Adam Sandler's New Hanukkah Song Could Include Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor

Adam Sandler's much awaited fourth installment of his wildly popular "The Hanukkah Song" was released the other day and it might be his funniest and most creative song about famous Jews yet. Sandler's production company Happy Madison released the music video of "The Hanukkah Song" on Wednesday and it is a recording of a live performance at the San Diego Civic Theatre on November 18th when he first sang the new version.

In this latest iteration of his celebrity infused Hanukkah song, Sandler includes such celebrities as Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who enjoys eating kugel), Stan Lee, Jake Gyllenhaal, Adam Levine, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ben and Jerry (Ice Cream Magnates), Scarlett Johansson, Shia LaBeouf and even Jared Fogle from the Subway commercials (whom he recommends Dr. Drew can help). The video quickly made its way around the Interwebs as fans shared the YouTube video on Facebook.

Two deceased celebs whom Adam Sandler didn't include in this rendition of "The Hanukkah Song," but could have are Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. I had long heard rumors that both iconic women had converted to Judaism, but I never confirmed it. Sure enough Marilyn Monroe converted with a Reform rabbi before she married Arthur Miller and Elizabeth Taylor converted in 1959 before marrying husband #4 Eddie Fisher. It turns out that Liz Taylor's 3rd husband, Michael Todd, was the son of an Orthodox rabbi, but Taylor only converted after Todd was killed in a plane crash and she was set to marry Fisher.

I only learned about Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor's conversions to Judaism this week after I was called by Lauren Markoe, a reporter with Religion News Service, asking me for a few comments on the matter. It turns out that the Jewish Museum in New York (under the auspices of The Jewish Theological Seminary) has a new exhibit about the conversions of the two famous women. In the RNS article, Markoe writes, "Collecting letters from their rabbis, images from their Jewish weddings, and a rarely-heard audio recording of Taylor’s conversion ceremony, “Becoming Jewish,” documents the relatively quiet way in which Monroe and Taylor adopted the faith, and what that said about the America that loved them."

I Gave "Kosher Soul" a Second Chance

A friend tipped me off to a new reality TV show that was about to begin publicizing its pilot episode. I was immediately intrigued. The show, Kosher Soul, is about a pretty Jewish woman and a Black comedian who fall in love. I clicked the link to find the trailer from the Lifetime network and was immediately disappointed. Oy, I thought to myself, this is not going to be "good for the Jews."

I posted the link to the trailer in a few rabbi discussion groups I'm part of and encouraged my colleagues to check out this video and give their own opinion. It was unanimous that we all cringed when we saw the typical, run-of-the-mill Jewish jokes interspersed with sub-par humor about African-Americans. One of my Rabbis Without Borders colleagues suggested we have a conference call right after the first episode airs so we can discuss and determine the best way to articulate our dismay of this farcical portrayal of everything from interdating to conversion to Black/Jewish relations.

©2015 A&E Television Networks, LLC. All rights reserved. Photo Credit: Richard Knapp

I helped coordinate the conference call, and we all seemed to have the same impressions about the show. It was a car wreck! I explained how I too was uncomfortable with the show, but that generally I detest reality television because it's almost as unreal as any other television sitcom. The actors are performing for the cameras, each episode has a theme, and the editors are going to cut the raw footage down to a bunch of sound bites for the 20 or so minutes of the final cut. It seemed to me, I explained, that O'Neal McKnight, the Black comedian, was trying to hard to market his comedy routines by offering one-liners that made me yawn rather than laugh out loud. The Jewish partner, Miriam Sternoff, came off as a snob who never seemed to feel comfortable having her private life aired to the masses. I didn't learn anything new from the conference call, but my sentiments about the show seemed to be the party line among my colleagues. I watched the first episode so I could have a coherent dialogue with my fellow rabbis and then, I reasoned, I'd never watch another episode of this filth again.

Rabbi Barry Freundel's Arrest and the Negative Light it Casts on Jewish Conversion

In my first contribution to Time.com, I looked at the recent case in Washington D.C. of a well known Orthodox rabbi's arrest for voyeurism in the mikvah. This rabbi has been outspoken about only having the conversions overseen by select Orthodox rabbis outside of Israel considered valid. Here's the first two paragraphs and then the link to the full article:

Conversion to Judaism is a tricky subject. To begin with, we Jews are never quite sure if we should be defined as a religion or a race – or both. If we’re a religion, conversion seems like a plausible concept, much like gaining membership to a private club with sets of rules and regulations to adopt. If we’re defined as a race – a peoplehood – then admission would seem only possible through birthright. The topic is also tricky because there are those who believe that conversion to Judaism should be a challenging endeavor and highly discouraged at the outset (hence the myth that potential converts should be rejected thrice before being accepted). Others, however, take a more welcoming stance, encouraging potential converts along their journey – without outright proselytizing.

