Rabbi Sol Solomon – Page 128

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #20 (7/3/2011): July 4th

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #20 (7/3/2011): July 4th

(aired July 2, 2011 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube: Jhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVfXgUoNdyQ)

Yankee Doodle Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of July 3rd, 2011.

Yes, we are approaching the 235th birthday of the United States of America, the worst, most corrupt country in the world – except for every other country in the world. Don’t listen to polls that show that country has a better standard of living, that country has better healthcare, that country takes care of its poor, that country has cleaner beaches – all these things may be true in dribs and drabs, but there is still no country greater than the good, not-so-old USA.

When my great grandparents had to get the hell out of Russia, this is where they came. When my grandparents had to get the hell out of Germany, this is where they came. When my parents had to get the hell out of Saint Croix – because they were on vacation and mom got a sunburn and the souvenir shop was out of aloe vera and the hospital there was a shack with an aspirin bottle – this is where they came – and couldn’t wait to come back to.

Are these ideal days for the American people? No, tough times. We are still suffering from a recession George Bush built and Barack Obama can’t tear down. We have crime and drugs and pollution and overcrowding and the Game Show network. We have young people dying and killing in a sandpile called Arabia.

We have cameras at every stoplight, and we have super-computers that know the size and shape of every poop we take before we even eat the food that’s gonna turn into poop.

Worst of all, we have the first – or maybe it’s already the second generation of Americans – that isn’t doing as well as the one before. Even in the darkest jungles of Africa, the son of a chief can tell his father, “Dad, thanks, but I don’t need your shrunken heads. With my new position, I should be getting five, six decapitations a month, and if I make my quota, the wives and I get a ceremonial drum. I know dad, I know. When you were my age you had to castrate a rhinoceros for fuel, but times have changed. And with that new medicine man and his herbal remedies, who knows? I might even outlive you and make it to 40!”

But seriously, so America is in a rough patch. Meanwhile, we have cars that can tell us directions so we don’t get lost. We have ipods that put more music on a chip than a man 100 years ago would have heard in a hundred years. Just a week ago, we passed a law in New York where two people of the same sex can finally marry each other – instead of getting stoned by a mob. And pretty soon in Colorado, it’ll be legal to get stoned in a mob.

Not everything gets better, but before you go all nostalgic for the America of yesteryear, answer me this: Which would you rather have? God forbid you need heart surgery, would you rather have it now, or 1950? It’s a heat wave, and you’re trying to get some sleep in your bedroom. Would you prefer 2011, or 1911? Maybe you work in a factory, or an assembly line. Now…then? Or maybe you came in late and missed your favorite show on TV. Instant gratification on your cable box…or 1970? You’re trying to sell your house – today…or last year?

So you see, even in the worst of times, we usually have the best of times. Think of that as we head into – God help us – election season. Out will come all sorts of garbage, back and forth, right and left, all of it boiling down to one side saying, “We’re doing our best and hope to do better,” and the other side saying, “Your best isn’t good enough, and it couldn’t be worse.” As the mud is being flung and the bull is being shoveled, just remember that two-and-a-half centuries ago we belonged to another country. We bowed to a king, and we paid taxes to a government building roads and schools 3000 miles away. Well, we’re doing that now in Iraq, but still…

On this Independence Day, let us honor this republic, this democracy, this place that still takes immigrants – legally or otherwise – and gives them a shot…that isn’t from firing squad.

On this July 4th, as I stand at my barbecue and press my Hebrew Nationals into the Happy Hot Dog Man, I look over one backyard fence, and there’s the O’Malleys, drunk; over the other fence, the Tortorellis, stupid; down the street, the Gonzalezes – cheap bastards, but friendly – and two blocks down, not on this block, thank God, the Roosevelts. All good people of different backgrounds just trying to get by. One nation, under you-know-who, indivisible, with at least an impossible dream of liberty and justice for all.

Oh say can you see… my Ketchup Critter? Because I put it down, and now I can’t find it, dammit.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches.

