Ozzy Osbourne, founder and lead singer of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, died last month at the age of 76. After releasing eight albums with the band, Osbourne was fired because of his drug and alcohol problems, but he continued to perform world-wide, occasionally reuniting with Black Sabbath, including for his final concert in his hometown of Birmingham, England just weeks before his death. Osbourne performed in Israel’s Hayarkon Park in 2010, headlining the Ozzfest concert, and again in Rishon LeZion in 2018. He and his wife Sharon supported Israel and ignored calls for entertainers to boycott performances there. Sharon, whose father was Jewish, said, “I’m half a Heeb. We play where we want to play. That’s it.” Sharon and Ozzy starred in a reality show about their lives called The Osbournes on MTV along with their children Kelly and Jack. In 2002, on the New Year’s Eve episode of that show called My Big Fat Jewish Wedding, Sharon decided that she and Ozzy should renew their wedding vows in a Jewish ceremony. Ozzy was not thrilled with that idea until the officiant, Rabbi Michael Latz, did what?
Blizzcon 2009 11 by Morten Skovgaard is licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A. He told Ozzy that instead of stomping on a glass at the end of the ceremony, he could stomp on a pile of CD’s made by Black Sabbath during the years that Ozzy was not recording with the group.
B. He explained to Ozzy that the name Black Sabbath has been used by rabbis for thousands of years to refer to the Saturday closest to the Tisha B’Av holiday which commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and other disasters in Jewish history. Said Ozzy, “Oh, so I’m not the only one whose history with Black Sabbath is problematic.”
C. Rabbi Latz told Ozzy that he would also officiate at the bar mitzvah of his son Jack and bat mitzvah of his daughter Kelly. Ozzy decided that this three-for-one deal was worth it so he went through with the wedding ceremony.
D. He gave Ozzy a kiddush cup with wine, stating that “in Judaism wine is a symbol of joy,” leading Ozzy to say “I like this guy.”
E. The rabbi held up a bat and bit off its head, saying to Ozzy, “You’re lucky that Sharon hired a Reform rabbi. No Orthodox rabbi could ever do this!”
Paramount, the parent company of CBS, announced that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was being canceled as of May, 2026, upon the end of Colbert's current contract. CBS executives stated that the cancellation was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” George Cheeks, the president of CBS and a co-chief executive of Paramount stated clearly that the cancellation was in no way based on Paramount’s recent $16 million settlement with Donald Trump regarding a 60 Minutes broadcast. They also said that neither the content of the show nor Paramount’s proposed merger with Skydance Media (which needs approval from the Trump administration to proceed) were factors. Many observers suspect otherwise, however. The Writers Guild of America asked New York Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the cancellation. Senator Elizabeth Warren said that “America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.” And Colbert has received huge support from other late night talk show hosts–Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver and others. On an episode of Colbert’s former show, The Colbert Report, which fell on Ash Wednesday, Colbert, who is Catholic, announced that he would be giving up Catholicism for Lent. Then, realizing he missed religion, he popped a yarmulke on his head and declared himself converted to Judaism. What did he then decide to give up for Lent as a Jew?
A. He decided to give up wearing beanies, so he took off the yarmulke and put on a straw hat, announcing his conversion to “Amish-ism.”
B. He decided to give up his table sponsorship at the UJA dinner.
C. He decided to give up not eating bacon.
D. He decided to give up his Catholic wife Evie, until she then walked onto the set looking very angry, at which point he ripped the yarmulke off his head and recited the Hail Mary.
Elmo of Sesame Street had his X account hacked last week. Among the posts made under his name was a call to release the Jeffrey Epstein files, and also antisemitic rants, that “all Jews should die” and “Jews control the world.” This was not the first time that Elmo got in trouble with the Jewish community. In 2012, amongst all the Disney, Super Hero, and other characters who compete for photo-taking opportunities in New York’s Times Square, a man dressed as Elmo solicited tips and yelled antisemitic rants, earning the name Bad Elmo. The real Elmo, on the other hand, has a much better history of involvement with the Jewish community, including which of the following?
