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In Mel Brooks’ ‘History of the World Part II,’ Jewish jokes reign from BCE to the Beatles
(JTA) — In a scene that will soon stream on Hulu, a group of early Christian bishops gathers to set a promotion strategy for their newish religion — to “make the Bible an international blockbuster,” as one puts it.
But the plot is unclear: “Who are the bad guys in this story?” asks one. He and his fellow clerics consider two options: the Jews and the Romans.
“Let’s make them the Jews, for sure,” says a bishop. “They run everything,” says another.
And thus the First Council of Nicaea, a gathering in 325 C.E. that is considered the birth of Christian antisemitism, gets the Mel Brooks treatment in “History of the World Part II,” the long-awaited sequel to the classic Mel Brooks film that revolves around Jewish history — and skewers it. The new four-part series even has a Jewish premiere date — March 6, the eve of the merrymaking holiday of Purim.
As with the 1981 original — written, directed and produced by Brooks, who also stars — the new series is littered with Jewish subject matter, even in the sketches that aren’t about Jews. And although comedy mores have changed in the past four decades, the series aims to retain Brooks’ signature combination of sharp parody, vaudevillian vulgarity and Borscht Belt antics.
“We really tried to embrace what we loved about [Brooks’] work and apply that to the work that we were doing, whether that was the themes of funny character names, or breaking the fourth wall or anachronisms or certain kinds of playful blocking,” director Alice Mathias told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “The kind of comedy work that I was doing up until this point was a touch more restrained and not quite as slapstick in places. So it was really fun to get a little sillier.”
And the creators aren’t concerned about a show with repeated send-ups of Jewish history at a time of rising antisemitism.
“Saying ‘the Jews are the bad guys’ is only funny because you’re making fun of the people saying it,” said showrunner David Stassen. “You’re punching up, you’re making fun of the bishops in power. That was the intent.”
Pictured from left to right: Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Mel Brooks, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen at the Los Angeles premiere of History of the World Part II. (Tommaso Boddi via Getty Images)
Part of the series’ Jewishness is thanks to Nick Kroll, the Jewish comedian who had been interested in creating “History of the World Part II” for a very long time and “nudzhed” Brooks to agree, Stassen told JTA, using the Yiddish word for pester. Kroll is the co-creator of the critically acclaimed cartoon “Big Mouth,” which was largely based on his experience attending the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester. He also grew up in a Conservative, kosher-keeping household.
Kroll joins Brooks, 97, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen as a writer and executive producer, with Mathias of Netflix’s absurdist sketch series “I Think You Should Leave” as director.
“It wasn’t a matter of, is this the right time for this?” Stassen told JTA. “It was just like, how do we honor Mel? How do we do a show that’s different than current sketch shows, that is in Mel’s tone?”
“History of the World Part I” spoofs the epic films of the mid-20th century, with sketches including a musical number take on the Spanish Inquisition; an alternate history of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments; and cavemen discovering music. The new series puts a 21st century spin on that idea, reminiscent of Comedy Central’s “Drunk History” (and featuring many of the same cast members, including Joe Lo Truglio, who plays one of the bishops at Nicaea) with hints of the Netflix series “I Think You Should Leave.”
Audiences will see comedic sendups of historical events including Black congresswoman Shirley Chisholm’s historic run for president; Marco Polo’s arrival at the palace of Kublai Khan in China; the Russian Revolution; and the signing of the Oslo Accords, the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
Schmuck Mudman (Nick Kroll), Fanny (Pamela Adlon), and Joshy (Charles Melton) discuss leaving the shtetl as the Russian Revolution breaks out. (Courtesy of Hulu)
Just a few of the Jewish jokes: Jason Alexander makes an appearance as a notary-slash-mohel who brings the wrong bag, full of his ritual tools, to the official signing of the Confederate Army’s surrender at the end of the Civil War.
“Useless. Unless somebody wants to take a little off the top,” Alexander’s character says, gesturing to his tools.
The story of Jesus Christ gets parodied via multiple genres and is arguably one of the most Jewish recurring sketches of the whole series. In a “Curb Your Enthusiasm”-inspired sketch in the second episode, Judas (Kroll) and Luke (JB Smoove) realize that Jesus (Jay Ellis) has abandoned keeping kosher when they catch him publicly eating a bacon cheeseburger. A subsequent sketch spoofs the documentary “The Beatles: Get Back,” in which fans of the apostles eat matzah on sticks outside of the Apples & Honey recording studio.
A fan of the apostles (Quinta Brunson) stands outside of Apples and Honey Studios. (Courtesy of Hulu)
And a recurring sketch focusing on the Russian Revolution and parodying parts of “Fiddler on the Roof” features a literal mud pie salesman named “Schmuck Mudman” who lives in an Eastern European shtetl. Mudman sells his wares via Putz Mates, a Yiddish play on the food delivery app PostMates. After moving from the village to Moscow, Mudman, played by Kroll, is surprised to find a meeting of the Mensheviks, the opposition to the Communist Bolshevik party, in his apartment.
