Episodes
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43. The Hockey Shtick
It's hockey season! What does that have to do with Judaism? More than you think. Not only are there actual professional Jewish hockey players (men and women) who play professional hockey, but there are also heretofore unexplored connections between Judaism and hockey. Is hockey the most Jewish...
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42. P'sukei Man
The few. The proud. The people present for the start of Shabbat services – P'sukei D'Zimra. Billy Joel's signature song, Piano Man, is about nine o'clock on a Saturday (night). Now's your chance to hear an early version of the song, about nine o'clock on a Saturday (morning), in this fitting...
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41. The New Book Says
Just when you thought it was safe to read again... On the heels of the near-success of our first collection – Rear Pew Mirror: Reflections From the Back of the Sanctuary – comes a second volume for your enjoyment. Rear Pew Mirror II: The Wrath of Columns contains over 30 satirical selections to...
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40. Fiddler of the Opera
Jewish opera. Sounds crazy, no? No! While not in the high percentages of Jewish composers or content in stage musicals or Christmas songs, there's more than no Jewish presence in the operatic ouvre. Coincident to my performing in Ken Ludwig's A Comedy of Tenors, here's a quick review. Warning:...
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39. Live Long to 120
What do Star Trek, Moses, and a large iron statue overlooking Birmingham have in common? In honor of the 120th birthday of Vulcan (that large iron statue), you can find out here. #Moses #Vulcan #Birmingham #StarTrek
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38. Now I Have Everything
What if Tevye finally became a rich man? What if he got everything he mentions in his infamous song? What would the Homeowners Association have to say? In honor of my playing Tevye once again, summer of 2024, we reveal the answers to these questions. #FiddlerOnTheRoof #RearPewMirror #JewishHumor
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37. Funniest Moments: Leviticus
Should the third book of the Bible be called Leviticus or Laughiticus? You be the judge, but beware of Almighty combustion. Lord knows we need to. Some things in Leviticus are no laughing matter, but don't hold that against all of it – even though it tries to prohibit who you can hold certain...
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36. The Bread of Addiction
As Passover looms large, we make room for the bread of affliction by finishing the last of our annual bread of addiction. We have to finish all the Girl Scout Cookies. Here you'll hear a few actual, legitimate facts about the Jewish origins of Girl Scout Cookies, and the still-to-be-disproven...
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35. The Perfect Dreidel Stuffer
Every day is some number of shopping days til Chanukah! Instead of braving after-Christmas sales, or any sales ever, you can benefit from the return of our first-annual Chanukah Gift Guide. To keep it simple for you, it has just one item in it. Completely unrelated... We have a new book! Rear Pew...
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34. What's in a Name?
Who named the weekly Torah readings? What were they thinking? Not about clarity of the readings' contents, that's for sure. Join us as we explore the names of the five books of the Torah and the names of each weekly parshah. After this, anything else in the Torah will be far more comprehensible…
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33. Yom Zom Kippocalypse
Whether we realize it or not, Jews pray multiple times every day for zombies to rise up. It's true. Listen to find out exactly where. And how it relates to tea. After completing Rosh Hashanah, and looking ahead to Yom Tzom Kippur, one wonders how can someone be sealed in The Book of Life if…
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32. The Southern Kingdom
The home magazine for the column on which this podcast is based – Southern Jewish Life – is vastly expanding its coverage region, from East Texas to the Carolinas. In honor of that, this episode explores the surprising similarities between The South (American) and The Southern Kingdom (ancient...
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31. Raiders of the Other Ark
What if the raiders of the lost ark weren't pursuing the Ark of the Covenant, rather a different Ark of biblical proportions? Wonder no more, as you can hear here just how similar the story might have been! Rear Pew Mirror is the longtime humor column in Southern Jewish Life magazine…
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30. Out of the House of Bond... (James Bond)
Once again, we've got an episode based not on the Rear Pew Mirror humor column, but on an actual yes-they-let-him sermon. Once again, lightning didn't strike the sanctuary, but listen at your own risk. The Torah reading on June 17, 2023 was primarily about the twelve spies sent into the Promised...
