Rabbi Moshe Waldoks

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

TOPICS COVERED

SPECIAL BONUSES

PROMOTIONAL OFFER

RANDOM JOKES

Freshly listed by Newsweek Magazine as one of the Top 25 Pulpit Rabbis in America, Rabbi Moshe Waldoks — Reb Moshe, as he is fondly known by his congregants — serves as the spiritual leader Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, Massachusetts -- an unaffiliated congregation he has turned over the past decade from a "dying" synagogue into one of Boston area's most vibrant communities.

His preoccupation with Jewish humor over the past 30 years is rooted in his own personality: "I need to hear people laugh. If you don’t laugh, your heart can’t be open. Jokes can open you up. I’am a real advocate of joy. Jews are into the oy, not the joy." As Doug Most recently wrote in an article published by Boston Magazine: "That this Toledo, Ohio-born son of Holocaust refugees appreciates a good laugh is no surprise. Waldoks' Big Book of Jewish Humor [...] has become a bible of sorts for Jews and other readers, a collection of cartoons and essays, jokes, and one-liners from Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Joseph Heller, and others." He has spent the past 25 years lecturing, telling stories, doing stand-up, and teaching about the history of Jewish humor at a variety of universities and yeshivot, including Brandeis University and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies.

Educated in a Yiddish-speaking yeshiva and holding a doctorate in Jewish intellectual history, Rabbi Waldoks taught at Wellesley College, Hebrew College and Brandeis University before receiving his post-denominational smicha (ordination), by his mentors, Rabbis Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Arthur Green and Everett Gendler.

Dedicated to building bridges, Rabbi Waldoks went to Dharamsala, India in October 1990 to participate in the first Jewish-Tibetan Buddhist encounter with the Dalai Lama. This amazing journey through Tibetan Buddhism and Judaism is recounted in Rodger Kamenetz' best-selling book, The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet's Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India. He is active in Jewish-Christian and Jewish-Muslim dialogue as well; and he serves as an advisor to Boston's RUAH Spirituality Institute. Rabbi Waldoks has held a wide range of community-oriented roles whether it is chairing Boston's Yom HaShoah memorial events over the past several years or serving in the leadership of The Massachusetts Board of Rabbis.

To inquire about Rabbi Waldoks' availability for speaking and teaching engagements, email him directly at: RebMoshe@Comcast.net

RANDOM JOKES
edited by William Novak
and Moshe Waldoks
(sampled from THE BIG BOOK OF JEIWSH HUMOR)

"Rabbi, says the visitor, "I work for the Internal Revenue Service. Do you have a member of this congregation named David Tepper?"

"I know him well."

"Mr. Tepper claims that he donated ten thousand dollars to the temple, and I'm here to make sure that he did."

"I don't know if he did," says the rabbi, "but I can tell you one thing: he will!"

«««»»»

There are so many varieties of Judaism. I went to a punk synagogue service in Brooklyn. Very traditional, full davening. Afterwards, they served a deli kiddush. The tongue was pierced, but otherwise...

-- Andrew Silow-Carroll

«««»»»

Four men are walking in the desert.

The German says, "I'm tired and thirsty, I must have a beer."

The Italian says, "I'm tired and thirsty, I must have wine."

The Mexican says, "I'm tired and thirsty, I must have tequila."

The Jew says, "I'm tired and thirsty, I must have diabetes."

«««»»»

Yeshiva University decides to put together a rowing team to compete in the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge. Year after year, the finish dead last.

Finally, the chairman of the board, exasperated by the team's perennial poor showing, says to the coach,

"Enough is enough. I want you to send your captain up to Harvard to spend a few days watching from the bushes to see how they do it."

A few days later, the captain returns from Cambridge and goes straight to see his coach, who says, "Nu? What did you learn?"

"Coach, you won't believe this. At Harvard, they have eight guys rowing and ONE guy yelling!"

«««»»»

Schwartz goes to see his rabbi. "I think my wife is trying to poison me."

"Really? Let me look into this. I'll let you know if I learn anything."

A week later the rabbi calls Schwartz: "Sid," he says, "last night I spent four hours on the phone with your wife, discussing the situation."

"So what should I do?"

"Take the poison."

«««»»»

The astronomer was concluding his lecture at the synagogue. "And some of my colleagues believe that our own sun will probably die out within four or five billion years."

