Israel is coming out of lockdown, little by little (and hopefully there won't be a "second wave" that sends us back in).

Schools are reopening, with some classes beginning now and more to be added. Sport is allowed now. they announced they will be canceling the 100 meter distance limit. More and more types of businesses are being allowed to open. Minyanim are being allowed, outdoors for now and limited in size, but that will surely be increased as well soon. Beaches are beginning to be opened. And on and on.

The one industry that might be left behind is the entertainment industry. People are not going to be going into movie theaters, concert halls, bowling alleys, arcades and the like anytime soon. As a matter of fact, the workers in the art industry, especially the peripheral workers (sound engineers, cleaners, lighting engineers, service people, etc) are complaining how badly the industry was hit and saying they are worse off than most industries (whether true or not I dont know) and are therefore demanding more government assistance to help them survive, as the arts are vitally important for a country.

With the entertainment industry hurting badly, a lovely idea was proposed.

According to Ynetnews, local production companies are considering plans to hold concerts and shows at large drive-in facilities. Like the old drive-in movies, people would go to a concert and enjoy it from their own cars.

the idea would allow a thousand cars on premises, with two people in each car. They expect to host music concerts along with stand up comedy performances and even movies.

It is nice to be getting back to normal, or something similar to normal, but it would be a shame if the released lockdown means this didn't come to be. I really like this idea.

A beis din has ruled that there can be two Uncle Moishys, thus leading the way to what could be a very confusing entertainment experience.

After some dispute over who owns the name between two entertainers using the name Uncle Moishy, the beis din decided they can both use the name.
source: Canadian Jewish News

Now, I don't know what Uncle Moishy could possibly be without singing songs like Big Gedalia Gumper and One is Hashem and all the other classics. This other Uncle Moishy is goign to deceive a lot of people when they come to his concerts expecting certain songs and he does not sing them. But if he thinks he can be successful at it, and the beis din (and courts?) allow him to use the name with no intellectual property ownership issues, hatzlacha to them both.

Israelis lose the right to complain about the high cost of living in Israel when they are willing to pay 700NIS per ticket for the cheapest tickets at a Rolling Stones concert...

Just saying.

I think the serious complaint is that of religious and traditional Jews who feel blocked out due to the holiday. The Stones concert is scheduled for June 4, Motzei Shavuot.

Sunset on June 4 will be about 7:41pm. "Stars out" will be about 8:01pm at earliest. With the Stones planning to take the stage at 8:30pm, religious fans will have to decide to either not take out a mortgage to buy tickets and miss it, come late because they will only leave their houses after the holiday is out, or stay at a hotel in the Tel Aviv area.

Even MK Nissim Slomiansky (Habayit Hayehudi) has gotten involved and has asked the organizers to change the date of the performance. According to Ynet News, Slomiansky said:

It's unthinkable that such a show will cause a mass desecration of the holiday by hundreds of thousands of people," he explained. "It's illogical to force the Israel Police to work from 2 pm, operate an entire system and violate the holiday marking the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people. There is no way of participating in this mass event without actually desecrating the holiday."
This isn't the first time Slomiansky launches a battle against Shuki Weiss. "Last time he tried to bring Depeche Mode on Tisha B'Av, and eventually they didn't come," the MK said. "No one would let this happen on Memorial Day. There is something wrong here. Is money the only important thing? What about our values?"
Slomiansky says he has nothing against the band, and even put on a Rolling Stones T-shirt to prove his point.

"On the contrary, it's an excellent and highly esteemed group, and I appreciate the fact that they are coming to Israel at such a time, when many others are avoiding and boycotting us. But why shouldn't religious people like me be able to enjoy the concert too?" he asks.

It is nice the Rolling Stones are coming. At a time when the BDS movement is so active, it is good to see performers, especially such big name performers, coming and supporting Israel.

