From Mort Sahl to Seth Rogen, Canadian Jews have taken full advantage of the Rush-Bagot Agreement to bring their comedic stylings south to the United States, Hollywood and beyond. Whether it was Rick Moranis exclaiming ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids!’, Howie Mandel’s voicing Gizmo in the 1980s ‘Gremlins’ franchise or more recently Eugene Levy’s performance in ‘Schitt’s Creek’, chances are you’ve cracked up more than a few times to some Canuck Jewish comedy.
High above any individual movie or sitcom however sits NBC’s Saturday Night Live created by Lorne Michaels who celebrated his 1957 Bar Mitzvah at Toronto’s Beth Sholom Synagogue. The weekly sketch comedy show changed television and continues to play a prominent political role especially in presidential election years. While SNL will likely not be filming from the JCC anytime soon, we are privileged to host an even more impressive Canadian-Jewish comic next week.
Kandi Abelson, an olah to Israel from Montreal via LA, will perform two sets in the JCC Lounge following Kabbalat Shabbat services and dinner next Friday night, September 13th in what we are billing as Friday Night Live!
The first set at 8pm will be in English and the second set at 9pm will be in Hebrew. Kandi’s scheduled performance at our spiritual forebear the Jewish Community of Kansai was sadly canceled on account of typhoon (can’t make it up) so we’ll be hosting her only ‘hometown crowd’ in Japan.
No cover charge, no two-drink minimum and please don’t tip your waitress. For one, it’s Shabbat. Also, no tipping in Japan. Save it for the Yom Kippur Appeal.
No registration necessary for the English set.
If you plan on attending the Hebrew set, please sign up on our events page: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
Services
Kabbalat Shabbat
Guest Chazzan David Mirchin – former JCC member from the Rabbi Schudrich era
Friday, September 6th
6:00pm Services
7:00pm Dinner by reservation
Kabbalat Shabbat – Friday Night Live!
Guest comedian Kandi Abelson following dinner
Friday, September 13th
6:00pm Services
7:00pm Dinner by reservation
8:00pm English Comedy Show
9:00pm Hebrew Comedy Show
Shabbat Parshat Ki Teitzei
Kiddush open for sponsorship
Saturday, September 14th
10:00am Services
12:00pm Kiddush
Kabbalat Shabbat
Friday, September 20th
6:00pm Services
7:00pm Dinner by reservation
Shabbat Parshat Ki Tavo
Kiddush open for sponsorship
Saturday, September 21st
10:00am Services
12:00pm Kiddush
Friday Night and Dinner Reservations can made on our website: https://jccjapan.jp/shabbat-meals-sign-up/
Events
JCJ Night at the Ballpark
Sunday, September 8th at 6:00pm
Unlock Your Inner Self: Enneagram Personality Workshop
Sunday, September 25th from 12:30pm-5:30pm
Event Registration Page: https://jccjapan.jp/event-registration/
If you have an idea for an event or a topic you would like to share with others, please visit our website: https://jccjapan.jp/event-committee-inquiry/
Announcements
Please join us this Friday night as we welcome back former JCC member David Mirchin of Tel Aviv BigLaw powerhouse Meitar. David has kindly volunteered to lead Friday night services as they would have sounded in the bubble era when post-Shabbat dinner the young people’s crowd changed into bodycon and headed to Juliana’s.
Thank you to everyone who welcomed Yaakov and Noa Argamani to the JCC several weeks ago. We continue to pray for the release of all captives.
Tokyo was selected as the host city for this year’s BBYO Convention of Jewish Teens in Asia. Building off the success of the chapter’s inaugural laser tag event, our teens and their parents are planning a jam-packed itinerary for participants from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei. If you would like to register, help out, contribute or learn more please reply to this email.
Yiddish Club with Jack Halpern: Please contact Jack at jack@cjki.org if you are interested to join. All levels are welcome, from beginner to advanced. Much more than just language, the club’s monthly meetings explore Yiddish culture as well.
Shabbat Shoftim
Candle Lighting: 5:43pm
Havdala: 6:39pm