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Dave’s Gone By Interview (7/2/2011): DAVE KONIG & Rabbi Sol Solomon

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Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews comedian Dave Konig

Topics include: comedy, Addicted to Show Business.

Segment originally aired July 2, 2011 on the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Note: Interview 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: Full Episode

All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.

More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com
More information on Rabbi Sol Solomon: http://www.shalomdammit.com

Dave’s Gone By #358 (7/2/2011): KONIG FUR EINEN TAG

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Here is the 358th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, July 2, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guests: comedian Dave Konig, and Dave’s wife Joyce

Featuring: Rabbi Sol Solomon chats with comedian Dave Konig. Plus: a Saturday Segue of freedom songs, Inside Broadway (news & Nixon’s Nixon), Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (July 4th), Rabbi Sol’s Rabbinical Reflections on July 4th, and Dave & his wife Joyce reminisce about their trip to Italy.

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN
00:08:00 SATURDAY SEGUE – Freedom
00:33:00 GUEST: Rabbi Sol Solomon interviews Dave Konig
01:25:00 INSIDE BROADWAY (News & Nixon’s Nixon (01:38:30))
01:47:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – more freedom songs
01:53:30 Sponsors
02:01:30 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later: July 4th
02:37:00 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection #20: July 4th
02:45:00 DAVE GOES AWAY – to Italy (aka Wakka-Wakka Boom-Boom Pigs), w/ guest Joyce
03:11:30 DAVE GOES OUT

July 2, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “Absolutely Free” (00:08:30; Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention); “Freedom Now” (00:12:00; Tracy Chapman); “Free” (00:15:30; “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, 1996 Bway cast); “Set Me Free” (00:19:00; John Cale); “I’m So Free” (00:23:30; Lou Reed); Marriage (00:28:30) & Jewish (01:16:00; Dave Konig, youtube clips); (01:22:00; Follies 2004 Paper Mill Playhouse cast); “Free as a Bird” (01:47:30; The Beatles); “I’m Free” (01:51:00; The Rolling Stones); “Tears of Rage” (version 2) (02:02:30), “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues” (02:05:00), “Tombstone Blues” (live) (02:09:00), “Lone Pilgrim” (02:13:30), “Angelina” (02:16:00), “Band of the Hand” (02:23:00) & “This Land is Your Land” (02:27:30; Bob Dylan); “Mambo Italiano” (02:43:30; Dean Martin); “Freedom” (live) (03:14:30; Richie Havens).

Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/25/2011): BOB CUDMORE (WVTL Morning Show)

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WVTL-FM’s Bob Cudmore interviews Dave Lefkowitz about Broadway

Topics include: Broadway, Tony Awards, Spider-Man.

Segment originally aired on WVTL FM (Amsterdam NY) June 21, 2011 as part of Bob Cudmore’s morning show, “Coffee with Cudmore” and was rebroadcast June 25th on Dave’s Gone By.

Please Note: Interview 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)2011 TotalTheater Productions.
More information on Dave’s Gone By: http://www.davesgoneby.com

Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/25/2011): RICHARD PILBROW

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Dave Lefkowitz interviews theatrical lighting designer Richard Pilbrow

Topics include: theater, lighting, producing.

Segment originally aired June 25, 2011 on the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

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

Dave’s Gone By #357 (6/25/2011): THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

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Here is the 357th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, June 25, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guest: lighting and theater designer Richard Pilbrow, radio host Bob Cudmore

Featuring: Dave chats with Broadway lighting wizard Richard Pilbrow. Plus: a Saturday Segue of light songs, Dave Says Bye to Peter Falk, Dave’s appearance with Bob Cudmore on WVTL’s “Coffee with Cudmore,” Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later (light), Dave Says Bye to Clarence Clemons, and Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on the death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn.

