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Remembering Jewish Trailblazer Tom Lehrer
Tom Lehrer performing in Copenhagen, 1967. Photo: Wiki Commons.
I grew up in an English cultural environment where the stiff and uptight British society was being challenged by irreverence. I can think of a whole generation of British satirists, but my idol at that time was Tom Lehrer, who died recently at the age of 97. And although there have been many glowing tributes on both sides of the Atlantic, I want to add mine.
He was born in New York City, and although he and his family were ethnically Jewish, he never openly identified with the community. He once said that his ties to Judaism were “more to do with the delicatessen than the synagogue.” He was a brilliant talented undergraduate at Harvard, where he began to write comic songs to his own accompaniment.
After the army, he returned to full-time mathematics studies at Harvard. He taught mathematics at MIT. In 1972, Lehrer joined the faculty of the University of California.
Parallel to his academic work, his life as an entertainer grew, satirizing every known perversion and hypocrisy without using a single naughty phrase.
Slowly he acquired a cult following, but for years, he hardly earned anything from his select performances. But during the late fifties he grew in popularity, touring in America and abroad as his iconoclasm found a response particularly from the European intelligentsia. And although not becoming a superstar, he gained recognition and became successful financially. Princess Margaret, sister of the Queen of England was a great fan of his and helped his reputation take off in Britain.
He made fun of everything, from religion and the military, to political incompetence, pollution, needless wars, and challenging convention in ways that are unimaginable in our pathetically oversensitive intellectual world today.
He touched on antisemitism in his famous song about false ecumenism: “Oh, The Protestants hate the Catholics, the Catholics hate the Protestants, the Hindus hate the Muslims, and everybody hates the Jews.” Couldn’t say that today without being threatened with death.
But the only song of his that showed anything overtly Jewish was “Hanukkah in Santa Monica”:
“I’m spending Hanukkah, in Santa Monica,
Wearing sandals lighting candles by the sea.
I spent Shavuos, in East St. Louis,
A charming spot but clearly not the spot for me.
Those eastern winters, I can’t endure ’em,
So every year I pack my gear
And come out here to Purim.
Rosh Hashanah, I spend in Arizona,
And Yom Kippa, way down in Mississippa.
But in Decemba, there’s just one place for me.
‘Mid the California flora,
I’ll be lighting my menorah.
Every California maid’ll
Find me playing with a dreidel.
Santa Monica, spending Hanukkah by the sea”
Although Lehrer was “a hero of the anti-nuclear, civil rights left,” he disliked the aesthetics of the counter culture of the 1960s, and largely stopped performing in the United States as the movement gained momentum.
When asked why he had abandoned his musical career Lehrer replied: “If an idea came to me, I’d write, and if it didn’t I wouldn’t — and, gradually, the second option prevailed over the first. Occasionally people ask ‘If you enjoyed it’ — and I did — ’why don’t you do it again?’ I reply, ‘I enjoyed high school but I certainly wouldn’t want to do that again.’”
In October 2020, Lehrer transferred the music and lyrics for all songs he had ever written into the public domain. He said “I no longer retain any rights to any of my songs. So help yourselves, and don’t send me any money.” Lehrer never married and died on July 26, 2025, at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 97.
Out of nostalgia for a lost world, I leave you a few selections that I still treasure in my rebellious dotage.
The Vatican Rag
First you get down on your knees
Fiddle with your rosaries
Bow your head with great respect
And genuflect, genuflect, genuflect!
Get in line in that processional
Step into that small confessional
There the guy who’s got religion’ll
Tell you if your sin’s original.
If it is, try playin’ it safer
Drink the wine and chew the wafer
Two, four, six, eight
Time to transubstantiate.
So get down upon your knees
Fiddle with your rosaries
Bow your head with great respect
Make a cross on your abdomen
When· in Rome do like a Roman
Ave Maria, gee it’s good to see ya
Gettin’ ecstatic an’
Sorta dramatic an’
Doin’ the Vatican Rag.
Poisoning Pigeons in the Park
All the world seems in tune
On a spring afternoon
When we’re poisoning pigeons in the park.
Every Sunday you’ll see
My sweetheart and me
As we poison the pigeons in the park
When they see us coming
The birdies all try an’ hide,
But they still go for peanuts
When coated with cyan-hide.
The sun’s shining bright,
Everything seems all right
When we’re poisoning pigeons in the park.
We’ve gained notoriety
And caused much anxiety
So, if Sunday you’re free,
Why don’t you come with me,
And we’ll poison the pigeons in the park.
And maybe we’ll do
In a squirrel or two
The author is a writer and rabbi, based in New York.
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‘No Room for Antisemitism’: Prague Mayor Quashes Rumored Kanye West Concert
Kanye West walking on the red carpet during the 67th Grammy Awards held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA on Feb. 2, 2025. Photo: Elyse Jankowski/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
In the Czech Republic, local officials have pushed back against a potential Ye concert in Prague following the cancellation of a July show near Bratislava, refusing to grant permission for the rapper formerly known as Kanye West to perform his music, including potentially recent tracks such as “Heil Hitler.”