A. When a girl in the Sesame Street neighborhood named Charlie shows everyone how to bake a challah, Elmo gets the job of sprinkling sesame seeds on the dough.
B. Elmo celebrates Chanukkah with his Jewish friends Gil and Susie and receives his own dreidel in the book, Elmo’s Little Dreidel.
C. Elmo learns about Chanukkah from Charlie, who gave Elmo and his friends “special hats to wear” while they lit the menorah.
D. In a segment on Shalom Sesame, the Israeli version of Sesame Street, Elmo learns the Hebrew word תּוֹדָה, Todah, meaning Thank You, from Seth Rogan.
E. On one Sesame Street show, Rabbi David saw Elmo sitting alone and crying. Elmo said he was sad because he had no friends. Rabbi David told Elmo, “You know that you always have a friend, right?” “Really,” said Elmo. “Who?” Rabbi David replied, “Your name is Elmo. That comes from the Hebrew אֵל מוֹעֵד , “El Mo-Ed,” which means God’s appointed place. So you are always in God’s appointed place and never alone.” To which Elmo replied, “To quote Seth Rogan, Todah, Rabbi.”
Evangelist Jimmy Swaggart died last week at the age of 90. Swaggart was born in Ferriday, Louisiana where his father was a grocer and a Pentecostal minister. Swaggart followed the Pentecostal path, and even prayed for the salvation of his cousin, Jerry Lee Lewis, when Lewis married a 13-year-old cousin. Meanwhile, Swaggart, at age 17, married the 15-year-old Frances Anderson, after which he began traveling throughout Louisiana and the Deep South preaching the Gospel to all who would listen. His reputation grew, and in time he was leading revivals in stadiums and arenas. Eventually he established a television ministry with millions of followers worldwide, receiving donations of as much as a half a million dollars a day. His downfall began in 1987 when he was photographed entering a cheap motel in New Orleans with a prostitute. He begged forgiveness of his followers, saying “I have sinned against you, I beg you to forgive me.” But his ministry shrunk, as did his donations, and in 1991 he was again caught with a prostitute. His explanation at his Baton Rouge church, that “The Lord told me it’s flat none of your business,” did not enhance his ministry. Swaggart had a mixed relationship with the Jewish community. He said he loved the Jewish people and Israel, but he also said “I love the Jewish people…When you have true love for a people…it comes as an abrupt shock when they don’t reciprocate…” What else did he have to say about Jews?
Rev. Jimmy Swaggart 01 by Jntracy75 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A. He said that “someday the Jewish people will recognize that they have been led astray. I pray that the Lord Jesus will save their souls.”
B. He wrote that “the Jewish people served, one might say, as the womb of the Messiah.”
C. He preached that “our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was a Jew. That means that we are all Jews and all lovers of Israel.”
D. He noted that “I have a lot of respect for the Jewish people. Their Bible is part of our Bible. And I think the Jews understand that in the end times, they will return to our Lord Jesus Christ.”
E. Swaggart spoke of the two spies, Pinchas and Caleb, who were sent by Joshua to scout out the land of Canaan as the Israelites prepared to return to the Promised Land. The spies stayed at the home of a prostitute named Rahab in Jericho, and she sheltered them from the King of Jericho when he learned of spies in his midst. Said Swaggart, “If the two spies can be saved by a hooker, why can’t I?”
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, celebrated his 90th birthday by laying out his future vision for the Tibetan Buddhist community. He confirmed that he would continue to lead the people until his death, at which point he would be reincarnated. His inner circle would then announce his successor, traditionally a child in which the Dalai Lama’s spirit had been reborn.
