Emunah Magazine

This past Motzei Shabbos Shragy Gestetner gave a small private concert to the members of Clearview Bungalow. Below is a small video clip

NBA player Michael Jordan is out promoting his favorite tightey whiteys again in a new Hanes commercial, but this time he has a new look.
In what people are dubbing a “Hitler Mustache,” Jordan has created quite the stir with his one inch square of hair above the lip, quite smaller than his usual ‘stache.

“What’s the deal with the Hitler mustache?!” Ashton Kutcher said on Jimmy Kimmel Live Sunday night.
And while we’re at it, what we also would like to know is what’s with the mini hair blob on his chin.

Here is the commercial.

Below is a great parody of the famous We Are the World music video from the 1980’s . Very stuff

Unless you are a Celtic or Laker’s fan right now you can pretty much care less about the playoffs. I mean I guess there is a little bit of hope left in Phoenix, but really can anyone stop Kobe and Gasol. Seriously, the NBA should have vetoed the Gasol trade, arguably the most lopsided trade ever. Even though I love watching Kobe I could care less about the playoffs. And like most of you sitting at home I am just waiting for the finals to end so we can start the offseason.

The offseason has not even begun yet and there are crazy Lebron James websites, owners running their mouths, and Sportscenter and radio outlets everywhere are going crazy for whats about to unfold. The anticipation is almost as intense as tonight’s LOST finale.

Mainly all of this because of LEBRON JAMES.

Lebron Will Be Fielding Alot Of Offers After The Season

And as the Lebron James storyline becomes more intense I realized that this is a huge issue for the Jews. Cities, man, and values divided all over one the Lebron James Saga. Where should James go?

Well, most news outlets have the two major players for James’s services, outside of Cleveland, to be New York (Knicks) and Chicago (Bulls). So let us begin there.

New York. What is more Jewish than New York? Seriously, they sell out the Garden for Maccabi Tel Aviv, imagine if King James came to town. If James took his game to NYC you know it’ll be about 10 minutes before Rabbi Shmuley took him under his wing. And if the Messiah were to come and need to stop somewhere before Jerusalem, don’t you think it’d be in NYC? Maybe a Crumbs Cupcake perhaps? James is as good as they come and New York is as Jewish as they come. Knick’s jersey sales would sky rocket both in NYC and in Israel. If James chooses NY he will be making a lot of Jews happy.

Then there is Chicago, which is another heavily populated Jewish city. But forget about that. The Bulls are owned by Jerry Reinsdorf. The Jewish owner won six titles with Michael Jordan in the drivers seat. If James came to Chicago he would make Reinsdorf a happy man. James could be like Isaac to Jordan’s Abraham. Also, Chicago as a city pulling hard for James. Check out sendlebrontochicago.com.

Another Jewish owner recently got into the mix and made headlines. Dallas Maverick’s owner Mark Cuban said on CNNMoney.com that “anybody” would be interested in Lebron James. He went on to mention a possible sign-and-trade deal with the Cavaliers. Cuban was later fined $100,000 for his comments because he was considered to have “tampered” with the free agency pool. But Cuban isn’t the only one in Dallas trying to lore James to the great state of Texas. Check out lebrontothemavs.com.

Another site could be Miami. I acutally do not want to discuss this possibility because the idea of Dwyane Wade and James playing together scares me.

But James could very well stay in Cleveland. How is that Jewish? Well, James has eaten at the Kosher Subway in the JCC (that is a joke). But really Judaism has a principle of Shalom Bayit (Peace in the Home). If James left Cleveland there would be a lot of tears shed and many people upset. Maybe James would want to make his extended family of Ohio happy for a long long time.

I left out the Clippers and the Nets…well….because….they are the Clippers and the Nets. It would be exciting for LA to have Kobe and Lebron share a building. But they are the Clippers, so doesn’t seem likely. And I am not sure if anyone else paid attention to the NBA this year but why would James want to leave Jamison and Mo Williams to play with Devin Harris and Brook Lopez? Maybe if the Nets landed John Wall, but that seems unlikely.

New York. Chicago. Dallas. Miami. Cleveland. L.A. N.J. Those are the rumored destinations. Where does TGR think he will end up. Well, in my heart of hearts I want to say Chicago. With James and DRose running the United Center for the next 10 years I think it would be safe to say there would be a few more rings to add to Reinsdorf’s collection (6 Bulls, 1 White Sox). But honestly I think he is staying in Cleveland. Why leave? He is already bigger than life. The King of a city. What else could a man want? Maybe a Crumbs Cupcakes.