“There is no request to organize such a concert, and if we were asked, we would not approve it,” said Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda.
He told Heyfomo.cz that “there is no room for antisemitism in Prague.”
Deputy Mayor Jiří Pospíšil added that the city “is not the place to celebrate Nazism.” He described himself as “strongly against Kanye West performing in Prague,” explaining how “we experienced firsthand the horrors of the Second World War, and we must not give room to people who glorify these crimes.”
A petition and open letter to Svoboda launched on Wednesday has received more than 14,000 supporters.
“Kanye West is abusing his media influence to normalize the language and symbols of the evil of war, which Europe, including the Czech Republic, has long rejected,” the letter states. “It is unacceptable that Prague provides space for his performance – not for musical expression, but for dangerous public attitudes that are in direct conflict with European historical memory and democratic values.”
The letter also points to “possible serious security risks” and notes that “an event of this type may attract radical and extremist groups from the Czech Republic and abroad. Given the public stance of the performer, there is a legitimate concern about the appearance of Nazi symbolism, violent behavior or the spread of ideologies that are unacceptable in a democratic society and criminal in the Czech Republic.”
The petitioners also argued that a Ye performance could break the law, violating a statute prohibiting “movements aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms is a criminal offense, including the use of symbols, slogans or expressions of sympathy.”
Signatories of the letter included nonprofit leaders, lawyers, human rights experts, artists, attorneys, journalists, and scholars.
On Feb. 25, the European Jewish Congress reported that Czech police had investigated 40 percent more antisemitic hate crimes in 2024 compared to 2023, a total of 30 incidents of hate speech.
“In 2022, we dealt with 23 cases of antisemitic hate speech, 18 in 2023, and 30 in 2024,” said Czech Police spokesperson Ondřej Moravčík. “We are still in close contact with operators and owners of Jewish sites and carry out increased surveillance activities there.”
The Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic (FŽO) said that for 2023 it documented 4,328 antisemitic incidents, showing a 90 percent jump from the 2,277 incidents found in 2022. The group said that “in the Czech Republic, as in other countries, there is an insufficient level of reporting hate crimes, often due to stigma, distrust in institutions, or concerns about personal safety.”
For the 2023 incidents, FŽO saw a spike (almost 42 percent of the year’s total) from October through December, following the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
According to the Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 survey of antisemitic attitudes by country, research into the Czech Republic shows elevated levels of bigotry against Jews (support for at least 6 stereotypes) in 15 percent of adults — 1.3 million people — ranking the nation as the eleventh least antisemitic on the planet.
Ye has faced similar consequences in other countries for his decision to promote Nazism through his music, public appearances, TV ads, and even in the merchandise he hawks on his website. On July 2, Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced the cancellation of the hip hop mogul’s visa, preventing future visits with his Australian wife Bianca Censori’s family in Melbourne.
“We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry,” Burke said.
“In Whose Name?,” a documentary featuring Ye, will be released on Sept. 19. The film’s director, Nico Ballesteros, began shooting the project six years ago at age 18 when West gave him what The Hollywood Reporter described on Wednesday as “unfettered access to his life, breakdowns and inner circle,” yielding more than 3,000 hours of footage.
“For a shy kid, the camera became both a shield and a window, a way to channel my introspection while still engaging with the world,” Ballesteros said. “Ye has always had someone filming him too, a lens between him and the noise. Maybe that’s why we understood each other without saying much. I was able to fade into the background, stay present, the camera always rolling, catching moments outside the public performance.”
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UEFA President Says It’s ‘Legitimate’ to Ask Why Israel Is Allowed to Participate in Int’l Soccer Competitions
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin with Palestinian girl Tala and Mohamed from Gaza during the Paris Saint-Germain vs Tottenham Hotspur UEFA Super Cup medals ceremony in Udine, Italy, Aug. 13, 2025. Photo: Natasa Kupljenik/SPP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin responded to a question about why Europe’s governing body of soccer allows Israel to participate in international soccer competitions while Russia is excluded, during an interview late last week on the Slovenian news program “Odmevi.”
“This is a legitimate question,” Čeferin stated. “In principle, I don’t support not allowing athletes to compete in competitions. In the case of Russia, the athletes have not competed for three and a half years, and the war is even worse than it was. I know that many are opponents of the regime, but they still can’t play. In principle, I am against not allowing athletes to participate in competitions. But here, sport is very intertwined with politics, and politics is very much involved here.”
When asked to elaborate on the UEFA’s permission to have Israel participate in competitions, Čeferin said, “For now, our decision is like this. It is very difficult for me to comment on what could happen. But in principle, I think that all athletes should have the opportunity to compete and that other things should be resolved differently.”
