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“Old Jews Got Talent” According to Rabbi Mike
By Skip Sheffield
Jewish people are nothing if not resilient. How else could
they have survived and endured more than 5,000 years against all odds?
There is no single answer, but “Rabbi Mike” Stern has an important
clue.
“Jews have a very strong sense of humor,” Stern declares. “If
you think about it, more than half of the most popular classic comedians are
Jewish. Humor is how we cope with all the transitions.”
Rabbi Mike is a man of action who puts his theories to
practice. A year ago he put on an evening of Jewish humor at the Levis JCC in
west Boca Raton .
It was so popular Stern decided to take the concept on the road in a secular
setting. A month ago Stern produced a show he dubbed “Old Jews Got Talent” at
the Paragon Deerfield 8 movie theater in Deerfield
Beach . By popular demand the event will be repeated
from 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, April 10 at the same location.
“The Borscht Belt school
of Catskills
Some of the “Old Jew” comics are professionals. Most are
not.
Ron Goldfarb made a name for himself in the New York Bar
Association before retiring, moving to Florida
and taking up painting. Goldfarb auditioned and was chosen for the first Old
Jews Got Talent show. Now he is back with a new batch of jokes.
“When you think about it, there is a similarity between
layers and stand-up comics,” muses Goldfarb. “We both use words to make a
living, and we have to think on our feet. I find the sound of laughter
gratifying, just as I would defining a tough case.”
Rabbi Mike runs a one-man, non-profit ministry called Rabbi
Without Walls. For shut-ins or people who can’t afford temple memberships or
simply need reassurance, Stern travels to them.
“I started Rabbi Without Walls in Philadelphia and ran it eight years there,
and I still hear from people there” Stern reveals. “I decided to try it here
when my wife and I moved to Florida
two years ago. You could call Old Jews Got Talent an outreach of that program.
A temple or a church is not defined by its walls, but by people who believe.”
Tickets for Old Jews Got Talent are $20, $22.50 and $26.50.
Call 414-573-9608 or go to mstern@rabbiwithoutwalls.com
for more information.
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