Let's have some fun with this. On Twitter Lahav Harkov had a contest going for #RollingStonesShavuotPuns. Mine would be that they should change their name to "Throwing Stones" and perform in Mea Shearim or RBS B..

we regularly hear how great of a city Modiin is.. the residents of our neighboring city especially like to point out to us residents of Bet Shemesh how great Modiin is every time Bet Shemesh makes the news for some crazy incident..

It was pretty shocking to read today in the news that some young adults hate Modiin so much that they compared it to living in a concentration camp!

A 21 year old male posted to his Facebook page how bad it is in Modiin and said that it would be better to be in the gas chambers than to be in "this city". He generated a lot of discussion, with many people coming out and supporting his statement.

He explained what he said by saying that this feeling they have is due to the lack of entertainment options available in the city.

Funnily enough, residents of many other towns, including Bet Shemesh, keep their eyes to Modiin for their entertainment needs! In Modiin they have a skate park, bowling alley (which we now have in BS as well), movie theater among other things.
source: Mynet

While far be it from me to say whether there is enough entertainment available for the young generation in Modiin, it seems to me to be quite crass to say it is so bad that a gas chamber would be better. Comparing life to life in a gas chamber just because there is a shortage of bars and discos is truly insulting.

can youth be satisfied? no matter what or how much the city provides, eventually they will get bored with the available options, and will want more or different things. Is the answer to simply add more buses at night, so they can go to Tel Aviv and party all night long? A bedroom community like Modiin is never going to be able to provide enough entertainment to keep every kid happy all the time.

I enjoyed this description stated about the parsha sheets that populate our shuls. They provide some [sometimes or even often] interesting reading material for the "downtime" points of the services, but the question is if it also qualifies as limmud torah. Sometimes you can get a nice dvar torah for your shabbos tabel from these sheets, but many of the sheets also include political discussion, social topics, rants about current events and whatnot.

In a response to a multi-faceted question about the parsha sheets, Rabbi Baruch Efrati said "Generally the parsha sheets are not included in the framework of talmud torah, but are in the category of Torah Entertainment....

Rabbi Efrati goes on to explain why and what, you can read it all on Srugim.. I just wanted to point out the description "Torah Entertainment".

I like it. Some torah is torah and other torah is just torah entertainment..

Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat has been talking for a long time about this grand idea of his to bring Formula 1 (F1) race-car driving to Jerusalem. It looks like Barkat's plan is actually becoming reality.

While I could not find it yet on the F1 calendar (it could be it is not considered a "World Championship Race", to be on this calendar, or maybe details just have not yet been worked out completely), Mynet is reporting that it is a done deal.

According to the report, the Formula One race in Jerusalem will take place on June 13-14 of 2013. This past Thursday Mayor Nir Barkat announced the race. Barkat said that for the first time Israel will be hosting in Jerusalem the Formula One race, which will be going through a series of international performances, racing in capital cities around the world, drawing in hundreds of thousands of visitors. Besides for the importance in the motor sports world, this event is one that is image shaping that will place Jerusalem among the few cities in the world hosting such a high level international event."

The entire route is not defined, but Mynet says the route of two races will bring the racers past the walls of the Old City, going through Mamila, the old train station complex and by the King David hotel. The roads in the areas of the races will have to be closed for 3 hours to allow for the race and safety. Barkat is still hoping to persuade racing legend Michael Shumacher to come to Israel for the event as an honorary guest.

Viewing will be along the route, for free, with special areas designated with seating for VIP guests.

2.5 million shekels has already been included in the 2013 budget of Jerusalem for the preparation for Formula One.

Of those present at the announcement, City Councilman and Deputy Mayor Pepe Alou of Meretz, likely to be unrelated to the great baseball family Alou family (Moises, Felipe, Manny and others), was the only one to state opposition to the plan, saying this is not appropriate in any way to the city of Jerusalem. Alou said it would be better for the municipality to invest the money in an "Adeloyada" parade for Purim, or something else the city residents can actually benefit from.

