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Saturday, December 11, 2010

A Tiny Island in Tunisia in North Africa

The island named Djerba off the coast of Tunisia is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world.  Its synagogue., the oldest in North Africa, houses the oldest sefer Torah.   On the earth.  That exists anywhere.

Every year Jews pilgimmage there during the holiday of Lag Ba'Omer.  We just learned about this place that seems worlds apart from our cozy lives here in the U.S., and yet we are so connected.

And the population there?

Most of the Jews there are cohanim, descendants of the highest priestly tribe.  The ones who give you the famous "live long and prosper" blessing that Spock made famous on Star Trek (remember, Leonard Nimoy, too, is a cohane).  A whole community where literally all its Jews are cohanim?  Whoa.....talk about holy stuff.  Our question is, when it comes time for duchening, who is sitting in the shul to receive the priestly blessing?



What is the big deal you might ask?


from travelblog.org

We recently met someone who's father's family came from this town.  The father was raised in Tzfat, one of more than ten children in his family.  For anyone who knows about the town of Tzfat, this is the epicenter of the development of kabbalah.  Many of our great mystics learned there, and many are still drawn to the town's deep spiritual roots.

Deep stuff.  Deep, deep stuff.

Friday, December 3, 2010

By now everyone has heard about the Maccabeats

We figured that by yesteday everyone knew they had gone viral...




And indeed by this morning Yeshiva University's Maccabeats cover of the Dynamite acapella video by Mike Tompkins appeared on the Today show...





Wishing you guys up in Washington Heights a Happy Hanukkah!

Now, we just want to know how your show was last night with Mattisyahu!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Did Dr. Dre ever spin the Dreidel?

Highly unlikely, but hey, ya never know.

The humble little dreidel is so part of our experience with Chanukah, and yet does anyone know why it's called a dreidel?

Ester Shahaf design

It's a Yiddish word, no doubt.

To "dre" is to spin. A dreidel spins.
When you add on the "el" that gives it diminutive, cutesy-ness element.
So it's a little spinning top.

The Whole Phamily loves Yiddish - it's part of our Ashkenasic heritage. And dreidel is in Yiddish.
But we like to say sivivon also, which is the Hebrew word for dreidel.

This is no Dr. Dre, but here's a familiar tune, "Oh Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah" in Yiddish.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Hummus Place will one day nourish many more Americans than just some lucky New Yorkers

If the claims asserted by last week's New York Jewish Week article about the growing hummus market in the US materialize, our favorite chickpea dip-spread will soon be on the plates of Americans nation-wide.


It's a hummus revolution, and it's happening from sea to shining sea.


Whole families will buy it right alongside their butter and cream cheese. 
Put it in wraps.
Bring it to school with baby carrots.



If it can be in supermarkets (Sabra is now America's #1 hummus) why not strip malls and food courts?


Enter Hummus Place in NYC.  There is room for more hummus.  The hummus revolution is brewing.






Here we are tonight at their St. Mark's Place location.  They have 5 total.  They want to franchise.


It's genius.


Middle Americans will soon be eating chummus from Mankato to Maui.  But they'll also want to get it when they go out.  What a nice healthy addition Hummus Place will be.


Tonight we tried Hummus Place's hummus fava:  delicious.  Topped with whole fava beans, Tahini, organic hard boiled egg, olive oil & spices.  Delicious.  Grilled eggplant with tehini:  superb.  Ambience wonderful, especially since we walked in 20 minutes before closing.  We were celebrating a birthday, and just like that, a kadaif dessert was brought to the table.  This delicious combination of shredded halva, ricotta cheese, and date honey was simply delectable.


We wish Hummus Place the greatest success possible.


Check out this You Tube from Keren Weinberg

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Here's another Buxbaum

Julie Buxbaum is also a story teller.

Just more of the mainstream type.



Sorry we missed ya just a post ago.