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine

Source: The Great Rabbino.com

Culprits could face hate-crime penalties in what Shreveport police say was the weekend desecration of several historic Jewish graves.

Investigators went to Oakland Cemetery, on the edge of the downtown and Ledbetter Heights neighborhoods, about 2 p.m. Saturday after a groundskeeper reported that nine headstones had been overturned or broken.

A group of LSU-Shreveport students who are working with historian Gary Joiner to electronically catalog the historic graveyard surveyed the damage Sunday.

An October tornado that destroyed nearby First United Methodist Church’s steeple and dropped it on a Shreveport artist also upturned some markers, according to geography senior Blake Lee. But the damage to tombstones in a section of the cemetery known as Hebrew Rest was new.

Vandalizing any final resting place is dishonorable in this 30-year-old Shreveporter’s view, but this weekend’s dirty work was anti-Semitic, he said.

“You’re just adding another layer of evil to it,” Lee said. “It’s like a museum. You’re pretty much destroying history.”

Because of the size of the monuments, Lee said, they would have been difficult for one person to knock down alone. Fortunately, he, Joiner and other students already had recorded whose graves these stones marked. Most were buried in 1873, when a Yellow Fever outbreak killed a quarter of Shreveport’s residents.

Police had no suspects Sunday. Considering the darkness and lack of security, it could be tough for anyone outside the cemetery to spot anything.

If anyone is arrested, they face a felony charge of property damage. Penalties include up to a $5,000 fine, five years in prison or both.

“I am certain detectives will explore every lead as they work to determine why this happened and who is responsible,” said Sgt. Bill Goodin, Police Department spokesman.

Committing a crime based on someone’s actual or perceived race, age, gender, religion, color, creed, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry can result in hate crime charges.

Source: ShreveportTimes

Before I start writing my regular column, I want to explain why I write it. When you’re in a business you love and you care about what you do, it doesn’t hurt your business to share information with clients, potential clients, or just with the general public. In fact, I find an informed customer easier to please, serve and maintain.

In the past, I’ve been asked to give classes, seminars and lectures on taking care of your sheitel, how to maintain and repair it or even to give away secrets of what the wig industry is hiding. I find that the first thing people want to know is how to wash their wigs by themselves. Of all the customers that I teach how to do it, the majority (I would guess 80 percent) come back to continue washing it professionally. A small percentage tries it once or twice and finds it too overwhelming and eventually comes back too. The last small percentage is usually made up of people who move out of town and continue to wash it on their own out of necessity.

There are too many classes and schools available to teach you how to do it yourself, but many of them are terribly expensive and don’t offer much hands-on or practical experience and you walk away still feeling like you can’t do it. Also, some of these classes are taught by people with little or no practical experience themselves. There are some warnings and absolute wrongs that are not being taught, and many people are being taught methods that could potentially do permanent damage to their wigs and eventually cost more to repair than the class was worth.

Below are some basic guidelines on how to wash your own wig, including some very serious “do’s” and absolutely “do-not’s”. Still, it helps to visually watch and learn from a professional. For those who are naturally handy with their wigs, or already spent money on those classes, these guidelines can help clarify or spell out a lot of additional helpful hints to complete your skills.

Before I get into details of how to wash, I usually give the following warnings to remember throughout the process:
A. Water temperature is crucial to proper washing; not too hot, and not too cold. About body temperature is fine, even a drop cooler. (Hotter can compromise dyed colors, but too cold will not get your wigs clean.
B. I always dilute shampoo and conditioner before pouring over the wig. Undiluted, it may seep into the knots holding the hair into place, causing them to slip open and your wig to lose hair faster than it should.
C. Always make sure to rinse everything out completely, to squeaky clean! Any shampoo and conditioner left in the knots of the wig can cause them to slip open as mentioned above, but residue left in the hair may cause the hair to get sticky and knotty. Also excess shampoo and conditioner creates a layer that can act as a magnet for dirt and cause your wig to need a wash sooner rather than extend the life of your wash.

The following are step by step instructions to follow to wash your wig. They are difficult to follow if you’ve never watched a professional in action, but if you’ve seen it only once, its a breakdown of what you saw happen rather quickly. Read it through completely before you get started to anticipate your needs and set yourself up properly.

1. Holding the wig by the top center of the cap (usually marked by the center comb), first brush it out completely and thoroughly. If you hit a knot, stop, and try to loosen it up from the bottom and work your way up through the knots.

