Baruch Leitzan Emet: The Sept. 28, 2014 season premiere episode, titled "Clown in the Dumps" (wiki summary), tells of the death of Rabbi Krustofski, Krusty the Clown's father. Highlights:

ET covered the story as newsworthy:

Here's a quick clip of the Rabbi's funeral choir, singing, "He fought, and fought, and fought, for Jewish rights" to the tune of the Itchy and Scratchy theme:

Jewish fans were on edge before the episode aired, as the kippah-laden promotional graphic (see it) made some worry that perhaps it was Krusty himself who was off to the world to come.

The rabbi's death was big news in the both the Jewish and non-Jewish world, prompting major headlines and obituaries, with some Yiddishkeit snuck in, like Time Magazine jolly ("Fans of The Simpsons will be sitting shiva tonight"); Time Magazine profound (there was a brilliant absurdity to leaving Krusty with that Talmudic, torturously ambiguous "Eh" - that most malleable of Jewish judgments - leaving Krusty to decide, on his own, whether his life has been worth it); the English feed of Israel Broadcasting, which played it as a serious news story; or this JTA story ("For diehard Jewish fans of "The Simpsons," a Mourner's Kaddish will be in order at this weekend's Yom Kippur services"); Tablet also suggested a Kaddish might be recited. The character's death also played big in the UK, in part because of a campaign in 2012 to have Rabbi K selected as chief Rabbi of Britain, with its own Facebook page and Twitter feed. So Krustofski's death was covered big (Here's the UK Jewish Telegraph's spread, and here's the obit in the London Jewish Chronicle).

The episode is full of Jewishy humor, and some serious Jewish meaning. Krusty dreams of Jewish Heaven, where even Portnoy has no complaints. There, lumberjacks cut down slices from the Kosher pickle forest, and there's free egg creams at Ebbets Field where the Brooklyn Dodgers play the NY Giants. At the Oys 'R' Us store (see it here), a sign says, "The whole store is a complaint department." Meanwhile, people line up at the Joe Lieberman Presidential Library.

Krusty's heavenly reverie is interrupted by his father, looking Moses-like. "Schmuk," he calls out. "There's no Jewish heaven. Our faith teaches us that once you're dead, that's it. Kaput. It's dark, it's cold, it's like that apartment we lived in before I started doing weddings. ... Go back to earth! Do something with your life! Help people!" Watch:

Some pictures from the episode:

At the end, Bart and Krusty visit Temple Beth Western, where Rabbi Rosenstein is getting big laughs by telling Krusty's lame jokes. And, despite the Rabbi's admonition, the episode ends with both Krusty and the Rabbi entering and singing about Jewish Heaven, where the Irving Berlin Orchestra plays for some well-known dancers (see picture here (and by the way, JHeaven shows up again in 2018, looking more heavenly, but this time with the Rav, some more famous folks (Israeli, mostly) and the very-much-alive Gal Gadot, a guest voice in the episode, who somehow gets invited to visit - see it.

In the episode, Temple Beth Western hosts a very authentic-looking shiva. The episode ended with a klezmer version of the closing theme music. Later, in both December 2014 and 2017, during the opening credits sequence for the Christmas show, the scene pans across the Jews of Springfield eating Chinese food. Hovering behind them are the ghosts of Rabbi Krustofski and Joan Rivers (see picture).

You can also watch Aish's "JTube" compilation, or a short video excerpt with Hebrew subtitles, the way I first watched the show, here.

Even before the show aired, groups started weighing in, opining on the deeper meanings. The American Family Association, a far-right Christian group, called on Fox to pull the "horrific" episode they hadn't seen: "As Christians we are appalled.... This animated program has gone from inappropriate, to crude, to now offensive.... Families should not be exposed to this toxic poison." Meanwhile, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, president of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, waxed incoherently: "These journeys can remind they wake up our angels, such as our need to unify as Homer has, but also our ugliest demons, like suddenly thinking you're the Messiah. It reminds us that Jerusalem is important to lots of people and lots of traditions. If it weren't, the Simpsons couldn't use it as a spot for their journey of self-discovery." Worst was an anti-Israel blogger who attacked the unseen episode for showing Israelis as humans (really: "The Simpsons prepares to jump the shark in an orgy of Jewish self-congratulations (with no reference whatsoever to 'politics'). On the hasbara bandwagon, making monsters look like human beings.").