In 1990, a group of prominent American Jewish leaders traveled to Dharmsala, India at the invitation of the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama expressly wanted to meet with them to discuss how the Jewish people had survived and maintained their community in the diaspora. He hoped their advice would guide him as leader of the Tibetan Buddhist community, many of whom lived in exile in India due to the annexation of Tibet by China. Among the participants were Dr. Arthur Green and Rabbi Joy Levitt of the Reconstructionist Movement, Dr. Judith Hauptman of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Rabbi Joseph Glaser of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, Dr. Blu Greenberg and her husband Rabbi Irving Greenberg of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and two rabbis representing the Jewish Renewal movement–Reb Zalman Shachter-Shlomi and Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man. Author Rodger Kamenetz accompanied the group to chronicle the proceedings, which led to his best-selling book The Jew In The Lotus, that was later released as a movie. What was one piece of Jewish wisdom which Reb Zalman gave the Dalai Lama at that meeting?
A. Reb Zalman stated that “I’ll use anything that will help me get off. I’ve got a great deal invested in the materials of civilization, like language and vocabulary - booba, zeida, cholent, tallis - they’re deeply embedded in the core of my brain, attached to my thalamus, not to the cortex. It would be foolish to deny that they’re not part of my make-up. But, if someone says that I must believe in the God who was active at the time of Moses, or Yohannan ben Zakai, or the Baal Shem Tov, my answer is no.” The Dalai Lama responded that he understood this to mean that surviving in the diaspora is a function of living and adapting in the current world, not being bound by the past.
B. Reb Zalman said to the Dalai Lama, “The mind is like tofu. By itself, it has no taste. Everything depends on the flavor of the marinade it steeps in.” Leading the Dalai Lama to reply, “I hear what you are saying. It is not where we are that matters, it is what we bring to that place. I thank you for those blessed words of meaning.”
C. Reb Zalman explained the role of angels within Judaism, and when the Dalai Lama asked if Jewish angels had colors, Reb Zalman replied, “Oh yes, some are blue and some are orange” to the surprise of most of the other Jewish participants.
D. Reb Zalman said, “The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me. My eye and God’s eye are one eye, one sight, one knowledge, and one love.” The Dalai Lama responded, “So when Jews look around as you live in the diaspora, you are reminded that wherever you are, you are one with God. This is wisdom that can bring comfort to my people.”
E. Reb Zalman said to the Dalai Lama, “We survive because we follow laws and traditions that bind us wherever we are. For example, we follow laws of kashrut that guide what we can eat, whether we are in the Holy Land or in the diaspora. Our shochet, our ritual slaughterer, chooses only certain kosher animals and performs a proper ritual slaying. Which reminds me, you need not worry even if you pass a kosher slaughter house, as llamas are not kosher. You will be safe, my brother.”
Two Jewish basketball players were selected by the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA draft last week. The Nets had both the 26th and 27th picks in the first round of the draft. They used their first pick to select Ben Saraf, a 6 foot 6 inch point guard, an Israeli who has been playing for the Ratiopharm Ulm team in the German league. Then the Nets chose Danny Wolf, a 7-footer who plays forward and center for the University of Michigan. The two players will join one other Jewish player in the National Basketball Association, Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers, as well as Sacramento Kings player Domantas Sabonis, who is in the process of converting. There is a long history of Jewish involvement in the NBA. Many early NBA players were Jewish, including Adolph “Dolph” Schayes, Sidney “Sonny” Hertzberg, Max “Slats” Zaslofsky, and Louis Herman “Red” Klotz , as well as more recent players including Larry Brown, Amar’e Stoudemire and Omri Casspi. Renowned coaches Red Auerbach and Red Holzman were both Jewish, as is Adam Silver, the current NBA Commissioner, and current and former team owners including Abe Pollin, Micky Arison and Herb Kohl. What is another NBA Jewish connection?
2006 NBA Draft by bikeride from Canton, CT, USA is licensed under CC by 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
A. The New York Knickerbockers, now known as the Knicks, were named after the baggy-kneed pants that were very popular among Jewish teenagers on New York’s Lower East Side in the early 20th century. Basketball was a favorite pastime among these youth as basketball courts were easy to set up in small courtyards and alleyways behind the tenement buildings.