Čeferin also commented on Slovakia’s national women’s volleyball team refusing to shake hands with their Israeli opponents after a recent qualifying match for the European Championship. “In principle, I can say that I don’t like it when athletes do not shake hands with each other,” he noted.
The UEFA was accused of promoting an antisemitic blood libel last week for inviting several refugee children to display a banner on the pitch at the Super Cup final in Udine, Italy, that said, “Stop killing children. Stop killing civilians.” The UEFA invited two children from the Gaza Strip to participate in the medal ceremony at the same match, between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham.
However, the UEAF launched disciplinary proceedings against the Israeli team Maccabi Haifa after its fans displayed an anti-Polish banner at a UEFA Conference League qualifying match against Poland’s Raków Częstochowa.
The UEFA was also heavily criticized last week for stopping the family of Hamas hostage Rom Braslavski from displaying signs advocating for his release from captivity at Beitar Jerusalem’s match against Riga in a Conference League qualifier in Bucharest, Romania.
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Gal Gadot Gets Candid About ‘Snow White’ Flop After Rachel Zegler’s ‘Free Palestine’ Comment
Gal Gadot at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. Photo: Dan MacMedan-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
Israeli actress Gal Gadot opened up for the first time in a rare, public interview about the box office failure of her film last year, the live action remake of Disney’s “Snow White,” after its lead star and title character Rachel Zegler proclaimed “Free Palestine” on social media.
Gadot, who starred as the Evil Queen in the remake of the 1937 Disney classic, also said she believes “pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel” ended up “greatly affecting” the film and contributed to its box office flop. The former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, who is a vocal supporter of the Jewish state and the eighth generation to be born there on her father’s side, made the comments during an appearance last week on the Israeli television show “Special Interview,” where celebrities are asked questions by autistic interviewers, and no question is off-limits. The Keshet 12 show is hosted by Gadot’s friend, Israeli actress Rotem Sela.
Mere days after the trailer for “Snow White” debuted last year, Zegler showed support for the Palestinian cause in a post on X. Gadot never directly responded to Zegler’s tweet at the time, but the son of the film’s producer called Zegler’s comments “immature” and blamed them for the film’s poor reviews. Zegler and Gadot went on separate press tours around the world for the film and at the “Snow White” premiere in Los Angeles, media outlets were not allowed to attend the red carpet to interview the costars. Zegler also did not attend Gadot’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony while the director and producer of “Snow White” both attended.
“Snow White” hit theaters in March 2024 and was reportedly one of Disney’s worst performing live-action remakes in almost a decade, following “Pete’s Dragon” in 2016.
During her Hebrew-language appearance on “Special Interview,” Gadot said she “really enjoyed filming” the movie and even enjoyed working with Zegler. “We laughed, we talked, and it was fun,” she noted.
“I was sure that this movie was going to be a huge success,” Gadot added. “And then Oct. 7, [2023] happened. And what’s happening in all kinds of industries, and also in Hollywood, is that there’s a lot of pressure on celebrities to speak out against Israel. I can always explain and try to give people in the world a context about what’s happening and what the reality is here. And I always do, but in the end, people decide for themselves. I was disappointed that the movie was greatly affected by that and didn’t do well at the box office. But that’s what happened.”
“You win some, you lose some,” Gadot then said in English.
Gadot also talked on “Special Interview” about other topics, such as being “scared to death” when she had a life-threatening brain clot during her pregnancy with her fourth daughter, Ori. She said that Sela and other close girlfriends helped her during her recovery. Gadot also discussed trying to keep her family connected to Israel even while they live in Los Angeles, and other aspects of her career.
She was even asked about her decision to not wear to the Golden Globes in January a pin in solidarity with the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
“I am Israeli. And I am a very, very proud Israeli,” she began by saying in response. At the Golden Globes, I was invited to present an award. And with these things, there are a lot of collaborations, and a lot of brands involved and it’s very complex. And it felt to me that it was not right to wear the pin there, when I’m coming to work. And it could be that it was a mistake.”
In an Instagram Story on Sunday, Gadot clarified the comments she made on “Special Interview” about the failure of “Snow White.”
“I was honored to join an extraordinary interview with inspiring interviewers, whose questions go straight to the heart,” Gadot wrote, as seen in a screenshot of the Instagram Story captured by BuzzFeed. “Sometimes we respond to questions from an emotional place. When the film [‘Snow White’] came out, I felt that those who are against Israel criticized me in a very personal, almost visceral way. They saw me first and foremost as an Israeli, not as an actress. That’s the perspective I spoke from when I answered the question.”
“Of course, the film didn’t fail solely because of external pressures. There are many factors that determine why a film succeeds or fails, and success is never guaranteed,” she concluded.
On Sunday, Gadot met with families of Israeli hostages at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to support them during a nationwide protest called “Israel On Hold,” which was organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in an effort to pressure the Israeli government to negotiate for the release of the 50 remaining hostages abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.