Julie is bright (Penn and Harvard-educated).  She's likely a very good writer.  And, judging by their covers, her books look like the type we'd want to read.


We don't watch Oprah, but they look like they'd be Oprah books. 

We're quite sure that with the Harvard and Penn connections we'd do well at the Jewish geography game.  Thus the Whole Phamily gets stronger and smaller all at the same time.

Now if the Whole Phamily could only employ good writers...

Buxbaum the Storyteller

There are variations:  Buxbaum, Buckspan, Buchman, Buchweitz...we are only guessing that the meaning for "buch" is the word book.  Perhaps families with this surname were involved with production or selling of books.

If this is the case, then Yitzhak Buxbaum's name is very fitting.  He is a teller of sacred Jewish tales.  A master storyteller or maggid, Reb Yitzhak is a unique soul and brings the stories from the alter heim (Eastern European towns where so many of us originate from) into the 21st century.  His site is the Jewish Spirit Journal, a gateway to mysticism, spirituality and Kabbalah.

Maybe he can weave a story of the Whole Phamily and tell us exactly what we're doing here.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Jah Levi was Kid Goldstein growing up? Return!

We have just come across the reggae artist Jah Levi.  He is a spiritual healer.  According to his bio, he is a spiritual leader in two churches:  Essene and the Peruvian Soga del Alma.  We're not sure what it means to be a card-carrying member of the Native American church, but he's got one.  He is an herbalist and acupuncturist.   His music is entrancing.  We aren't too educated in reggae music, but Bob Marley's One Love sounds good to us.


And his father was folklorist Kenneth Goldstein (a historian on Adirondack music...full disclosure:  the Whole Phamily has deep roots to the ADKs...yes, we are all connected).

So give it up, Mr. Levi...we believe that you're connected deep, deep, deep.  We believe you have healing powers.  We believe you create great music. 

Not a smidge mention of the Jewish factor other than your father's last name.

Hmm....

Time to come on home!

Raz Hartman had a vision.  You can visualize it, too.  It starts with being in the Sinai desert, nothing at all on the horizon.  Then you see one little speck.  That speck turns out to be a person.  But it's not just one person, it's 10 people.  They get closer.  Not 10 people, it's 100 people.  As the mass gets closer, you realize it's not 100 but 1,000 people.  No, it's not just 1,000, it's more like tens of thousands.  Then you realize it's hundreds of thousands of people, all the Nation of Israel and they are all dancing and singing in the desert, walking closer toward you.  And you realize that the music is coming from the center of this mass of people.

This music is coming from the tribe of Levi.

This vision inspired a song called Shuva which is for sale CD Baby.  You can listen to just this one sample which is Track #7  (this one little track does not do justice).  This is the star song of the CD and it is not available to listen fully online.  The liner notes are important, as well.

Simply put:  Shuva means return.

In the meantime, we have a hankering to get back to the woods.  Frolicking around in Paul Smith's isn't too far away...

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Talk about world unity!

Michael Franti is not a Jew, but he is clearly a peace-lover and positive thinker.  He is hopeful for the world.  He is hopeful for world peace.  We're not quite sure about his Israel politics, but we welcome him onto our humble blog here, and hope to serve as a reminder that we are all connected and all want the same good things for our families.

Check out this American-born musician's video entitled Hey World.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

We began last week...

Sorry, our bad, it was last week that Genesis was read. Big whoops!

New beginnings & Invisible Touch & Phil Collins (clearly not a Jewish name)

This week Jews all over the world start reading the Torah from its beginning. In Hebrew, it is called b'reishit. The common English translation for this is Genesis.

However you call it, the biblical creation story is recounted, complete with the world created in 6 days followed by the first man and the woman that was fashioned out of his rib. So the story goes. For any of you with a problem with that unbelievable-sounding story, just remember you gotta dig deeper. Not a single thing there is quite literal. But we ain't no rabbis or nothin'.

