesgoneby.com