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN
00:08:30 SATURDAY SEGUE – Light
00:30:00 GUEST: Richard Pilbrow
01:20:30 INSIDE BROADWAY – News & Peter Falk (01:25:30)
01:39:30 DAVE on “Coffee with Cudmore” w/ Bob Cudmore (WVTL-AM 1570, taped 6/21/11)
01:54:00 Sponsors & Weather
01:59:00 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (Light)
02:32:30 DAVE – Upcoming
02:39:30 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on “Jackass'” Ryan Dunn
02:55:00 DAVE SAYS BYE – Clarence Clemons
02:58:00 More Sponsors & Friends
03:03:00 DAVE GOES OUT

June 25, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “In a Different Light” (00:09:00; Bangles); “In the Light” (00:12:00; Led Zeppelin); “It’s not the Spotlight” (00:19:30; Beth Orton); “Color and Light” (00:25:30; Sunday in the Park with George, 1984 Bway cast); “Arrows of Light” (00:55:30; Bruce Cockburn); “Shadows and Light” (01:16:00; Joni Mitchell). “When the Deal Goes Down (02:00:00), “Chimes of Freedom” (02:04:30), “Something’s Burning, Baby” (02:12:00), “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” (02:16:30), “Every Grain of Sand” (02:20:30) & “Moonlight” (02:26:30; Bob Dylan); “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out (02:45:00), “Pink Cadillac” (02:48:00), “Bobby Jean” (02:52:00) & “The Long Goodbye” (03:06:00; Bruce Springsteen).

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #19 (6/25/2011): Jackass’s Ryan Dunn

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Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection #19 (6/25/2011): RYAN DUNN

(aired June 25, 2011 on Dave’s Gone By. YouTube Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGoZRYSFmX0)

Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of June 25, 2011.

What is the definition of a jackass? A donkey, of course. Also, a stupid person, a fool. That’s according to Webster’s Dictionary and to me, when we talk about the late Ryan Dunn.

Dunn was a castmember on the MTV television program, Jackass, which had crazy people doing idiotic, dangerous things. Putting their heads in beehives, skating into walls, firing objects in and out of their tuchases, and falling on things – lots and lots of falling on things. This is what passes for entertainment in the new millennium. And hey, sometimes it’s funny. A person walking on the street slips on dog poop – it’s amusing. Unless they’re badly injured, in which case it’s hilarious.

Goofy people pulling stunts that the rest of us are too mature or just too cowardly to do can be an appealing form of comic relief. After all, it answers one of the basic curiosities of mankind: “What would happen if?”

What would happen if I ride a motorcycle into a group of midgets dressed like nuns? What would happen if I cover my best friend with firecrackers, make believe I’m going to light them, but instead, I kick him really hard in the nuts? Hours, my friends, of delightful, high-class entertainment!

Along with Johnny Knoxville and Steve O, Ryan Dunn took part in these perilous shenanigans. And there was always controversy. Parents worried that their children would imitate these yutzes and put themselves in the hospital – or worse. But that never bothered me. These were professional pranksters. If they wanted to strap raw meat to their behinds while being dangled over a swamp full of alligators – who am I to judge? And if your kid is stupid enough to copy that, well, alligators have to eat, too. So if you want to hurt yourself or your willing accomplices, that’s between you, your friends, and the guy holding the water cannon.

But I call Ryan Dunn a jackass – and a putz and a moron and a bastard – because on the night of June 20th, he had enough drinks to befuddle Russia, and then climbed in his Porsche and started to drive. Eventually, his fancy car came to a stop. Unfortunately, it was in the middle of a tree.

Police estimate the automobile had been going 130 miles an hour, and that Dunn’s blood alcohol was more than twice the legal limit. And yet, a miracle occurred. Oh yes, Dunn and his friend in the passenger seat were both killed, but thank God, they didn’t kill anyone else.

A car is a loaded weapon – especially if you’re loaded. You’re rich, you’re famous, you think you can get away with anything, and you’re gonna live forever. Guess what? You’re rich, you’re famous, but if you have three Stolis and a whiskey sour when you get behind the wheel, you will not live forever, nor will you deserve to.