Getting back to Genesis, naturally we thought of one of our first concerts in the 80s to see Phil Collins' band (aptly named Genesis). Take a listen to their "Invisible Touch." Is it possible that Phil is belting out lyrics describing the biblical Eve? She tempted Adam, was mysterious, he fell for her, and they got kicked out of the Garden of Eden forever.



Sorry Chava (the Hebrew name for Eve), we think you weren't the best heroinne in Jewish history.

Collins is clearly not a Jewish name (wasn't that what Whole Phamily was originally about? Jewish family names?), but in a way yes you are part of the Whole Phamily too in that we think "Invisible Touch" could have something to do with the creation story, and that your band's name clearly comes from our tradition.

Finally, here is a shout out to our friend Noah who is moving on to new beginnings of his own.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Love Song to Islamic Fundamentalists (From a Jew)

We're all about the big picture, one love and one family here at the Whole Phamily.  We are all connected and want good things for our own families.

Check out Pesach Stadlin's earnest song about this very idea.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Look! There she is. Just ask the Bernsteins.

It's not a bird and it's not a plane.  It's the moon, and she's right up there waiting for you to notice her.  Recently we met a very bright young 3rd year student at the Law School  (as if there's only one) who was wrongfully convinced that the ecocult which he'd ultimately like to establish will be based around solar energy.  "The sun's bright and full of energy," he extorted as we departed our conversation on the steps of a summer camp dining hall.  Au contrare, my friend, how mistaken you are.

Lunar power is where it's at.  And she's all woman.  Any thinking woman will tell you that just as the moon waxes and wanes (gets bigger and smaller for the lunar-jargon challenged among us), so too do women have their highs and lows.  Call it what you want:  soul sistas, girl power, or women's intuition...it's all the same deal.  The moon is cyclical. What goes around comes around.  Isn't that what life is all about?

Some tunes to recall at this point include Sir Elton John's"Circle of Life."  Even Disney is capable of words of wisdom.



We also recall  Harry Chapin's "All my Life's a Circle."


Finally let us always remember Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game" which, it is claimed in this YouTube's comments section, was written with Neil Young.  Don't doubt that one.



We have the moon to thank for those.

The moon may be smaller than the sun, but she's a lot smarter and got her head screwed on straight.  She ain't the one in the news on a seemingly daily basis.  With the current energy crisis, the words climate change, global warming and greenhouse gases are all connected to the sun and enough to drive any middle American batty.  Just the other day, the White House said no thanks to solar panels.  Uh oh, we're in big trouble.

If you are a girl or woman, stare at the moon for as long as you can every night.  Once we locate the moon, that's when we usually say, "look, there she is!"  For Jewish women, it is a way of participating in the celebration of Rosh Chodesh, the new month in the Jewish lunar-based calendar.  At this moment, the moon is waxing gibbous, getting fuller and fuller to that point next week when she's a glorious full moon and Jews the world over will rejoice during the harvest festival of Sukkot  (note to self:  check out sukkah city), also known as the "time of our happiness"  (remember our blog post referring to Joy at its end?   Same deal).

If you want to get all astrological and womyn and some say wiccan about it, you can even check out We'Moon.  How interesting that their publisher is called Mother Tongue Ink.

In Yiddish, mother tongue is rightfully referred to as  mamaloshen.  Now that's something to talk about.

Just ask Inigo Montoya.



Mandy Patinkin will belt it out in the mother tongue at Queensboro Community College on September 26th.   Maybe the Bernsteins want tickets? 

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Talkin' Hava Negiliah Blues

Who hasn't done a hora to hava nagila at bar and bat mitzvahs in the United States?  It is an unavoidable Jewish American cliche.  Over the years, we have grown to prefer other, less-trite Jewish songs, but just when we thought it was out of our lives...

... wouldn't ya know, along has come a documentary on the song.




While they didn't say it by name, hava nagila is, essentially, based on a chassidic nigun, or wordless religous melody invoking prayer and spirituality.
Spare yourself the 9 minutes.  Despite the much-appreciated academic analysis of the song,

we'll stick with Bob Dylan's rendition.