B. The first basket ever scored in the NBA was by Jewish player Oscar Benjamin “Ossie” Schectman of the New York Knickerbockers. Schectman, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, was later elected to the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
C. The Golden State Warriors were formerly the Philadelphia Warriors. Their original roots were as the Philadelphia Sphas, with the name being an acronym for the South Philadelphia Hebrew All-Stars.
D. Before they were an independent team playing basketball and providing comedy and entertainment, the Harlem Globetrotters were an early member of the NBA, under the leadership of Abe Saperstein, the son of Jewish immigrants from Łomża, Poland.
E. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891. He was a physical education instructor looking for activities for his students to do in the cold winters. He used soccer balls and peach baskets, and ultimately created a list of 13 rules that governed the game during its initial growth. But in fact, Naismith got his inspiration from a Jewish friend in junior high school, Harry “Hoops” Hooperstein. Naismith was invited to a Passover seder at Hooperstein’s house. After the seder, the boys were playing, and suddenly Hooperstein grabbed some of the leftover matzah balls that his mother made, and which were definitely sinkers, not floaters. He and Naismith started tossing them into a garbage can and keeping track of who “sunk more baskets.” The memory of this Passover fun inspired Naismith fifteen years later to create what became basketball.
Musician Sylvester “Sly” Stone passed away recently at the age of 82. Stone was a 1960’s pioneer of psychedelic soul and funk music, gaining fame with his band Sly and the Family Stone. Sly was a musical prodigy, playing keyboard, drums, guitar and bass before he was a teenager. Besides their music, the band was known for featuring men and women, and being racially mixed. Among their hit songs were Dance to the Music, Everyday People, Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin), I Want to Take You Higher, and Family Affair. In 1969 the band performed at Woodstock as well as The Summer of Soul concerts in Harlem. Questlove, whose documentary film Summer of Soul featured Sly Stone and his band, described him by writing, “He had a way of talking, moving from playful to earnest at will. He had a look, belts and hats and jewelry. Everybody was a star, as he said (and sang), but he was a special case, cooler than everything around him by a factor of infinity.” What is a Jewish connection in Sly Stone’s life?
A. Sly was given a Jewish star by Rabbi Shlomo Carlbach, when they met in Haight-Ashbury in 1967. Sly called this the Everybody is a Jewish Star necklace, and he even wore it at Woodstock.
B. The success of Sly and the Family Stone took off after they signed with CBS Records, under the management of Clive Davis. Davis invited Sly Stone to a Chanukkah celebration at CBS, where Sly sang at the menorah lighting, “I want to take you higher, I want to light the fire.”
C. Greg Errico, the drummer in the band, married a Jewish woman. Sly made an appearance at Greg’s son’s bar mitzvah and led the singing of Adon Olam to the tune of Everybody is a Star.
D. Sly regularly wore a Jewish star around his neck, including at the band’s Woodstock performance. Sly referred to this star as his Star of David Kapralik, in honor of his manager.
E. Sylvester Stone came up with his band’s name after attending a bar mitzvah party of a friend’s son. The entertainment was a father, Chaim Stein, and his two sons, performing under the name Chai and the Family Stein. The band began the party singing a song called “Dance to the Hora.”
Brian Wilson died last week at the age of 82. Wilson was one of the founders of the Beach Boys, along with his brothers Dennis and Carl, and their cousin Mike Love. Wilson wrote many of the group’s songs, often reflecting the band’s Southern California roots, including Little Surfer Girl and Fun, Fun, Fun. But Wilson went on to compose and sing other songs of much greater depth and complexity, including Good Vibrations, Pet Sounds, God Only Knows, and Wouldn’t It Be Nice. The band’s membership changed over time, and eventually there were two separate versions of the group, the touring band, which Brian Wilson did not perform with, and the recording group, where Brian Wilson devoted his talents. Tributes have poured in since Wilson’s passing, including from Paul McCartney, who wrote, “I loved him, and was privileged to be around his bright shining light for a little while.” What was a Jewish connection in Brian Wilson’s life?