2. Run the wig under water for a bit to dampen it and pour the shampoo into the bottom of a washing cup just like you use for “netilas yadayim”. (About twice the shampoo you would normally use on your own hair, almost enough to cover the bottom of the cup). Dilute the shampoo all the way to the top of the cup, then pour it over the wig.

3. Using a gentle, plastic bristled brush, brush the wig in a downward direction (following the direction the hair is sewn into the wig). Use the brush to lather up the shampoo, and don’t rub with your fingers as you would on your own head, making sure to rub the cap as you brush through and get all the way through to the nape. You can turn it to each side and hold it against the side of the sink to make sure the brush is lathering all the way through to the net.

4. Rinse the shampoo out completely. You can repeat the shampooing just to be sure you got it clean, but make sure you rinse the second shampooing as completely as you rinsed the first.

5. Conditioning your wig is a little more complicated than shampooing, but potentially more dangerous, so please be very careful to follow directions. Use a little less than you used for shampoo: more than you use on your hair, but not enough to cover the bottom of the cup. Dilute it all the way to the top of the cup, and dip in just the ends of the fall. Brush through that section of the wig completely, as this is usually the spot that can get the most knotty and then rinse that part of the wig a bit. Re-dilute the conditioner in the cup all the way to the top again. This time pour it around the wig from the ear pieces and down, and the middle of the back of the wig too, using only half of the cup-full. Once the cup is half empty again, you can re-dilute the water again, and now you can pour this (three times diluted) over the top of the wig (the knots on the top of the wig are the most sensitive to slipping open from too much conditioner). Now brush out the fall from the top down, once or twice throughout, and then begin to rinse. Rinse the conditioner out COMPLETELY. Take as long as you need, but get the hair as close to squeaky clean as possible. There is usually no need to condition twice.

6. Wring out your wig gently after you turn off the water, then wrap it in a towel, and wring it gently again. (For a naturally wavy look, or to maximize your curl, skip wringing it out and see step 7). If you’ll be styling it straight, hang it up on a head and brush it out one more time on the head. Let it air dry to about 70 to 90% dry before you blow it out. Lessons in blow drying have to be taught in person, but if you’re handy with a flat-iron, curling iron or rollers, you can style your wig by yourself. For heat styling (any hot iron or blow dryer) wait until the wig is only a little damp: too wet and you could potentially burn the hair. If it dries completely, spray it with a drop of water to re-moisten it so that it doesn’t burn either. For cold (velcro) rollers you can put them in dry hair to avoid leaving behind marks and lines from the pins or clips you may use to keep them in place.

7. For a wavy look, wring out the wig gently after washing and then run your brush through it one more time while its still soaking wet. Take it by the ear pieces and hold it in the air with the open side of your cap facing up. Shake it out gently then lay it down slowly onto a towel. You can give it a little side to side jiggle as you lower it onto the towel, or lift it again and lower it again a few times to “scrunch” the curls, or give them their own natural bounce. The hair will only take as much wave as it naturally has, so don’t try it with straight un-layered hair. The wig has to stay in this position for at least a couple of hours, but not until its completely dry, because then it’ll be harder to fix any unwanted bumps and funny looking curls. Thicker longer wigs may need six to ten hours like this, while shorter or thin wigs can probably be picked up after 3 or 4 hours. Experience will tell you just how long your wig needs. When you think its about halfway dry, pick it up and gently put it on a head to dry the rest of the way. When you hang it up, check for any weird bumps and smooth them out with your hands before it dries the rest of the way. Once its dry, you can touch up any wayward curls that might be sticking out in funny places with a quick touch of a curling iron.

Since styling has to be taught visually, its difficult to describe every possible way to style your wig. If you have individual style request, or questions to be included and answered in future articles, please let me know so that I can include content that YOU want to hear about! It also helps to send pictures (please be specific if you do or don’t want them included in the magazine) so that I can better explain each persons specific styling needs and answer your questions better. Email me at GitelRosenzweig@yahoo.com
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Gitel Wigs is centrally located in Marine Park – 718 -758 – 1022

Cash Money rap star, Drake recently sat down with CNN and covered what he says were obstacles on his road to hip hop success. Despite the fact that music industry executives are largely jewish and the fact that most successful black musicians and actors are light-skinned, Drake still listed them among his obstacles. Here’s what he said:

“Part of the whole appeal of me as an artist is I did have things that were initially seen as strikes against me,” said Drake. “Like being from Canada, being an actor, being light-skinned, being Jewish. It’s all these things that I guess in the stereotypical rap world don’t really fit the package.”

A Jewish set-back in the entertainment industry? Go figure.