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29. A Well-Regulated Mishnah
This episode is loaded, as it unloads on the phenomenon of mass shootings. Fresh from the recently discovered biblical book of Donteronomy comes a familiar-sounding story which helps illustrate the line between sense and nonsense, and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of staying not…
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28. First Contact Seder
This year, Passover's First Seder and Star Trek's First Contact Day fall on the same day. Of course, there are special ways to celebrate. First Contact Day is exactly forty years away, much like the Promised Land was for the Israelites leaving Egypt before the bakeries opened. Nevertheless, the...
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27. The Promised Liquor
The biblical prohibition against mixing wool and linen is called Shatnez. Fortunately, there’s no Shatnez for bartenders mixing shots of these all-new Israel-inspired cocktails. From a Jerusalemoncello to a Chocolatinetivot, there's something for everyone (who drinks) no matter what their…
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26. Does Bo Know Bo?
Bo Jackson knows football and baseball, but does Bo know Diddley about the portion of the book of Exodus that's in Hebrew called Bo? Either way, here's a recently uncovered biblical chapter that recounts one of the greatest turnabouts to ever occur on a field of battle. Known by some as "Wrong…
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25. Rav Kook’s Guide to Simcha Dining
Rav Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi during the British mandate period in the early Twentieth Century before the modern state of Israel was founded and changed the name to Twentieth Century Fox. Nobody (including him) realizes that, as his name suggests, Rav Kook was also a gourmet....
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24. Ask the Rabbit, Alexa
It's the Year of the Rabbit in that other lunar calendar. Due to a contractual typo, this episode's planned Ask the Rabbi feature is instead a chance to Ask the Rabbit. Hear the world's greatest Rabbitic authority providing answers to actual Judaic questions in Amazon Alexa – many of which the...
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23. Royal Succession
The world recently lost one of its longest-lived royals, with the laying to rest of the Queen of England. People forget that Judaism has its own history of monarchs. Of course, there's the King of Kings – but even before Elvis there was also the Big G. And in between, until a couple of millennia...
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22. Drash Responsibly
The Talmud teaches that comedy works in threes. For the third time, we've got an episode based not on my Rear Pew Mirror humor column, but on my actual yes-they-let-me sermon from Thanksgiving, Shabbat Yom Turkey (November 26, 2022). Once again, lightning didn't strike and the synagogue's…
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21. Year of the Latke
Faster than you can rename your Chanukiah to Chanukleah in honor of the recent successful test of nuclear fusion, and just in time for Chanukah, Hannukah, Channukkah, or however search engines will find this... This exciting episode delves into the special Chanukah dishes added to the traditional...
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20. Birds of Pray
As Thanksgiving nears and turkeys are begging us to Eat Mor Chikin, or even Mor Cowz, it's a fine time to reflect on all our fine feathered friends. Birds of prey aren't kosher, yet praying is always kosher, so what gives? Find out this and little else as you hear how college football, the Torah,...
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19. Torah Tells: Biblical Dating
How did the biblical icons we learned about in religious school first hook up? Couldn't religious school have taught us that instead? And what can we learn from them about dating today. In honor of Tu B'Av (sometimes known for its secular variant on February 14th), we answer these questions and...
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18. Biblical Scandals
Sandals have a long, fascinating history dating back to biblical times. However, due to a typo in some paperwork, this episode instead delves into biblical scandals. If you want a normal exploration, listen to the Torah. We look at the notorious and lesser-knowntorious scandals as they'd be...
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17. The World-to-Come Games
The World Games arrive in July (2022). 3,600 athletes. 100 countries. Over 30 of "the fastest growing sports in the world." A few sports are different for every World Games. Some are considered and don’t make it. This episode is about a variety of Jewish sports that didn't make it, partly because...
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16. Ban Roll On
Banning books has gotten trendy. Again. To remove literature that's considered ocularly odoriferous, the bans roll on. Fortunately, this episode not only reviews many subjects that some deem offensive, it provides a time-saving way to ban all these subjects quickly and with little effort – since...
