The Uber Jewy-ness of HQ Trivia's Scott Rogowsky

There's a collective excitement in the Jewish community when pop culture gets all Jewy (to borrow a term that very well might have been coined by Sarah Silverman). In the case of the trending trivia game du jour, HQ Trivia (created by Jewish entrepreneurs Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll), that Jewy-ness has been exhibited by Scott Rogowsky.

Rogowsky, who is quickly carving out his niche as the Alex Trebek of the Digital Age, is none too afraid to let his Judaism come through while hosting the twice-daily mobile trivia game. The people's favorite host missed last night's HQ Trivia because, well of course, it was the Jewish holiday of Purim. In what might have been the first time EVER in the history of anything pop culture, we were told someone wasn't coming into work because of Purim (a rather minor holiday on the Jewish holiday barometer of holiness).

While Rogowsky might have been out partying for Purim last night, he showed up for the afternoon session of HQ Trivia and didn't disappoint by throwing in several Purim references, including "hamantaschen," "Queen Vashti" and even a more esoteric "Mishloach Manot." My wife and fellow HQ Trivia fanatic called me right after the game to exclaim, "Did you hear how many Purim references Scott made? Does he realize most people who were playing had absolutely no clue what he was talking about?"

Rogowsky's comedy has always focused on his Jewishness, including a YouTube video with almost 1 million views that has Rogowsky walking the streets of New York with Hasidic men asking him if he's Jewish. JTA, in late December, ran a feature on Rogowsky in which he talked about his bar mitzvah, anti-Semitism and Hanukkah presents. "Notably, Rogowsky is very vocal about his Jewish identity; live on HQ he’s referred to himself as the 'Semitic Sajak' (that’s in reference to 'Wheel of Fortune' host Pat Sajak) and the 'Meshuggeneh Martindale” (as in Wink, the host of 'Tic-Tac-Dough'). He has wished winners 'mazal tov' and, on the first night of Hanukkah, he wore a vibrant blue-and-white suit emblazoned with Stars of David.'

Knowing how Rogowsky is so vocal about being Jewish, before Purim, one HQ Trivia fan even tweeted to him trying to get a Purim shoutout. That was probably unnecessary since it was a sure bet it would get mentioned.

@ScottRogowsky the holiday of Purim coming tomorrow night/Thursday would absolutely love a shout out on HQ tomorrow night with these pics attached. Big fan and I really hope you like this Scott Rogowsky costume-
Wishing you and everyone a Happy Purim!
- Jacob Savitt
Elizabeth, NJ pic.twitter.com/RkoWYI0O4m

— Jacob Savitt (@jdsavitt) February 28, 2018

While I don't get quite as excited about Jewish references in pop culture as others, I do recognize that it is a way to introduce more people out there to Jewish terminology. As a member of Rabbis Without Borders, I learned several years ago that there's some value in reaching beyond the traditional borders of the Jewish community to share some of our Judaism with the broader world. In a non-traditional (okay, very non-traditional) way, Scott Rogowsky is bringing Jewish terminology to the masses. His role as host of a quick (less than 15 minutes) game show that reaches over a million people a couple times a day gives him quite the forum to teach a few Jewish words or concepts. That's quite a large Hebrew School classroom Rogowsky has. Happy Purim Scott Rogowsky and thanks for being so punny on HQ Trivia!

Twitter: Don't Expand 140 Character Limit

A woman once called the newspaper to place a death notice after her husband died. The newspaper representative explained that their policy is to charge by each word. "Well in that case," she replied, "Just print 'Max Schwartz died.'" They man responded, “There is a six word minimum." She said, "Fine, print: 'Max Schwartz died. Cadillac for sale.'"

I love that joke. I love it not only for its levity, but also for its brevity. As a rabbi, I must tell you that the stereotype that rabbis are long-winded is true. After all, we have a lot we want to say and it's much more difficult to tell a long story than a short one. You've heard the famous quote that has been attributed to many different authors: “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”

Over the years, I've become better at keeping it brief thanks to Twitter. Yes, the same social network that gets a bad rap because it's a time killer, a way to avoid the real world, a place for gossiping and complaining, bragging and boasting has made me a more concise writer. I've trained myself to condense my thoughts on a controversial article down to 140 characters or less for a tweet.

I Always Rave About Technology, But Here are Some Rants

Originally published in the Detroit Jewish News and on The Huffington Post

As part of a recent panel discussion I was asked how technology has improved our lives in general and made us more productive and efficient in particular. I gave my typical response to such a question, responding that the Internet has vastly made our lives better and provided us with a wealth of information at our fingertips that previous generations could not have imagined. I talked about the communication revolution and some of the technology innovations that I cannot believe we ever lived without like GPS, text messaging and Google Search, not to mention the ability to pause live television.

After giving this response I decided that it would only be fair to rattle off a few rants about technology in the 21st century as well. I'm always raving about the latest innovation so I figured I should also present the other side of the coin. I stopped myself after naming four negative characteristics about technology, but I realized I could keep going. So, here are my 10 rants about technology. Do you agree with these and what would you add to the list?