Source: Dime Wars

Below are 2 videos,
1) CNN Interview
2) Drake talking about his Bar Mitzva

and

Emunah Magazine had the pleasure of interviewing one of the most popular names in Jewish Music.

EM: After speaking with Avraham Fried several weeks ago and discovering you were his musical inspiration, I would like to know who and or what was YOUR inspiration?
MBD: I was raised in a house filled with music; my father was known for his singing and made famous many tunes now used in davening. But singing was not his job, he owned a travel agency and even though he recorded music and was a chazzan that was something he did for enjoyment. But while I worked for my dad in the beginning I decided one day as I grew very close with my rabbi The Ribnitzer Rebbe Z”L I decided this is where G-d wants me to be so I collected my check and decided to be with my rebbi.

Cover Of New MBD Album

EM: So where did you grow up?
MBD: Who says I grew up? I was born on the lower east side on East Broadway, when I was 7 or 8 we moved to Williamsburg because my father was offered a job as a chazzan. Several years later he got another job at the Shul of Rabbi J.J Hecht so we moved to Flatbush on the border of Crown Heights. Then at the age of twelve while visiting my brother in Israel I decided that I wanted to stay, I came home for my bar mitzvah and the yomim tovim but I lived in Israel for 5 years and when I came home I got married.

EM: What made you decide that music is your passion?
MBD: It never crossed my mind that I would go into music. But I had a brother in law, Ari Klein, who was a chazzan and we decided since I knew how to play a little piano that one day we were going to compose a song. Then I decided I would try to write one on my own. So sure enough one day I’m playing the piano and I’m singing the words and my dad comes in and asks me what I was playing. So I told him oh it’s just something I wrote up, and I asked him, do you like it? He says “yeah” so I played some other songs I had written for him, and he tells me “why don’t you record an album?” So I laughed, but after he said it a few times I figured ok fine, maybe once. And look how it turned out.

EM: So you started to put out this album [called] Hineni as one of your first albums, what in your mind were you thinking? Did you imagine that you would create this huge Jewish music industry?
MBD: Absolutely not! I was being guided by Hashem the whole way and I put it out because my father told me to.

EM: Was it a financial endeavor?
MBD: It was not a financial endeavor since the first two albums I put out I did not receive a penny from, my 3rd and 4th album which I produced myself my father invested the money and he put it away for me which he then used to buy me my house where I now live.

EM: What kind of challenges did you face when you originally put together the music?
MBD: Back then the challenge was the same as today; it was the producing of the album, especially in the beginning when I didn’t know much about it. And basically trying to figure out where I would go from here.

EM: After that who were some of the first singers to hit the market?
MBD: Back then it was [Country] Yossi Toiv and Ohr HaChadosh. They were the ‘in thing’ when I came out with my first album. Today you know him as “Country Yossi”. Avraham Fried followed very close behind, I loved his music and I even helped him make his first album.

EM: How did you view the new singers that came into the market and how did they view you?
MBD: I have no idea how they viewed me, but I was very happy that other people were doing it as well, including Avraham Fried, he really had what it takes and a beautiful voice.

EM: In past interviews you said there may be an album with you and Avraham Fried together, how is that coming along?
MBD: There are no plans as of now but we have discussed it a few times but it never came to fruition but maybe it will.

EM: The concert industry took up once the Jewish music world got going, now you are all over the place, your major appearance with the Lipa concert, how is that going for you?
MBD: The concerts were established before I was around, my first on stage performance was with Ohr HaChadosh and I was paid $60 for that concert. The 2nd big thing I did was with me and the London Boys choir, the whole theater sold out.

EM: I believe there was a comment sent to you by the Lubavitcher Rebbe about performing in concerts about being Misameach Yidin. Last year people protested against these concerts being held and I remember reading somewhere a letter he had sent you encouraging concerts.
MBD: We always went to the Rebbe for a bracha before the concerts.

EM: Your new songs sound much more modern than that of your original songs, why is that?
MBD: I am always interested in change, and I was always interested in putting something new and fresh in all my songs

EM: Looking at the Jewish music industry today how do you view it?
MBD: You may be shocked but I really don’t listen to music, every once in a while I’ll hear a new Niggun at a wedding and some of them are nice, some are good, some not so good, but I’m very happy how the industry has grown.

EM: I’m a little shocked about this. You never listen to music?
MBD: I never have time, if I’m the car and I’m not busy I might put on Lipa, besides that I have no time to listen.

EM: Your new album Kulom Ahuvim tell us a little bit about it.
MBD: What can I say I am very proud of my son [Yeedle] for producing this album, he put in a lot of work into it. And it really paid off.