I don’t care if you’re Mel Gibson, or David Cassidy, or Gary Collins, or Lindsey Lohan, or Nicole Richie, or Rip Torn, or Rick Springfield, or the woman down the street with three kids and a Percodan habit – if you’re driving under the influence, you should be arrested for attempted homicide.

When you get in a car – sober and alert – you depend on your own ability to get safely from where you start to where you want to end up. Alas, you are also dependent on everyone else on the road obeying the rules and maintaining the same level of caution. These include schmucks on their cellphones, women doing their makeup in the rear-view mirror, idiots on bicycles who think the road is their own personal videogame, and the prick in the SUV who thinks a couple of beers won’t affect him if he just drives a little more slowly. The only thing that shocked me about those drive-by shootings in L.A. is that they were done by gang members and not white-collar working stiffs just trying to get home without being cut off at 70 miles an hour by a Jeep Cherokee blaring Lynyrd Skynyrd.

And so, I come not to praise Ryan Dunn, but to bury him. Thirty-four years old and a victim only of his own arrogance and negligence. When they put the word “Jackass” on his tombstone, his fans might take it one way, but anyone with a brain will know exactly what it means.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches.

→ https://wp.me/pzvIo-2p

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=30275

Dave’s Gone By #356 (6/18/2011): HEAVENLY FATHERS

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Here is the 356th episode of the long-running radio show/podcast, Dave’s Gone By, which aired on UNC Radio, June 18, 2011. Info: davesgoneby.com.

Host: Dave Lefkowitz
Guest: Dave’s dad, Philip Lefkowitz

Featuring: Father’s Day episode featuring Dave’s dad, Philip Lefkowitz, an Inside Broadway recap of the Tony Awards, plus a farewell to Wild Man Fischer, Bob Dylan – Sooner & Later, and Dave’s thoughts on his trip to L’Aquila, Italy.

00:00:01 DAVE GOES IN
00:08:00 SATURDAY SEGUE – Summer
00:34:00 GUEST: Philip Lefkowitz
01:02:30 Sponsors
01:05:00 INSIDE BROADWAY – Tony thoughts
01:29:30 DAVE SAYS BYE – Wild Man Fischer
02:09:30 BOB DYLAN – Sooner & Later (dads & summer)
02:39:00 Rabbi Sol Solomon’s Rabbinical Reflection on Father’s Day
02:48:00 DAVE GOES AWAY – L’Aquila, Italy
02:58:30 Friends
03:01:00 DAVE GOES OUT

June 18, 2011 Playlist: (part one) “Summersong” (00:08:00; The Decemberists); “Summertime Blues” (00:11:00; T. Rex); “In the Summertime” (00:14:00; Mungo Jerry); “Indian Summer” (00:17:30; Lee Konitz); “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” (00:20:00; Joni Mitchell); “All I Have to Do is Dream/A Summer Song” (00:23:00; Christine Lavin); “The Summer of My Wasted Youth” (00:26:00; Amy Rigby); “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer” (Nat King Cole; 00:29:00); “Sweet Little Papa” (00:59:00; Louis Armstrong); “Hello!” (01:27:30; The Book of Mormon, 2011 Bway cast); “My Name is Larry” (01:29:30), “Don’t Ever Get Mad at Me” (01:42:30), “I Light the Pilot” (01:43:30), “I’m Selling Peanuts for the Dodgers” (01:45:30), “Go to Rhino Records” (01:51:30), “The Wild Man Fischer Story” (02:02:00) & “Love, Love, Love in Everything You Do” (03:08:30; Wild Man Fischer); “Summer Days” (02:10:00), “In the Summertime” (02:15:00), “Ain’t Talkin'” (02:18:30), “Precious Memories” (02:27:30), “Sittin’ on Top of the World” (02:30:30) & “Father of Night” (02:35:00; Bob Dylan); “West of Rome” (02:44:00; Jeff Finlin).

