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Richard Belzer was a Jewish comedian. Why didn’t his obituaries say so?
(JTA) — Ever hear Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” sung in Yiddish dialect? It used to be a regular bit performed by comedian and actor Richard Belzer, who died this week at 78. He also used to do a routine about Bob Dylan’s bar mitzvah in which he recited a Hebrew prayer in the singer’s distinctive tone. A similar Elvis bar mitzvah bit was also part of his routine.
Surprisingly, Belzer performed these niche routines in numerous comedy venues and even on the nationally televised “The Late Show with David Letterman.” In addition to a variety of other Jewish references embedded in his act, Belzer also performed Yiddish-inflected parodies of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.”
But like so many American comedians of the Hebraic persuasion, Belzer didn’t really work Jewish. The bulk of his act was general and observational. To be sure, there were bits and pieces of Jewish material that can be found scattered about his comedic oeuvre, though to have the broad appeal he achieved, he understood that he had to deal in comic generalities. But to have thrown bits like Dylan’s bar mitzvah into routines for venues as broad as Letterman is an indication that he was truly dedicated to his Jewish material.
Moreover, he enjoyed it. Around 2003, after he’d snagged a contract to do a special on a cable network, he approached Letterman’s legendary bandleader, Paul Schaffer, and told him he wanted to do something “Jewish” for the show. Schaffer suggested The Barton Brothers’ risqué Yiddish radio ad parody song “Joe and Paul.” Belzer loved the idea. The duo learned the Yiddish lines and performed the tune, which, in veiled Yiddish tones, talks about masturbation and going to a prostitute named “Cock-eyed Jenny.” It was so well-received and the two enjoyed it so much, they began to do it in other venues. It eventually wound up on a 2008 album titled “The Jewish Songbook,” together with songs sung by Neil Sedaka and Barbra Streisand.
Which is why it’s been strange to read obit after obit in outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian and The Hollywood Reporter, among others, that didn’t bother to mention that Belzer was Jewish — even when, as the Jewish Telegraphic Agency pointed out, the character for which he was best known, Det. John Munch on “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” identified as Jewish. Obituaries, after all, are meant to be the final stock-taking of a person’s life. They should include the basics of who they were. And one of the basics of Richard Belzer is that he was a Yid.
Moreover, according to Paul Shaffer, he was a proud one. I should also point out that I don’t mean Jewish in a religious sense. Belzer, after all, appears to have been an atheist, so what is meant here is Jew as an ethnic category, one that apparently confounds a lot of people and which results in many Jewish artists being described as anything but Jewish.
To call Burt Bacharach an “American composer” or Barbara Walters a “pioneering woman newscaster” is accurate, but misses a significant ethno-cultural aspect of these people, one that was integrally responsible for making them who they are and influencing their creative choices. The notion that “Jewish” is something more than a religious denomination — that it’s a wide-ranging culture that includes art, literature, music, food, folkways and languages — is terribly difficult to grasp for some people.
One case in point is an excellent book by Kliph Nesteroff that appeared in 2015 called “The Comedians,” which richly details the history of stand-up comedy in America. Assiduously researched, it’s become the definitive work on the topic. The book, however, deracinates the history of the field. From reading it, you would never know that 20th-century American comedy was largely a Jewish enterprise. In fact, you’d hardly know that Jews were involved at all. You will read about comedians such as Milton Berle, Joan Rivers, Lenny Bruce and Jerry Seinfeld, but you’ll have no idea that any of them are Jews, or that Jewish history and culture might have had at least a nominal influence in their work and in their field. It’s like a history of opera that doesn’t bother to mention Italians: They weren’t the only ones involved, but the field would have been far poorer without their distinct contributions.
The matter of the mysteriously disappearing Jew occurs in other industries as well. It’s particularly egregious in the art world and popped up last year at the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a lavishly funded new institution that celebrated the diversity of Hollywood, touting the contributions of minorities involved in the film industry. However, the one minority they initially left out was the one that was instrumental in building that very industry. It’s all part of a phenomenon comedian David Baddiel describes as “Jews don’t count.” They’re not considered a minority among the many others and have apparently become white people who don’t believe in Jesus. As such, they’re not worthy of distinction.
History, however, tells a different story. When Jews began to come to this country en masse at the end of the 19th century, the culture they met often mocked and derided them. Suffering discrimination in multiple realms, they were excluded from certain neighborhoods, clubs and a variety of occupations. Universities placed quotas on them. Many hotels denied them entry, a fact that led to the creation of hundreds of Jewish hotels in New York’s Catskill Mountains. While American attitudes toward Jews eventually changed, a fact that allowed them to become full participants in society, they still find themselves victimized by Jew-hatred. Even though it’s often denied, the mystery of Jewish difference, apparently, is still a thing.
And for Richard Belzer, it was a thing he obviously enjoyed. Comedy writer and novelist Seth Greenland, who worked on numerous projects with Belzer and whose first novel was based on him, told me, “Something about Richard was quintessentially Jewish. He was kind, disputatious, intellectually curious, and hilarious. Although he wasn’t at all religious, he was proud to be Jewish and embraced that identity.”
Alan Zweibel, a comedy writer who worked with Belzer beginning in the mid-1970s on “Saturday Night Live,” added, “Belz made no bones about being Jewish in his act or in his life.” Zweibel once took Belzer to his parents’ Long Island home for a Friday night dinner, over which the comedian bonded with Mr. and Mrs. Zweibel over milchig and fleishig issues, the minutiae of keeping kosher. Alan’s father pointed to Belzer and told his son, “You could learn a lot from this guy.”