Israel also showed up in 2006. The Simpsons are on a cruise, and Lisa points out the elderly Jewish couple making their first trip to Israel (Wife: Our son Shlomo is working on a kibbutz in Haifa. We're shlepping his some kreplach. Husband: We're Jewish all right." — see the clip). And in a May 2022 episode, Krusty goes back to haäretz. He loses everything, and decides to go to Israel to work on a kibbutz (see picture, and see where it came from here). Wearing a kippah, he's pulling potatoes in the field when a helicopter flys up and he's told he can come back to show business. He puts on his nose and hair, says, "I can be a clown again!" and laughs as he climbs the rope ladder up to the helicopter. The kibbutznik working with him shakes his head and says, "He was a clown? He's like the least funny person on this socialist commune."

Erev Rav: Rabbi Krustofski, voiced by Jackie Mason, popped up frequently in the last few years before his death episode. In the Halloween 2011 Treehouse of Horror episode, Bart (as the alien in an Avatar parody) engages in his first intergalactic sex. Rabbi K floats by in Bart's mind's eye and proclaims, "Today, you are a man. Mazel Tov!" Mason also had very brief cameos in December 2011, and the series' 500th episode, aired in February 2012.

In January, 2010, Rabbi Krustofski appeared in an episode with an intermarriage theme (Forward commentary). It was the most-watched episode in 5 years. In the show, Krusty is set to marry a non-Jewish princess, voiced by Anne Hathaway, who won an Emmy for the role. His Rabbi/father starts the wedding under a chuppah with real Hebrew blessings (see picture), but is not happy. Bart interferes with the wedding, but they get together in the end anyway, with Krusty declaring, "I'd rather be a happy schnook than a noble shlumpf." The most bizarre image was Mr. Teeny, Krusty's chimpanzee, who was locked in the "Torah Room" by Bart. The monkey is seen rolling out the Torah scrolls with glee (click for picture, and click on picture again and again for two more frames), which kinda offended at least a few frum folks.

Watch the clip here:

Even following his character's death, Jackie Mason returned as Rabbi K regularly. In a December, 2016 episode, a vision of the Rabbi's ghost as a snowman talked to Krusty after he was pulled frozen from an icy river. Krusty was in the water to be baptized, but then he was treated by an Orthodox Jewish ambulance service, where they put a tallit and kippah on him (you gotta see the picture here). Afterwards, in the episode's epilogue, the Christian God and Jewish God sit in lounge chairs in heaven, and discuss Krusty's soul (see picture here, and notice God's face is never shown). The Jewish God says, "Sorry about Krusty, but he's still on Team Hanukkah." But the Christian God responds,"Um, I hate to win on a technicality, but he was under the water. That's a baptism."

In 2018, the late Rabbi showed up as an angel (see picture) in January, and showed up again in April, as a vision talking to Krusty. Jackie Mason had no trouble with the Yiddish, as he said, "You used to be a putz, trying to be a schmendrick, which makes you a schmeckle". And Mason had a few lines again in May 2018, when Bart is able to see the dead, including Rabbi K (picture). Jackie Mason z"l passed away in 2021, but the show used some archived audio from 2014 as Rabbi K appears as a hologram when his daughter Sophie marries bully Jimbo in a 2022 episode set in the future (see the video).

And speaking of Rabbi K z"l, an October 2016 episode included a Jewish funeral scene (see picture here). In the background is Rabbi Krustosky's (with a y) grave (also shown are graves inscribed, "OY," "At least I'm off my feet," "You call these flowers?" and "Rich Jewish Texan")(and, speaking of funeral flowers, the inscription on Rachel Krustofsky's grave, the Rabbi's late wife, reads, "Would it kill you to leave some flowers" - see it). During the funeral, the rocks left by mourners on top of the Rabbi's grave are used to throw at Mr. Burns (picture). With the old Rabbi gone, there's always a new one. In a January 2019 episode, Lisa bicycles past Temple Beth Springfield, just as their new Rabbi sneaks out the window. The Temple has a sign out front, "In loving memory of Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky" (see it).

Globus Hazahav: The release in 2007 of The Simpsons Movie prompted the Jewish Outreach Institute to suggest using the film to somehow "encourage participation in Jewish community." They even recommend using the Hebrew-dubbed version released in Israel (Jersualem Post: Eat my 'tachtonim'?) for an introductory Hebrew course.

Lowe Blow: The 2006 Treehouse of Horror Halloween episode included a Jewish-themed segment titled You Gotta Know When to Golem, featuring the legendary Golem of Prague (synopsis here; and thoughtful video summary/review). As Krusty described him, the Golem is "the legendary defender of the Jews, like Alan Dershowitz, but with a conscience." The Golem looks like the silent film Golem and tracks the Jewish legend. The Golem is voiced by Richard Lewis, who feels Jewish guilt for being used to commit heinous acts. He also does some stand-up: That's what we call Jewish humor. You don't have to understand it, because the words sound funny: Meshuganah! - hilarious. To make him feel better, the Simpsons create a female golem, voiced by a grating Fran Drescher:

Serious Jews began right away dissecting the meaning of the episode, mostly deciding it was Bad. For. The. Jews. Like the culture critics at Tablet/Nextbook, the popular webzine Jewcy ("Why the Golem Episode of the Simpsons Was So God-Awful: A Close Reading"), and the Jewish Outreach Institute who worried it would harm, well, outreach ("to unaffiliated Jews the jokes may seem foreign or even offensive. For those of other religions who are married to or involved in relationships with Jewish partners such representations may be confusing and the fact that they do not "get them" may ossify their already present feeling of being an outsider to the community"). The exception was the multi-religious site Beliefnet, which praised Fox for exposing another generation to the Golem tale. There's no question about that; internet searches for the term "golem" soared following the show.

And speaking of weddings, in a 2020 episode, Artie Ziff, a rich Jewish nerd who has been after Marge since high school, marries a robot he made to look like Marge. It's a Jewish ceremony, with a Rabbi, of course (see picture of Rabbi at wedding here).

Bully Pulpit: In 2005 we learned that Dolph, the short and quiet bully, is Jewish. He was orignally referred to as "Dolph Starbeam" in the show, but later was called "Dolph Shapiro." After convincing Milhouse that cool kids ride their bikes with their eyes closed (Milhouse gets hit by a train), Dolph whips a tallit and kippah out of his pocket, puts them on (picture), and exclaims, "I'm outta here. I've got Hebrew school." He chants "Baruch atah adonai, eloheinu melech ha-olam," with decent pronunciation, as he walks away. No Jewish authorities opined on any deeper meaning, however. In an episode the next year, Dolph reveals that they went to the Clam-Elot Seafood Restaurant after his "just family" Bar Mitzvah. And in a January 2018 episode, Dolph trips a kid, who then starts singing about his pain. Dolph says, "He turned his suffering into entertainment, just like the Jewish People."

Snake: I want redemption or else, dude! [makes threatening fist]
Pastor: or else what?
Snake: ... or Rabbi Mankiewicz will, dude. [takes out kippah from pocket and puts it on]. I have trouble making that choh sound. It's either Tschanukkah or Hanukkah, OK? Pick one of those.

Shauna at the bat: Another 13-year old had her Jewish ceremony in 2018. This time, a Bat Mitzvah:

This was the Bat Mitzvah of Shauna Chalmers, daughter of the school superintendent (see pictures above). It starts by showing her reciting the full "Poke'ach Ivrim" morning blessing, in Hebrew. Impatient dad looks at his watch, saying, "Come on, sweetie, pick up the pace. The sushi's been sitting out for an hour" (see it here). Cut to the end of the service, and she triumphantly yells out, "And now we're gonna party like it's 5799!" After that, they throw in an old joke:

Rabbi: Wait, wait, wait. Before you leave, I am going to talk. And I'm going to tell you a very long joke. Please stand. So, an old rabbi was confronted with squirrels in the attic. ...
Superintendent Chalmers (angrily): Get to the punch line or your son flunks geometry.
Rabbi (quickly): He gave the squirrels a bar mitzvah and never saw them in temple again. Amen.

Simpsons, Shimpsons: Florida journalist Mark I. Pinsky has some Jewish musings in his book, The Gospel According to The Simpsons. The book examines the role religion plays in The Simpsons, and includes a detailed discussion of the Simpsons and the Jews. He updated it an an e-book, "A Newer Testament," covering 2007-2016. Pinsky identifies what he calls an "underlying element of what might be called 'crypto-Judaism'" permeating the show. Read an excerpt, including a quote from, well, me:

The Jewish content of The Simpsons inspired one fan, Brian Rosman, ... to create a Web site that features still shots from "Like Father, Like Clown" under the heading, "Jewish Life in Springfield." It also uses Homer Simpson to help Jewish viewers with the observance of Lag B'Omer, the counting of the sheaves between Passover and Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, and a bilingual pun on Homer's name. Rosman believes that: "The Simpsons does the funniest, most authentic parodies of Jewish life among all the comedy shows on TV, certainly compared to shows that are considered more "Jewish," like Seinfeld. The Simpsons demonstrates a more intuitive understanding of American Jewish history, Jewish religion and culture, and Judaism's place among all the other varieties of belief and identity in America. I only wish there was more Jewish content on the show, because when they do it, they do it very well."

In 2007, Moment magazine published his article, Do You Know This Family?, which sees the Simpsons' Springfield as a modern-day Chelm, and Krusty, despite having worked 5 shows on the Yom Kippur that Sandy Koufax sat out (he also lost $10,000 betting on the Dodgers that day), as embodying the American Jewish experience. He continued his thoughts in the Forward in 2014, "For 25 Years, The Simpsons Has Been Good For the Jews."