"How many years did you say?" asked Mrs. Siegel from the back of the room.

"Four or five billion," replied the scientist.

"Whew!" said Mrs. Siegel. "I thought you said million!"

«««»»»

A merchant who is known to be remiss in paying his bills is seen haggling with a wholesaler.

"Why bother?" he is asked. "You won't pay the guy anyway, so why all this bargaining?"

"I like him," the merchant answers, "so I want to help keep down his losses."

«««»»»

A minister, a priest and a rabbi were discussing how they made use of the funds in the collection plate. The minister said, "I draw a line on the floor, and I throw the money into the air. Everything that lands to the right of the line is for God, everything on the left is for me."

"That's pretty much what I do," said the priest, "but instead of a line, I draw a circle. Everything in the circle is for God, everything outside the circle I keep for myself."

"I, too, have a system," said the rabbi. "I take the money and throw it up in the air, and whatever God catches He can keep."

«««»»»

Beyond "Laughter Through Tears"

A Short History of Jewish Humor

A $20* 120-Minute Teleseminar with
Rabbi Moshe Waldoks

Co-Editor of THE BIG BOOK OF JEWISH HUMOR
Now in its 25th Anniversary Year

Recorded live on June 12, 2008

For the first time in a live, full-length interactive teleseminar, Rabbi Moshe Waldoks brings to life the past and present of Jewish humor and its role in Jewish history, culture and contemporary American life.

Hello,

You've always loved a good joke, right? Everybody does. How about a good Jewish joke? Even more so. Again, everybody does. So, what is it about Jewish humor that makes it "different?" Are Jews funnier than other people?

• What makes Jewish humor Jewish?
  _
• Is all of Jewish humor self-hating?
  _
• Is there a link between Jewish humor and the prophetic tradition?

If any of these or any other questions about Jewish humor have ever crossed your mind, and especially if you enjoy a good laugh (come on, you must admit to at least that much!), this interactive, live session with renowned expert on Jewish humor Moshe Waldoks is exactly what you need.

So come join the growing number of enthusiasts for a 120-minute exploration of Jewish humor throughout ages (this is no laughing matter, mind you!) and of course a good dose of healthy laughter.

To claim your access to the Teleseminar Replay as well as the Special Bonuses, simply...

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

If these have addressed most of your questions, now it's time to...

Enjoy!

Sergiu S. Simmel
CEO and Founder
Our Learning Company LLC

* 10% of each registration fee is directly donated to Temple Beth Zion of Brookline, Massachusetts, in support of this community's work towards a joyous and meaningful Jewish life.

P.S. If you do have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by email at TeleWebinar@Our-Learning.com or even call us at +1-617-731-3132.

Beyond "Laughter through Tears" A Short History of Jewish Humor

In this interactive Teleseminar, Reb Moshe explores questions such as:

• Are Jews funnier than other people?
• What makes Jewish humor Jewish?
• Do all Jewish comedians do Jewish humor?
• Is all of Jewish humor self-hating?
• Is there Jewish humor in the Bible?
• What is the link between Jewish humor and the prophetic tradition?
• Does Jewish humor have to be in Yiddish to be authentic?
• Is there Jewish humor in Israel?
• Is dialect humor anti-Semitic?
• Is there a future for Jewish humor?

... all in 120 minutes. So...

And there is more...

The Special Bonuses In addition to enjoying 120 minutes of Learning and Laughter, you will also get, at no additional cost: Bonus #1: Lifetime access to the recordings of BOTH sessions, regardless of which one you registered for. Bonus #2: An Introduction to Jewish Humor (26 pp) as an indexed PDF file you can download, print, read and enjoy the learning. Bonus #3: A subscription to Rabbi Moshe Waldoks' weekly audio blog podcast, answering your own best questions about Jewish humor.

So what are you waiting for?

And there is even more...

The Promotional Offer During the live event I offered the registered participants the opportunity to purchase up to two autographed AND personalized copies of THE BIG BOOK ON JEWISH HUMOR, and get several very special bonuses for you to enjoy. This Special Offer was available only for a limited amount of time. While that deadline has now passed, you can still purchase generally autographed copies of THE BIG BOOK ON JEWISH HUMOR and get the rest of the Special Bonuses.

However, this Promotional Offer package is available ONLY to registered customers of this Teleseminar. To enjoy this opportunity, you must...

You'll love it!