Shake Sugaree and how nice it is to be with your brothers and sisters, including Matisyahu

Not to be confused with (fellow MOT) Danny Meyer's Shake Shack (no doubt:  treif and not kosher, but you can learn how to make their Shack Burger at home), tonight, in memory of Jerry Garcia (he died 15 years ago, August 9, 1995) we were listening to the Dead's Shake Sugaree.




 I got to thinking how the Dead sang about themes such as American love, loss, and heartbreak, and how this song is connected deep deep within our roots.

Elizabeth Cotten wrote the original Shake Sugaree. This woman knew how to sing and write the blues.  She was a real southern church-goin' mama. 



Here is a nice blog about Elizabeth Cotten.
She must've been connected in some way to the generations of African American women who followed the drinking gourd and had wisdom from their mamas and just by being connected to the earth.

Speaking of being connected to the earth, The Topsy Turvy Bus,


we have heard, plans to be in the lots for the 8/17/10 Phish show at Jones Beach theater.  This will be a great time to learn what the Jewish Climate Change Campaign Tour was all about.  Or maybe what Teva Learning Center is all about (shh...this visit to enlighten Jews and the world about caring for the earth is officially off the books and not really a Teva event...I mean, where is the bus even to be found on the home page?  That's another story...)  We could always chat with the folks about Eden Village Camp.  Maybe we could give each other a hug.  Or be nice.  Or just Speak Nicely


Here's a little history of the bus, with an interivew with Ben Cohen from Ben & Jerry's, at the end.



Or maybe, before the show, we can hang out in front of the bus and sing a good old fashioned hinay matov, arm in arm, camp-style.



Now if we could only beat-box like Matisyahu, we'd be golden..

Friday, March 19, 2010

Shwekey

For those of us familiar with Ashkenazic names, Shwekey wouldn't initially strike you as Jewish.  But if you're outside this mold, and familiar with the Syrian community, this name will be as familiar to you as kibbeh and ma'moul.

Probably the most public person with this name today is the Israeli-born, New Jersey-based Yaakov Shwekey .  A Jewish singer-songwriter, Shwekey has played at venues around the world, including the Beacon Theater in New York last December.  We have no clue as to the origin of his name, but would love to know.  According to his Wikipedia page, originally the surname was Choueka and his father is of Egyptian and Syrian background.


a poster promoting a performance in France

We're not quite sure if he's our style, but this performance with Yonatan Razel offers a taste.



The whole reason you read this far?

Click to 2:57 for a hilarious interlude.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Kentridge or Kantorowitz, a fine artist indeed

William Kentridge, a South African artist (and a Jew), has hit the scene in New York.  Currently, you can see his work at MoMa and the Met, and starting May 2nd, at the Jewish Museum.

How's that for a triple whammy?



Kentridge's work ranges from original opera to film to collage to sculpture to performance art.  He grew up in a liberal Jewish family in South Africa who was involved in the liberal elite and fighting apartheid.  The nose that is featured on the sets of his opera "The Nose," Kentridge has said, is inspired by his own Ashkenazic Jewish nose.

And what about the name?

Kantorowitz comes from the same place as Kantrowitz and even Kantor, Cantor and various other spelling variations.  Way back when their family in Poland or Russia were probably cantors, or hazzanim.  So belt it out, Mr. Kentridge.  You should be singing your halleluyahs that you've got such a fine showing in NYC this spring.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Haim = Life or Home?

This morning we learned of the tragic death of Corey Haim, the child actor who reached fame and glory in the '80s.  We will forever love Lucas.  As Jews, we wish his family great comfort among the mourners of Zion.

Corey Haim during the '80s



While the Hebrew word chayim translates as life (as in L'chayim), it is also possible that Haim could have been from the Yiddish word, heim, which means home (as in heimish - - homey, cozy - -  or alter heim, referring to the old country/home).