Mikvah (WikiCommons)

Back in the summer of 2003, millions of Sex and the City fans watched as character Charlotte York – a prototypical WASP – explored conversion to the Jewish faith before marrying Harry Goldenblatt. The HBO series did a fairly accurate portrayal of conversion, even if it was lampooned in some areas for the sake of humor. Charlotte’s conversion process began with rabbis rudely rejecting her, but she ultimately found a rabbi who welcomed her into a course of learning that concluded with a ceremony at the mikvah – immersing herself in the ritual bath to complete the conversion. [...]

CONTINUE READING AT TIME.COM

Drew Barrymore Plans to Remove Tattoos for Conversion to Judaism

A year ago I wrote about Drew Barrymore's journey toward conversion to Judaism and how she was turning to her friend Adam Sandler for assistance.  At the time she was engaged to marry Will Kopelman, an art consultant who is Jewish. The couple married on June 2, 2012 in Montecito, California and welcomed their child, a daughter named Olive Barrymore Kopelman, on September 26, 2012.

Some were surprised that Drew didn't convert to the Jewish faith before getting married (this is her third marriage) or at the least before delivering her first baby. But she reported that it was a long process and she didn't want to take the plunge before she was ready. About Judaism, Drew has said "It’s a beautiful faith and I’m so honored to be around it. It’s so family-oriented… the stories are so beautiful and it’s incredibly enlightening. I’m really happy."

Photo: Algemeiner.com

Is Drew Barrymore Jewish? No, But She's Converting to Judaism with Adam Sandler's Help

Cross-posted to the Community Next blog

Is Drew Barrymore Jewish? The answer is that she currently is not, but she appears to be interested in converting to the Jewish faith. She is engaged to marry Will Kopelman this year.

While many non-Jews preparing for conversion to Judaism reach out to rabbis or Jewish friends for guidance, Drew Barrymore has sought out a colleague who has been an Israeli hair stylist, a water boy, a hockey player/golfer, and a surrogate father. Yep, Adam Sandler is reportedly offering guidance to Barrymore during the transition to the Jewish people.

Perhaps Drew Barrymore will hear her name in the next version of Adam Sandler's Hanukkah Song, which would be the fourth installment in Sandler's humorous song that lists Hollywood's Jews who celebrate Hanukkah.

The celebrity gossip magazine In Touch Weekly reported that Sandler might even play a major role at Drew Barrymore's wedding:

According to insiders, Drew Barrymore wants her favorite co-star Adam Sandler to be her best man when she marries fiancé Will Kopelman in a traditional Jewish ceremony later this year.

In fact, Adam and 36-year-old Drew have grown so close while working on several movies together that "he's even helping her with the process of converting to Judaism," a source tells In Touch.

"Those two absolutely adore each other, so it only made sense to Drew that he will be right by her side playing an important role at her wedding."

Although her rep denies the story, Drew, who has gotten very close to Will's family, has told them she will raise their children Jewish, says the friend.

Unlike her experience with Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore probably didn't have to go through 50 First Dates before becoming engaged to Kopelman. But there is a good chance that her best man will also be the Wedding Singer on her big day!

For now, she'll likely be studying in anticipation of her conversion. When Drew Barrymore makes it official and converts to Judaism, coming up with fun headlines will not be a challenge. "Barrymore Becomes Drewish" or "Drew A Jew" are two of my favorites.

Ivanka Trump's "Flowers" Is Really a Lulav

There were two funny things about the photos of Ivanka Trump (The Donald's daughter) and her husband Jared Kushner taken in New York this past week.

First is the fact that the well-to-do couple wouldn't be using a fancy etrog holder. As Kushner was pushing their baby daughter Arabella Rose on the second day of Sukkot, he was also carrying a lulav and etrog. One would think that Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law would have a nice silver etrog carrying case, but it appears that the Kushner-Trump couple is sporting the simple cardboard box etrog carrying case along with the plastic bag the lulav comes in.

The second funny thing is that the Daily Mail first published this photo over the weekend in its online edition explaining that "Jared, wearing a casual black jacket, pushed little Arabella Rose's pram along the streets on their way to lunch. He also held some flowers in one hand - perhaps a gift for his wife." I suppose you could combine a palm branch with some myrtle and willow branches to form a bouquet of sorts, but I don't think it's a popular gift for ones wife.

There was no word on where the couple was headed for yuntif lunch or if they had their own sukkah outside of their Manhattan home.

Trump, the billionaire heiress and model, and Kushner were married by Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, who also worked with Trump through her yearlong conversion to Judaism. Kushner is the publisher of the New York Observer.