“Your misery looks familiar to me. Are we from the same shtetl?” Mudman asks one of the Mensheviks in a depressing round of early 20th century Jewish geography.
“No. I get this all the time,” the man responds. “But I’m a miserable city Jew.”
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Eisenkot has backing of 67 seats, but not yet allowed to form Israeli government
(JTA) — Yashar Party head Gadi Eisenkot inched closer to wresting the premiership from Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, as he secured the majority support of 67 out of 120 parliamentarians, but was not yet granted the mandate to form a government.
President Isaac Herzog said that Eisenkot had more backing than the 46’s parliamentarians who favor Netanyahu, after the president held two days of consultations with all the political parties that will be sworn in next week at the opening of the 26th Knesset.
Herzog, who is tasked with deciding which parliamentarian has the power to form a government, told the media he would not make a choice until Sunday.
“The results of the consultations may appear clear, but the authority vested in me by law is to determine who has the ability to form a government, and that is not entirely clear,” Herzog said, adding that he would continue to hold talks with the party leaders.
Eisenkot has the expected support of the Jewish-Israeli parties, B’Yachad, Israel Beytenu and the Democrats, which gives him a potential coalition of 48 parties. The Arab-Israeli party Ra’am, with eight seats, also recommended him, as did the Joint List, which has 11 seats. The Joint List is expected to support Eisenkot from outside the government. This means the party would vote with the government block to allow it to govern, but would not formally be part of its coalition.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Eisenkot has backing of 67 seats, but not yet allowed to form Israeli government appeared first on The Forward.
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Montreal Jewish-owned bakery devastated by suspected arson attack
(JTA) — A Montreal kosher bakery burnt down following an suspected arson attack on Wednesday morning. This incident was the second of two alleged arson attempts directed at the Jewish-owned bakery, Mimimelon, within 48 hours. In both cases, the bakery was empty and no injuries were reported.
The Montreal police said there is no evidence yet that the incident was motivated by antisemitism. However, the hate crimes and arson units have been assigned to investigate the case, given the bakery’s ties to the Jewish community.
The first incident took place on the night of Monday, Nov. 2, when Mimimelon co-owner Jennie Volfson received a security notification that someone was attempting to open the bakery’s back door. When Volfson checked her business’ security cameras, she saw flames and immediately called Montreal police and firefighters. Upon arrival, firefighters were able to control the fire and keep damage to the bakery minimal.
Volfson, who owns Mimimelon with her husband and father-in-law, said she received a second notification from the bakery’s security system around 12:30 AM on Wednesday, Nov. 4. When she checked Mimimelon’s security cameras, Volfson saw a flash of light and “an explosion,” before the live feed cut out.
This time, Volfson said the blaze could not be contained. “I expected that the damage would be bad, but it’s complete destruction. There is nothing to rebuild. We’re going to have to scrap everything,” said Volfson, adding that she was uncertain of the future for the bakery.
Based on the shop’s security footage, Volfson surmised, “There was a person who was able to get inside the bakery this time, probably because the door was compromised from the day before.”
Mimimelon, located in the historically Jewish Saint-Laurent neighbourhood, has previously been the target of acts of antisemitism. In September, a masked man entered the bakery and yelled “All the Jews will burn,” before running off.
The attack on Mimimelon comes at a time when B’nai Brith’s 2026 Annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents found that antisemitic incidents nearly tripled in Quebec from 2025-2026. In August, a Montreal kosher restaurant was gutted by fire which police investigated as arson.
“People do pass by sometimes on the street and yell disgusting things, and especially around October 7th. We were on high alert the whole Jewish High Holiday period, but then the holidays finished and nothing happened” said Volfson.
“B’nai Brith has called for law enforcement across Canada to consider hate motivations whenever a Jewish home or business is targeted,” Paola Samuel, B’nai Brith Canada Regional Director of Quebec and Atlantic Canada, wrote on X. “With the number of antisemitic incidents rising in Canada, a hate motive, unfortunately, cannot be ruled out.”
“We don’t really have competition as we’re a very niche business,” said Volfson. “We’ve been here for 11 years, and I don’t understand where this is coming from now.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Montreal Jewish-owned bakery devastated by suspected arson attack appeared first on The Forward.
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Jews cared more about Israel and antisemitism this election – but it didn’t change their votes much, exit poll shows
Jewish voters overwhelmingly backed Democrats in Tuesday’s midterm elections, even as concerns about Israel and antisemitism played a growing role in their political decisions, according to a new exit poll published on Thursday.
