Spirituality

Monday Night Live

Outrageous
comedy pierces
Jewish
stereotypes.

DIANA LIEBERMAN
Copy Editor

I!

e's a combina-
tion of Carl
Reiner, Mel
Brooks and
Lenny Bruce — all decked
out with a rabbinic degree
and a message.
Even if the 300 teens who
heard Rabbi Benji Levene's schtick Nov.
12 at Temple Israel had only a vague
understanding of the issues he.was talk-
ing about, they sure knew he was funny.
And the adults thought he was a scream.
Laughter rocked the hall as Rabbi
Levene portrayed three stock Jewish
stereotypes, each interviewed by Rabbi
Judah Isaacs, executive director of the
Agency for Jewish Education of
Metropolitan Detroit, in a talk-show for-
mat.
First, Rabbi Levene shuffled on stage
as a fervently Orthodox rabbi from
Jerusalem's Meah Shearim neighbor-
hood. He pretended to be not very
bright, not particularly clean, but ready
to allow his innumerable grandchildren
to throw stones at people driving on
Shabbat.
"He doesn't like things, but at least he
contributes to the Jewish population.
And we need all the Jews we can get,"
commented Andrew Landau, 16, of
West Bloomfield, a Temple Israel stu-
dent.
A quick costume change brought
Rabbi Levene back as a secular Zionist
bus driver, with Sabra-length shorts and
an attitude.
How was he going to assure that his
children would remain in Eretz Yisrael?
By touring historical sites, swimming in
the Negev, and making them turn off
American music and listen to an hour of
traditional Zionist melodies each week.
And giving them everything money can
buy.
Finally, Rabbi Levene, who was
bought up in New Jersey before making
aliyah, portrayed a wealthy New York
Jew. Bristling with pro-Israel pins, rib-
bons and other chatchkes (knicknacks),
this character has visited Israel more

times than he can count — never stray-
ing far from his comfortable four-star
hotel. He wants desperately to be loved
for himself alone, not for "the $4 1 /2 mil-
lion I gave this year, not to mention
fk
what I gave last year."
Brought to Detroit by the AJE and the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Alliance for Jewish Education,
Rabbi Levene is assistant director of
Gesher (Bridge), an Israeli organization
dedicated to bridging the gap between
the different streams of Judaism in mod-
ern Israel. His routine, called "The Four
Faces of Israel" — one was left out to fit
into the Monday night school schedule
— is an attempt to shatter stereotypes
through humor.
He also appeared at Congregation
Shaarey Zedek and Young Israel of Oak
Park.
There's a message behind Rabbi
Levene's antics. "The greatest danger to
Israel today is not economic and not
defense," he told the audience at the
close of the show. "It's the divisiveness in
our own camps.
"Hitler succeeded in doing what we
haven't done in Israel — he took
Orthodox, secular, those who lived else-
where, put them up against a wall and
said, 'You're a Jew."
After the performance, students milled
around, digesting what they'd learned.
Several said they identified most with
the American tourist: "He loves Israel,
but he doesn't want to live there."
Tatiana Tafla, 15, of Farmington Hills,
a student at Congregation B'nai Moshe,
said the show was worth coming to. "I
thought it was funny, not mean," she
said. "I don't think people would be
insulted." El

Clockwise from top:

Henry Kupfer of Oak
Park enjoys the show.

Rabbi Schlomo Zalman
Deutch, aka Rabbi Benji
Levene.

Rabbi Judah Isaacs acts as
moderator while Motti the
bus driver explains his
philosophy.

Rabbi Benji Levene enters
as a wealthy American
Jew.

11/23
2001

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