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..

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.

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?

www.davidkrutpublishing.com

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.

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

Jewlicious has presumed that his last name meant "life."

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.

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

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!

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.

 

Jonathan Pollard in light of the December 25th terrorist attacks

We are not that political and don't aim to get political in the future at the Whole Phamily, yet we can not help ignore the media discussions on the recent terrorist attempt in Detroit.


Whatever your politics, we can not ignore that one of our very own, Jonathan Pollard,

recently marked his 25th year in prison for trying to help limit terrorist acts.  His sentence for the crime of providing Israeli intelligence information was unfair.  He has been placed in the harshest part of the harshest Federal prison.  The calls for commutation of his sentence have gone, thus far, unanswered by the United States Government


At the very least, we urge you to take a few minutes.
Pull out some stationary or some scrap paper.  
Slap on a .44 cent stamp.

And let Jonathan know that we are all part of the same Ganse Mishpucha..


"Letters are 'oxygen' for Jonathan."


Write him at:


Jonathan Pollard #09185-016
c/o FCI Butner
P.O. Box 1000
Butner, NC
U.S.A  27509-1000



Finally...

Now for the origin of Pollard. Perhaps his name was originally Pollock? Here's what we found online with regard to the Jewishness of Pollard.

Tracing the Tribe blog

As the Whole Phamily is inspired by, but not limited to, Jewish Geneological research, we highly recommend the Tracing the Tribe blog if you have any interest in learning about your own family's history.

The author of the blog, Schelley Talalay Darsashti, also writes the blog for My Heritage.com  (a for-profit venture).

 which we have recommended in the past.  We like that it is an Israel-based family tree building website.

We need our own personal IT guy here at the Whole Phamily and don't have down yet how to get this blog glossy, pretty, and image-linky  (that My Heritage image is just an image, not an actual link to their site!!?!?  Argh!!) , so bear with us while we tweak the system!