MBD and Son, Yeedle

EM: Do you listen to your son’s music?
MBD: Of course I listen to my son’s music. His first album I produced and his second album I told him I want to see you do it on your own and he really put in effort and he did an outstanding job.

EM: I hear you are very passionate and starting a campaign against people copying and downloading music and hurting the industry
MBD: If they knew how much effort went into every song I don’t think anyone would do it. Besides for the fact that they are stealing from the producers and the label company and the singers, but people download and take, unfortunately without even realizing its stealing.

EM: What are your plans for the future?
MBD: I really believe that Mashiach is here and its over and I hope to see what he will do and how he will save us and for that I wait.

EM: Amen, Amen to that! We wish you a lot of hatzlachah and we wish to see you singing and dancing in the Bais Hamikdash
MBD: Amen!

Enjoy MBD Music Video

Need a wingman? Need a wingman for hire? Aaron Ellner from Woodmere has set up a wingman network. He takes his clients through a night in the City. He helps either men of women who need moral support and helps set them up. He charges $60 an hour for this service. He says his idea is to get people to do more than just hook up for a night but to pursue long term relationships and commitment.

Aaron Ellner (photo credit Pace for News)

His clients are thrilled! They can’t stop commenting on how good he is at breaking the ice or pulling them out of a sticky situation. “He’s a pro at relationships” said one source, he has been dating the same girl for a decade and it works perfectly for them. He doubles as an elementary school substitute teacher by day and then at night he becomes the perfect tag along, sounds like a superhero to me.

Carvel: Free Ice Cream Thursday, Free Flavor Shots
So, hoping to outdo Baskin Robbins’ 31-cent Scoop Day this week, Carvel is offering free cups of their new low fat ice cream at Carvel Stores all across these United States of America on April 29.
Carvel is also launching their new Carvel Flavor Shots, new toppings that you can try, also for free, on your free cup of ice cream. Yay!
Shot flavors include: acai berry, banana, black raspberry, blueberry, bubble gum, cotton candy, mango, mint, orange, peach, pistachio and pomegranate

Carvel Offering Free Ice Cream All Day Today In All Locations

These photos was uploaded by our On The Beat Photographer Shmiel Geffen , If you have a funny photo email to photos@emunahmagazine.com

Seems Like He Has His Hands Full With His Own Tickets

Is George Bush wiping his hands on Bill Clinton’s shirt? After President Bush shook some hands in Haiti while touring the earthquake damage he seems to have wiped his hands on President Clinton. Below is some video captured, . You be the judge.

This video was submitted to us by our OnTheBeat contributor Shmiel Geffen

Awesome medley of Jewish pop parodies by Six13, the Jewish music world’s premeire a cappella group! The last medley, on their best-selling album YESH CHADASH, was a big hit. This one’s not available on any album, but you can download it totally free! And yes, all those sounds were produced with no musical instruments at all. Check out www.six13.com to learn more, listen to their three award-winning albums and find out where they’ll be performing next!

Six13

Six13 Album COver

Over the years I have seen a lot of famous people or politicians wearing a yarmulke, I always found it interesting to look at. Heres a small collection of photos that I was able to find and had some people submit to me. If you know of any other photos out there please email me or send me the link so that I can have it included in the slideshow. Send to photo@emunahmagazine.com .

Matisyahu is sick of war – and apparently this song recently became a huge sensation thanks to being used as part of the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony this year in Vancouver. David Letterman invited Matisyahu back to his stage to perform. Wearing his yarmuka and tzitzis out adds a nice touch and some consider a Kiddush Hashem. The song is great and even afterwards David Letterman says so while making fun of the big Dreidel in background. Another rumor submitted to me by someone reliable says that Matisyahu is becoming more interested in the Breslov than in Chabad, perhaps he will even be in Uman this coming year.

Jason Mesnick is married! Plenty of singles have appeared on The Bachelor, But Jason Mesnick, single father and Jewish tied the knot and got married to the show’s runner up.

The wedding took place at an opulent ABC-sponsored  resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., surrounded by guests including the show’s previous stars and stars of “The Bachelorette” Trista and Ryan Sutter, Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski, and Charlie O’Connell.

The wedding was filmed for a March 8 special on ABC-TV, according to reports.

Mesnick originally proposed to “Bachelor” winner Melissa Rycroft at the end of the 13th season in late 2008, then dumped her on national television in order to continue dating Malaney.

He proposed to Malaney late last year at a lodge in New Zealand that they had visited during the show.