The GBAO Strategies survey of 800 Jewish voters found that 72% of Jewish respondents supported Democratic candidates for Congress, compared with 24% who voted Republican. The poll, sponsored by J Street, a progressive pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy group, was conducted via text message from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3 and had a reported margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
The Democratic share was slightly lower than in previous midterm elections, when Democrats received 74% of the Jewish vote in 2022 and 76% in 2018. In the 2020 presidential election, 77% of Jewish voters backed Joe Biden, according to GBAO’s polling. These findings differ from a national NBC News exit poll, which found that 68% of Jewish voters supported Democrats this year and 31% backed Republicans, compared with 78% who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024. (The national surveys used different methods, making it harder to say how preferences actually changed.)
Jim Gerstein, GBAO’s pollster and a Democratic campaign consultant, cautioned against reading too much into the change over time. “You’d have to squint really hard to try and see that that is a shift or anything really meaningful,” Gerstein told the Forward during a press briefing. He noted that Republican support also fell, from 25% in the 2022 midterms to 24% this year. Gerstein suggested that strong opposition to President Donald Trump during his first term, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, may help explain the higher Democratic numbers in 2018 and 2020.
He also noted that campaigns and outside groups have spent significantly more money targeting Jewish voters in the past two election cycles. “These are really negligible, and we don’t look at this as much shifting,” he said.
Even as Democrats regained control of both chambers of Congress, Republicans did appear to make gains among Jewish voters in some closely watched races amid a divide over U.S. support for Israel. Several outspoken critics of Israel won seats in the House, including five members of the Democratic Socialists of America. Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan and Troy Jackson of Maine, two new senators who made criticism of Israel a major part of their campaigns, also won highly contested races.
The exit poll suggests that disagreements over Israel have not fundamentally changed how American Jews vote.
The future of American democracy remained the top concern for Jewish voters, with 44% naming it as one of the two most important issues influencing their vote, followed by 34% who said the cost of living was among their leading concerns. But Israel and antisemitism became more important than in previous elections. Twenty-one percent named antisemitism as one of their top two issues, up from 11% in 2024. Israel ranked sixth, cited by 14% of voters, compared with just 4% in 2022.
Compared to previous elections, Israel and antisemitism moved up the list of priorities — 21% identified antisemitism as one of their top two issues, up from 11% in 2024. Israel was ranked six with 14%, compared with just 4% in 2022.
Gerstein argued that rising antisemitism and the debates over support for Israel serve as a basic test for candidates rather than the deciding factor in most elections. “I think we see candidates in both parties passing that threshold quite easily,” Gerstein said.
Asked which positions expressed by candidates during the campaign they agreed with most, 30% chose unconditional support for Israel, while 39% favored support tied to Israel’s compliance with American interests and values. Another 31%, including 60% of voters between the ages of 18 and 34, agreed with the statement that Israel has committed genocide and should no longer receive U.S. aid.
Orthodox voters, representing 9% of the sample, voted Republican by a 63-34 margin.
A Jewish split on Israel
The survey also found a Jewish electorate that itself is becoming more divided over Israel.
Thirty-nine percent said their sympathies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were primarily with Israelis, compared with 23% who sided with Palestinians. Another 38% sided with both. Among younger Jews, 49% said they sympathized more with Palestinians, compared with 20% who sided with Israelis.
A majority — 51% — said it supported continuing $3.8 billion in annual U.S. military assistance to Israel, while 49% opposed it. However, 44% also said arms sales should be conditioned on compliance with U.S. law.
Jewish voters showed greater agreement on how criticism of Israel should be treated and whether Israel’s policies directly impact them.
Sixty percent said Jewish organizations that label harsh criticism of Israel as antisemitic are using concerns about antisemitism to defend unpopular Israeli policies. About two-thirds said AIPAC’s spending against candidates critical of Israel increases antisemitism in the United States, while 80% said Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank contribute to antisemitism. An overwhelming majority of 76% support sanctions against violent Israeli settlers.
The survey also found that 39% of Jewish voters, including 63% of those under 35, said that spending by AIPAC to defeat Israel critics this election cycle made them less likely to support candidates backed by the pro-Israel group.
Mamdani scores high
One of the more striking findings was that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was more popular among Jewish voters nationwide than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite his criticism of Israel and strained relationship with some Jewish organizations.
The poll found that 49% of respondents viewed Mamdani favorably, compared with 43% who viewed him unfavorably. Netanyahu received a favorable rating of just 20%, while 72% viewed him unfavorably. That marks a 12% decline in two years for the Israeli leader, who is struggling to form a government after the last Israeli election ended in deadlock.
In an interview with CNN Wednesday night, Mamdani pointed to his approach to governing as an example of how elected officials can represent Jewish voters even when they disagree with them on Israel.
“I represent the most Jewish city in the United States of America, and I know that there are some Jewish New Yorkers, for example, that may have a different set of opinions on Israel and Palestine as I do, and that doesn’t mean that I work any less hard to deliver for them across the board,” Mamdani said. “I think that’s the same truth for anyone who was elected last night.”
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