Richard Kalman and Josh Belkin see more than echoes of crypto-Judaism in the show; they propose that the Simpsons are Sephardic crypto-Jews themselves. The show "displays a knowledge of the Sephardic tradition that would make Rabbi Moses ben Maimon blush." Read their detailed, engrossing article, Sephardic Tradition and "The Simpsons" Connections.

For years, Jewish teachers have been using the Simpsons to sell their Jewish content. For example, Sinai Temple in Los Angeles had a Torah study class that watched 10 Simpsons episodes "as a springboard for deeper discussions on Jewish beliefs and values," and Limmud London included a session, The Wisdom of the Simpsons: Learning Jewish Values from our Favourite Animated Family ("You've heard of Pirkei Avot; now it's time to study Pirkei Simpsons"). We heard a few years back from the educator at the New North London Synagogue, who was using the Calendar with her 5th graders, and also has a Simpsons mock seder, acts out the weekly Torah portion Simpsons style, and has the students discuss how Bart and Lisa would have reacted to Egyptian slavery. And Rabbi Jeffrey Mitelman asked in 2014, What (and How) The Simpsons Can Teach Us All" (answer: why you should learn Hebrew, somehow).

Or for the more traditional, Rabbi Uri C. Cohen of Princeton has given a talk called "Religion and the Simpsons: HaDat vehaD'oh!" And try listening to this 2003 shiur titled "Simpsons in Halakha" by Orthodox Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman.

Jewish Simpsons producer Mike Reiss ("I'm not gay, but I'm Jewish, which is basically the same. Both gays and Jews have been persecuted for centuries -- by their mothers.") says his Jewish talk is his favorite. He's always on the circuit. He's even talked about Simpsons and the Jews in Mumbai, Singapore, Macao and Chile. I saw him in Boston in 2019, and it's very funny, but the Jews-in-the-Simpsons content in the talk is very thin. In 2004, he gave the Irving Blum Memorial Seminar at the Pikesville, MD, Beth Tfiloh Synagogue. This prompted an angry letter to the editor objecting to "promoting 'The Simpsons' vulgar attitudes in shul." You, too can book Reiss to speak, via the Jewish Speakers Bureau. Check out his history of Moses on The Simpsons, on page 7 of their Haggadah supplement.

Of course, if you want vulgar, just try to unsee these horrific Bart and Lisa mezuzot, and Simpsons as the backdrop and Simpsons as the candleholders Hanukiah menorahs.

Cartoon from author and illustrator Tim Brierley

For decades, lots of people have gone public with their sudden revelation that "Bart Mitzvah" could be both a gender-neutral term and a jokey Simpsons reference. That's fine.

But then there are the Simpsons-themed "Bart" Mitzvahs, for real ("the clever decor featured bright cartoon colors, a Moe's tavern airbrushed backdrop behind the bar, a Simpson's living room backdrop for photos with lifesized figures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and the baby, and mountains of frosted donuts on the sweet table"). The ultra-fancy Tavern on the Green hosted one - see some pictures, and some more with the centerpieces, cake ("fondant remote controls, frothy mugs, cans of "Duff" root beer, and donuts covered each of the tiers") and fake Moe's Tavern set-up. The Bar Mitzvah boy can wear this hideous "Shalom Dude" t-shirt, or this one where Bart-MitzvahMan declares that "I had a cow at Michael's Bart Mitzvah 5-4-91, or this one from Eitan's party, weirdly also from May 4, 1991.

(Of course, none of these Bart Mitzvah shirts come close to matching the real thing:)

Then you can have a Bart-Mitzvah candle ceremony and for the service you can always order a Simpsons kippah (embossed, classy embossed, painted, and two really bad kippot auctioned from Sam Simon's estate(!): "Yeled Tov" and strange Bart. At kiddush you can serve a custom Mazel tov blackboard gag cake, or character cookies.

But, it's not all awful. On the other side, a tip of the kippah to the Orthodox Anshi S'fard in Atlanta for their Simpsons Purim in 2020, where Rabbi Avraham Horvitz read the Megillah using different voices for the different characters in the Purim story. There also was a Simpsons-themed slide show of the Purim story at the same time as the Megillah reading.

But the keter shem tov goes to this carefully, beautifully, edited video that inserts the Bar Mitzvah boy into the Simpsons world. It's for Jake Silversmith, who became Bar Mitzvah at Congregation Beth Tikvah Ahavat Shalom Nusach Hoari in Dollard des Ormeaux, Québec ('shkoyach to Terranian Productions):

Comments? Errors? Let us know: homercalendar@mail2homer.com Check our omer dates here, courtesy of Irv Bromberg's Kalendis program: omer calendar inside Israel and outside of Israel

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