A. Brian’s high school girlfriend, Rhonda Schwartz, was Jewish. She was the inspiration for the Beach Boys song Help Me, Rhonda.
B. Brian’s best friend in junior high school was Joey Goldstein, who was Jewish. Brian attended Joey’s bar mitzvah, and it was this event that later inspired Brian to write the song When I Grow Up (To Be a Man).
C. Brian Wilson’s first wife, Marilyn Rovell, was Jewish. She is the mother of their children, Carnie and Wendy, later members of the Wilson Phillips musical group.
D. David Marks, a Jewish friend of Brian Wilson in junior high school, was an original member of the Beach Boys. Brian had a crush on David’s mother.
E. While in high school, Brian Wilson attended Shabbat services with some Jewish friends at the Venice, California Shul on the Beach. He heard the congregation sing a tune for Adon Olam which had been written by Shalom Rubanowitz, known as the Hippie Rebbe. This was the tune Wilson used when writing the song Sloop John B. So despite what most people believe, it was an Adon Olam tune which was used for Sloop John B, not the other way around.
The Tony Awards were given out in a ceremony at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Cynthia Errivo. Among the Jewish nominees were Jeremy Jordan (Best Actor in a Musical for Floyd Collins), Danny Burstein (Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Gypsy), and Danya Taymor (Best Direction of a Play for John Proctor is the Villain), though none of the Jewish nominees won the Tony. But the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre was given to Jewish actor and writer Harvey Fierstein. Fierstein previously received four Tony awards, for Torch Song Trilogy (Best Play and Best Actor in a Play), for La Cage Aux Folles (Best Book of a Musical), and for Hairspray (Best Actor in a Musical). Fierstein was raised in a Conservative Jewish household in Brooklyn, and though he considers himself to be an atheist, he has said that his Judaism influenced his artistic sensibility, noting that “talmudic teaching and reasoning are somewhere in me. They are so dramatic.” Fierstein has played many Jewish characters, including Arnold Beckoff in Torch Song Trilogy, Bella Abzug in Bella Bella (a solo show which he wrote), and most notably, Tevye in the 2004 Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. The character Arnold Beckoff is a drag queen and torch singer who Fierstein described in the stage directions as a “kvetch of great wit and want.” What is Beckoff’s drag name in Torch Song Trilogy?
The Shavuot holiday, Z’man Matan Torateinu (the time of the giving of the Torah) marks the moment when Moses ascended Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God. The holiday, also known as the Festival of First Fruits (in recognition of the harvest of wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates), is celebrated in a variety of ways. These include attendance at synagogue services, serving of dairy meals, and all-night study sessions. What other way do some Jews celebrate the Shavuot holiday?
A. While dairy meals are the most common food celebration, Jews from India typically include a centerpiece on their holiday table which includes 10 pieces of Batata Vada, a traditional chickpea flour and potato fritter, representing the 10 Commandments which Moses received.
B. Many Israelis, and in particular those from North Africa, celebrate by spraying each other with water or having water balloon fights. This comes from the Talmudic comparison of the Torah to water, because both are life-sustaining.
C. Yemeni Jews celebrate Shavuot by walking around their neighborhood, a local park, or their residential block 40 times, representing the 40 days that Moses is said to have spent on Mt. Sinai.
D. Many Jews from Arab nations traditionally bake maamoul cookies, a butter cookie filled with dates. Children are encouraged to break their cookies into pieces, representing Moses smashing the 10 Commandments when he came upon the Israelites celebrating the golden calf. But then, the family recites the Shehecheyanu, thanking God for sustaining life, at which point the children are given more whole maamoul cookies.
E. One community of Israelis has celebrated Shavuot by holding a festival in the desert known as the Pashut Festival. Pashut is the Hebrew word for simple, but it also means undressed. The Festival is attended by nudists who are invited to celebrate the holiday in an invitation which reads, “Let us shed our masks, limiting beliefs, mental blocks and release the shame and guilt that are attached so strongly to our bodies.”
.jpg){kind=link}