Perhaps Haim was shortened from Haimovitch, meaning the "son of a Hayim".  This discussion talks about a Haimovitch family who emigrated from Romania to Montreal and since changed their name to Haines.  Perhaps the Haines and Haim family are related, since Corey was raised in Canada.  Unless Bernie Haim, Corey's father, wants to chime in here, we'll likely be in the dark.

For now, we're motivated to finally watch Lost Boys, which we somehow missed in 1987.


Friday, February 26, 2010

Aaronson is also a Cohen

Riding the Katz and Cohen wave, let's talk about the last name Aaronson (interestingly, this week's Torah portion T'zaveh, discusses at length the priestlihood).  By obvious definition, it means "son of Aaron."  Let's go back historically and look at the original Aaron.  He was the brother of Moses, who led the Children of Israel from Egypt out of slavery (remember the Passover story where frogs were here, frogs were there, frogs were jumping everywhere?).  Aaron was selected as the first High Priest (in Hebrew, kohen gadol).   It would make sense, then, that the descendents of Aaron are also from the priestly lineage and are cohanim as well.

There are, indeed, Aronsons and Aaronsons who are not Jewish, and come from Norweigan backgrounds.

We don't know if composer Jack Aaronson is Jewish, but it sure looks like his gigs down in the West Village in NYC are lots of fun. 



If belting out current Broadway tunes is your thing, then pop in on a Tuesday night and let us know how it goes!

Marie's Crisis Cafe
59 Grove Street
New York, NY
212-243-9323

Monday, February 22, 2010

Katz = Cohen...Live Long and Prosper

We have decided to return to our roots and reinstate the Whole Phamily as a blog about Jewish names.  Names that you've heard.  Names that you haven't.  Ashkenazic names.  Sephardic names.  We will focus on one Jewish name per blog post, and perhaps bring up a person, business, work of art,  or all of the above that bears this name.

To say that Katz is a vintage Jewish last name is an understatement.  If you're from New York, or simply a deli maven, you know Katz's Deli.  Many folks say that their pastrami is the real deal.

Katz's Deli, NYC

We were blown away when, many years ago, we learned that Katz is a priestly name.  Saying Katz is just like saying Cohen, but in German.   Do you recall Spock's Vulcan Salute in Star Trek?

Leonard Nimoy as Spock giving the Vulcan Salute

  Ask a random male Katz today, and he will tell you that the traditional blessing he says in synagogue (be it once in a while or every week) that was passed down by his father is eerily reminscent of the Vulcan Salute.

Shlomo Katz, Israel-based musician

Another Katz of note is Shlomo Katz, a musician bringing on down some of the most beautiful Jewish-infused (hint:  Torah) music out there today.


We heard him perform tonight at an intimate evening of music and story.  We bless him that his music should spread far and wide among alle yidden!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Annie's Goddess Dressing

*note*  this blog post has pretty much nothing to do with Jewish names, and has no right being here.  But since we wrote this when we were off the derech of our blog's direction, we grandfather it in



You haven't tasted salad bliss until you have had it drizzled with Annie's Goddess Dressing.

 Problem for those dietary guideline-following Jews among us (hint:  
Kosher) is that we can't eat it.  Cuz it ain't Kosher!
The Whole Phamily has written in recent years to the company. We have received bogus responses.  Many companies can find Kosher ingredients for their products.  Surely Goddess Dressing, whose ingredients contain nothing out of the ordinary when it comes to kosher food, could do the same.  We encourage you to  write to Annie's join the cause.  Better yet, write them a letter at their Napa offices.  We're certain they'd appreciate anything fun and colorful.  We sent in a letter using pastels.

You can also join the Facebook group.  All 37 of us.   join the cause.  Better yet, write them a letter at their Napa offices.  We're certain they'd appreciate anything fun and colorful. We sent in a letter using pastels.