Barbie, Ken, and Moses!

We were recently featured in Modern Jewish Mom's Passover segment on The Jewish Channel (TJC) It highlights some of our quirky Passover traditions. Do you have any special Passover traditions of your own? Share them with us in the comments section!

Happy Chanukah!

Planning a Chanukah Party Part 1: Music

Do you know what we love best about the holidays? All the parties! If you are throwing a Chanukah or holiday bash, we're here to help you with your planning! There are a million components to making your festival of lights a true festival -- food, drinks, decorations, and games, but first we'll start with the music. We're offering up some suggestions for making sure your party goers are moving and grooving like a life-size dreidel.

A (sort of) old standby is a disc by The LeeVees -- Hanukkah Rocks. The band is the work of Guster's Adam Gardner and some other indie-rock hipsters. You can't go wrong with "Latke Clan," "Goyim Friends," and "Applesauce vs. Sour Cream," an homage to the ages-old debate about what to pair with your latkes. Here's a taste, with "How Do You Spell Channukkahh."


If you're into some more kid-friendly songs, check out Mama Doni , who has a holiday EP available on her website with free downloads this month, including the songs "Latke Man" and "La Vida Dreidel." Mama Doni's tunes are definitely upbeat and good for making sure your party stays up and alive, no matter the age of your partiers. Mama Doni's "The Funky Gold Menorah," below, is a trippy-fun tune!


If you're looking for some variety in your Chanukah tunes, the new album by Erran Baron Cohen, famed brother of Borat (also known as Sascha Baron Cohen), might be just right. Erran's previous musical stylings appear in the work of the band Zohar, but this new CD -- Songs in the Key of Hanukkah -- is full of Chanukah toe-tappers. The stellar thing about Erran's new work is that he teams up with the likes of Y-Love and Idan Raichel. "Dreidel" (found below) is an intense, rock-out version of the classic song, and the tunes cover as many genres as there are options on how to spell Chanukah (or is it Hanukkah or Hanukah ...). "Look to the Light" reminds me of something out of the 1960s, "Rock of Ages" has a very light rock feel to it, and many of the tracks are superloaded with Hebrew and Yiddish lyrics. Basically, no matter the preferences of your guests, Erran Baron Cohen has made an album that anyone and everyone can jive to on Chanukah.


Of course, for those classic music lovers, there's the traditional favorite -- Adam Sandler singing the "Chanukah Song." After all, Sandler paved the way for the aforementioned musicians to belt love for the latke noshing holiday, right?


Whatever tunes you pick up for your Chanukah festivities, make sure you stay tuned for future installments on preparing for your party. And be sure to check out Erran Baron Cohen and Y-Love on Conan O'Brien tonight!

Light the menorah and pass the candle!

Remember our awesome PopJudaica.com Chanukah video from last year? Well our friend William Levin of Shabot 6000 and The Jewish Robot has done it again! This year he and his partner-in-crime Michelle Citrin have come up with Pass The Candle. This participatory video project allows you to submit footage of yourself lighting a menorah. William and Michelle will then string the segment together to form a worldwide chain of menorah lightings! Cool, huh? Go ahead, pass the candle.

Introducing G-dcast

You've heard of a podcast, how about a G-dcast? Each week, G-dcast presents a cartoon depicting the story that Jews are reading in the Torah each week (aka the Parsha of the week) Check out a different 4 minute cartoon each week - some tell stories, some sing country songs...and then there's the hip hoppers, too. New G-dcast episodes drop on Mondays. Created by the designer of the Jews for Jeter and Yo Semite t-shirts, this is the most innovative Jewish site we've come by in a long time! Mazel Tov!

Happy Succot!

Getting Dazed for the Holy Days

Well, we're in the midst of the High Holiday season, but we are never too busy to not keep you up to date on holiday happenings!

The Jewish Channel  -- dubbed the "Jewish HBO" -- is airing an interview series with a veritable who's who of Jews among contemporary pop culture, dishing out brisket jokes and detailing clever High Holiday resolutions all in a style of something you might catch on VH1. The current incarnation of the series, "Holy Dazed," might shock with talk about sex and drugs, but it offers a chance to peek into the Jewish lives of some popular figures, including Huffington Post columnist Rachel Sklar, Hasidic musician Matisyahu, and former New York City mayor Ed Koch.

The channel will be airing segments from the interview series during various holidays throughout the year, and if they're all as good as the snippet where the interviewees do their best (and worst) to blow the shofar, we can't wait to tune in!



If you really want to shine like these hip and savvy Jews (okay, Ed Koch might not be that hip), then we suggest you head to the store and pick up "Cool Jew: The Ultimate Guide" to start the new year out with a bang of Jewish sweetness and savvy. Shana Tova!

The Chosen Olympics!

Just because the Beijing Olympics are over doesn't mean you can't continue to enjoy those special Tribe-inspired events that didn't get as much play on TV. Luckily, classic competitions such as the Yarmulke Toss, Gefilte Fish Wrestling, not to mention Disconnecta Yenta, were captured on video exclusively by Heeb Magazine.

Our personal favorite? The Penny Pick-Up event! Why? Well, after collecting all those pennies, you can treat yourself to Mashuga Nuts and then place the leftover pennies in the empty nut tin a.k.a. your very own tzedakah box. It's a win-win! (What, you thought we wouldn't throw some product placement in there?)

Matisyahu Stars in Kenneth Cole Ad

Kenneth Cole is know for his unconventional (and sometimes scandalous) ads. Always one to surprise us, this time he features "Hasidic Reggae Superstar" Matisyahu in his latest campaign.

Baruch Yankel Obama!?

In case you missed this segment from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, we wanted to let you in on the laughs. Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac heads to a senior community in Boca Raton to feel out what it will take for Barack Obama to win the elderly Jewish vote!



Think it's about time we had a member of the Tribe in the White House? Check out the Jon Stewart for President T-shirt for men and women. Let's get him elected!

Mah Jongg Madness!

Watch out poker! You've heard it here first, we predict that Mah Jongg is going to be making a huge comeback. Just watch this hilarious video with the Jewish Journal's Jay Firestone as he tries to become the next "Intergenerational Mah Jongg Superstar."



Just in time for Mother's Day, we've opened a new Mah Jongg gift boutique at PopJudaica.com. Treat Mom and Grandmom to some unique gifts including Mah Jongg Print Oven Mitts, Mah Jongg Books, and much much more.

Matzah Videos

With every Jewish holiday comes a slew of creative videos. Here are two of our Passover favorites:

From the duo who brought you the hilarious Rosh Hashana Girl, Michelle Citrin and William Levin (who also created Seda Club) strike again with 20 Things to do With Matzah. Watch out! This is a very catchy tune. Now we've got the song in our heads and can't seem to get it out!


Another favorite is Jay Firestone's Matzah Tast Test. Hunky and hilarious, we predict this talented guy is going to make it on to the Daily Show one of these days!

Happy Purim!

Jewish + Juno = Juno

So clever. This one really had us plotzing!

Rosh Hashanah Girl

Our friend the Jewish Robot has done it again! This time he has produced this ingenious "Rosh Hashanah Girl" video, a spoof on the popular "Obama Girl" video. Rosh Hashanah Girl's wardrobe provided by - who else? ChosenCouture.com!



Email the video to a friend here.
Purchase the Sammy Davis Jr. Mensch T-shirt here.
Purchase the Oy Vey t-shirt here.
Purchase the Jon Stewart for President T-shirt here for women and here for men.