Dave’s Gone By Skit: RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #18 (6/18/2011): Father’s Day

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RABBI SOL SOLOMON’S RABBINICAL REFLECTION #18 (6/18/2011): Father’s Day

aired June 18, 2011 on Dave’s Gone By. Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI7TbF3qbcg

Shalom, Dammit! This is Rabbi Sol Solomon, with a Rabbinical Reflection for the week of June 19, 2011.

Happy Father’s Day, goddammit! What a nice thing to be able to celebrate: a non-sectarian holiday that nevertheless follows the fifth commandment: honor thy father and thy mother.

It actually took awhile for the papas to catch up to the mamas on this. Mother’s Day became an official holiday in 1914, but it wasn’t until 1972 that Father’s Day became an official national holiday. Of course, since then, we’ve added an official Grandparents Day, and if Hallmark had its way, we’d have an Uncles Day, a Stepmother’s Day, a Caribbean Nanny’s Day.

Not that these are bad things; anyone responsible for raising a child deserves a day of pampering and obeisance. As the father of 21 and a half children – or is it 22 and a half? A couple of them are very quiet – but as a father, I know what it is like to endure the crying, and the screaming, and the begging, and the pouting, and the tantrums when my wife needs me to help with the kids. I know what it is like when your baby has 103 degrees fever, and you don’t know whether to rush to the emergency room or stay home and finish watching Hawaii 5-0. I know what it is like when you’re in a supermarket, and the kids are yelling and pulling things off the shelves and smashing the cart into the displays, and someone looks at you as if to say, “Is that your kid?” And you just want to say, “No, my real kids are at home. These are aliens who were sent from hell to destroy the earth. As long as I keep them busy in the King Soopers, the world is safe. So you should thank me and stop giving me the stink-eye, all right?”

I remember my father. He was a small man who kept getting smaller as the years went on. I remember he used to come home, stooped and exhausted, holding his abdomen and lower back after hours of lifting heavy bundles. Which was strange because he was an accountant. But in his life he was also a jeweler, a furrier, a candy store clerk, an insurance salesman, a math tutor, a night watchman – anything to put food on the table. And let me tell you, sometimes there wasn’t a table to put food on, so we had to put it on the floor. And one time, the floor fell in, so we had to put the food on our downstairs neighbors’ floor. I still don’t know why they wouldn’t let us use their table…

But what I remember most about my tateh are the quiet times, like when he took me fishing in the Hudson River. We didn’t have to say anything; we just sat side by side getting our tetanus shots.

I remember papa showing me how to daven and put on tfillin in the synagogue. I would get all tangled in the leather straps and the tallis, and I’d get frustrated and start cursing. And then he’d start cursing. Then the rabbi would come over and threaten to throw us out. Then we’d start cursing at him. You can’t buy moments of bonding like that.

I’ll also never forget one of the last things my father ever said to me. He said, “Son, no matter what your mother says, you really are my child. I love you, and I hope one day when you have children, they will give you the joy – and the trouble – that you have given me.” If he only knew.

But what can I say? Once you have children, you can’t imagine not having children. And since it’s illegal to kill them once they’re born, you have to do your best on their behalf. Hopefully, one day a year, they remember you with a tie, or a DVD, or a Sony Blu-Ray player (HINT HINT HINT if you’re listening, you little bastards!).

Whatever your relationship is with your father; if there’s issues, if there’s bad feelings – put them aside for a day if you can, and call him, send him a card, maybe buy him a hooker if he’s lonely – give thanks to the man who put you here, because he may not always be there.

This has been a Rabbinical Reflection from Rabbi Sol Solomon, Temple Sons of Bitches.

–> https://davesgoneby.net/?p=30278

Dave’s Gone By Interview (6/18/2011): PHILIP LEFKOWITZ

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On Father’s Day, Dave Lefkowitz interviews his dad, Philip Lefkowitz

Topics include: memories.

Segment originally aired June 18, 2011 on the “Dave’s Gone By” radio program hosted by Dave Lefkowitz.

Sad Note: Our father of the Daverhood, Philip Lefkowitz, passed May 5, 2021.

All content (c)2011 TotalTheater Productions.

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