I agree with Alou that Formula One is not appropriate for Jerusalem, but Barkat has worked hard to bring Jerusalem into the status of international tourism and entertainment. Barkat, to that end, brought the marathon to Jerusalem, and Formula One is another step in that direction. I like that it will give Jerusalem added recognition and appeal throughout the word, which will translate into tourist dollars. And just because Jerusalem is a holy city with high concentration of religious meaning and symbolism, but that does not mean it cannot also be a fun place to live, with clean recreational activities.

I can see it now - the cars whizzing by, flying over the Jerusalem speed bumps, rounding the traffic circles, with protesters of all types trying to throw wrenches into the plans.

The Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Israel. Fortunately fans will get to enjoy the fabulous performances of the Globetrotters.  Unfortunately, fans will only get to enjoy one game.

The Globetrotters are coming to Israel for one night only, and will play at Nokia Stadium in Tel Aviv on Thursday night May 3, 2012.

May 3 is in the middle of sefiras ha'omer. Without discussing an actual psak, what is your opinion on whether or not it is appropriate to go to a Globetrotters game during sefira? Is all entertainment not allowed? I dont see the music played in the stadium as an issue, as I see such music as background music and as a a side issue, and not as the main event. People are not going in order to listen to the music. Maybe that does not matter. What do you think?

Randy Macho Man Savage with buddy Hulk Hogan. I probably watched this WrestleMania on a Saturday night.

This post is in honor of an old friend who pointed this out to me and reminded me of a lot of time wasted as a young teenager watching what was then called the WWF, World Wide Wrestling Federation.

One of the greatest WWF wrestlers ever has died. Randy "Macho Man" Savage. I am not exactly all broken up about this, but due to not being quite sure what to say about him, other than that he was very entertaining of a wrestler with his blowhard antics, I will just quote the article on Fox News:

Pro wrestling superstar Randy "Macho Man" Savage died after having a heart attack while driving his Jeep Wrangler, Fox News confirms.
The accident happened in Seminole, Fla.
A source tells Fox News that he "suffered a heart attack while driving and hit a tree."
Florida Highway Patrol said Savage, 58, leapt a concrete median, veered into oncoming traffic and smashed into a tree head on.
He died from his injuries at largo Medical Center.


The life of a professional wrestler has been unkind to many, as they have battled their own demons and personal tragedies.
Savage, whose real name is Randy Poffo, had just celebrated his first wedding anniversary with his wife Lynn. It was his second marriage.
Lynn was in the car at the time of the accident, which was first reported by TMZ. She suffered only minor injuries.
He married his first wife Elizabeth Hulette, better known as "Miss Elizabeth," in 1984. They divorced in 1992. She ended up dying from a drug overdose in 2003.
World Wrestling Entertainment said in a statement that Savage's death was a huge loss.
"WWE is saddened to learn of the passing of one of the greatest Superstars of his time, Randy Poffo, aka Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Poffo was under contract with WWE from 1985 to 1993 and held both the WWE and Intercontinental Championships. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family and friends. We wish a speedy recovery to his wife Lynn. Poffo will be greatly missed by WWE and his fans."
The wrestling world took to Twitter to grieve over the former wrestler.
"He had so much life in his eyes & in his spirit, I just pray that he's happy and in a better place and we miss him," Hulk Hogan posted on his Twitter account.
"RIP Randy 'Macho Man' Savage - you were one of my childhood inspirations and heros. Strength, love and prayers to the Savage/Poffo family," Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson said on Twitter.
"I lost a close friend today. If anybody in heaven is wondering who the cat in the ugly cowboy hat is it's Randy. Love you Bro. Never another," Kevin Nash tweeted.
Savage helped put WWF wrestling on the map in the 1980s and '90s, becoming, along with Hulk Hogan, one of its biggest draws. His outrageous outfits and his "Oooh Yeah!" catchphrase made him a fan favorite.
He also used to be the pitchman for Slim Jims.

Randy Poffo? really? Randy Poffo was his real name?
Many good Saturday nights were wasted enjoying the antics of guys like Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Hulk Hogan and others.