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15. Mixed Multitude
For the second time, we've got an episode based not on my Rear Pew Mirror humor column, but on my actual yes-they-let-me sermon from the first day of Passover (April 16, 2022). It's a special one, as it was my first sermon in my hometown since my bar mitzvah. They let me back in, and didn't kick…
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14. The Art of Sacrifice
In late March and early April, Jews everywhere brace themselves for a major religious occurrence that happens around this time every year: The start of baseball season. It's also when the weekly Torah readings reach the book of Leviticus, which has as much story as a one-sentence novel. What do...
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13. St. Purim's Day
What's better than one holiday where it's traditional to drink and drink, until we drink some more? Two of them at once! In 2022, St. Patrick's Day falls on Purim. They have more in common than meets the eye, especially if the eye is glazed over from two holidays' worth of drinking. For the first...
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12. March Menschness
Why is this basketball season different from all other seasons? Look no further than the men's team at Yeshiva University, where those mighty Maccabees spent over a month ranked number one in the country. (Yes, this country.) Listen here for all the details, except for the many we left out. How...
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11. An Exodus, With Exodus
For our minyan (or baker's minyan) episode, we're providing a different kind of service. Based on my actual yes-they-let-me Rosh Hashanah sermon (January 1, 2022), this episode wades through Rodney Dangerfield, Crimson Tide football, Buck Rogers, the first seven plagues in Egypt (it's parshat...
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10. A Tree By Any Other Name
Betty White, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Tu B'Shevat. What do they all have in common? In 2022, they all share January 17th. Listen here to how Betty White z''l actually reached her hundredth birthday after all, the real reason why a people with so much history in the desert put their Arbor Day…
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9. The Talmud of Ugiyat Mazel (Fortune Cookie)
December 24th dinner is Chinese food. Is this really a modern concept, or does it come from the Torah? Mainly, though, this exciting episode samples the long-lost Talmudic laws of the fortune cookie that help ensure your fortune comes true. Do I read the fortune and then eat the cookie, or eat…
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8. Happy Thanksnukah
How can Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Fiddler on the Roof, WKRP, Queen, and Star Trek have anything in common? These and several other odds and ends converge when Thanksgiving and Chanukah are brought into proximity with each other – in ways one could never expect. Unless you're listening to this for…
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7. Tomorrow's Leaders
The Talmud says, "find yourself a teacher." But, for this group of religious school students, is that (to quote the Torah) "a blessing and a curse?" Decide for yourself as you listen here to real, actual interactions between various 5th - 7th graders and the teacher they found. These are the...
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6. When Holidays Collide
What do you get when you combine Jewish holidays from opposite ends of the year? Find out about Rosh HaPesach, Yom KipPurim, Shemini Ha'Atzma'ut, and several other recently discovered Talmudic holidays you'll never hear about anywhere else – for good reason.
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5. I'm Gonna Git You Sukkah
What do the Wayans Brothers, The Rolling Stones, Air Supply, The Blues Brothers, KC and the Sunshine Band, and The Beatles all have in common? The holiday of Sukkot. Hold onto your lulav while we shake you out of your preconceived notions, with the heretofore untold true origin of the Jewish...
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4. The Confession Profession
On Yom Kippur, Jews confess their sins communally in a Hebrew alphabetical acrostic – with a catchy tune and chest-thumping percussion line – that's never before been translated accurately. Until now.
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3. May You Wish
With the High Holy Days approaching, 'tis the season of good wishes for the new year. So, here are timely wishes for you that you won't hear in synagogue, which are good for Rosh Hashanah or anytime!
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2. The Horn Section
Rosh Hashanah approaches, as do the sounds of the season, including the shofar as you've never heard it before.
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1. Introduction
A quick hello to let you know what to expect here... At least, what we intended going in.
About this show
A comedic reflection on all things Jewish, from the back row of the sanctuary. Doug Brook brings wit and wisdom from his longtime humor column in Southern Jewish Life magazine.
Hosted by
Doug Brook
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