“Belz and Gilbert Gottfried would always do Jewish shtick and saw themselves in a long line of Jewish comics,” said author Ratso Sloman. “And one time I was at Catch [A Rising Star], probably in the mid ’80s and at the end of the night, Belz and Gilbert went on stage and did dueling old Jewish weather forecasters. It was so hilarious, I almost pissed my pants.”
Paul Schaffer also recalled how Belzer once accompanied him to say Kaddish for Schaffer’s father at the Carlebach Shul on the Upper West Side. “I didn’t know what kind of Jewish education he had,” Schaffer told me, “but the cat could daven [pray].” Paul added that he and Belzer once bonded over old cassettes of Friars Club roasts. One of the tapes was of a roast emceed by DJ and Sinatra expert William B. Williams (born Velvel Breitbard), who, whenever someone’s joke bombed, would begin to utter the Jewish prayer for the dead — “Yisgadal, yisgadash, shemey rabo….” — and get big laughs. Belzer loved it so much, he stole it and would recite the prayer onstage at subsequent roasts whenever a comic bombed, and even when his own jokes died.
Yisgadal, yisgadash, Belz. You will be missed.
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Iran Accelerates Ballistic Missile Production, Israel Warns
An Iranian missile is launched during a military exercise in an undisclosed location in Iran, Aug. 20, 2025. Photo: Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran is rapidly rebuilding its missile arsenal following the 12-day war with Israel in June, raising alarm bells among Israeli officials as Tehran aims to restore its weakened military capabilities and extend its influence across the Middle East.
During a closed meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this week, a senior Israeli military official told lawmakers that Iran has resumed large-scale production of ballistic missiles, roughly six months after the June conflict, Israeli media reported.
Israeli intelligence assessments have confirmed that Tehran resumed massive production of long-range missiles, with factories operating “around the clock” to rebuild capabilities destroyed in Israeli and US strikes.
With Israel having destroyed key missile-production equipment, including planetary mixers, the Iranian regime is relying on older manufacturing methods to restart its missile program, according to the Israeli news outlet Ynet.
Israeli officials now reportedly fear that the damage inflicted on Iran’s ballistic missile program during the June war was less extensive than initially thought.
Earlier this year, Israel, with support from the United States, carried out large-scale military strikes against the Islamist regime in Iran, targeting critical nuclear enrichment sites — including the heavily fortified Fordow facility — after multiple rounds of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program failed to yield results.
In the aftermath of the strikes, intelligence and media assessments of the damage to Iran’s nuclear and defense capabilities have been inconsistent and often contradictory, with some reports indicating only a short-term setback and others pointing to potentially years of disruption. Many experts believe the nuclear program has been set back by multiple years. However, Iran’s missile arsenal may have suffered less damage.
Earlier this week, Israel Defense Forces military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder told US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz that Iran still possesses roughly 2,000 heavy ballistic missiles — about the same number it had before the war, the Al-Monitor news outlet reported.
Since the end of the war, Iran has repeatedly threatened to respond to any future Israeli attack, as the regime has attempted to rebuild its decimated air defenses and expand its military capabilities.
Last week, Tehran conducted a major naval exercise in the Persian Gulf, carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and featuring ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones, as part of an effort to deter foreign threats.
Iranian state media reported that missiles struck mock targets in the Gulf of Oman with “high accuracy” and drones hit simulated enemy bases, while three air defense systems were deployed during the exercise under electronic warfare conditions.
“Utilizing artificial intelligence, these systems were able to identify flight and maritime targets in a fraction of the time and hit them with high accuracy,” according to Iranian media reports.
The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Navy, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, also said that a new missile was tested during the drills, reportedly capable of reaching beyond the length of the Persian Gulf, though he did not provide specific details.
“The Persian Gulf is 1,375 kilometers long – this missile’s range is beyond that,” he told Press TV.
Built domestically, the missile can be “guided after launch” and has demonstrated “very high precision,” Tangsiri said.
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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict a Low Priority for Young Americans, Despite Rising Anti-Israel Views, Poll Shows
People take part in “Shut it down for Palestine!” protest outside of Tyson’s Corner as shoppers participate in Black Friday in Vienna, Virginia, US, Nov. 24, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
The Israeli–Palestinian issue barely registers as a meaningful priority when young American voters decide how to cast their ballots, despite anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment rising sharply among this voting bloc, according to a new national survey.
The findings of the Yale Youth Poll, an undergraduate-led research project at Yale University, highlight a widening generational divide. According to the poll, which surveyed a roughly equal number of voters aged 18-34 and their older fellow Americans, younger respondents indicated they were far more likely to embrace narratives portraying Zionism as racist, to reject Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, and to support reducing or ending US military assistance to Israel.
A sizable share of voters 18–22 endorsed statements long used to measure antisemitic bias, including questioning Jewish-American loyalty to their home country (30 percent), supporting boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses as a form of political protest (21 percent), and agreeing that Jews have “too much power” in the US (27 percent). Among the youngest group, only a slim majority rejected all antisemitic statements measured.
The survey also shows a deep lack of clarity among young Americans about what constitutes antisemitism. Many respondents indicated they were unsure whether charged slogans such as “globalize the intifada” were antisemitic, and nearly half of the national sample said that calling the situation in Gaza a “genocide” was not antisemitic.
Younger voters were considerably more likely to choose definitions of Zionism that frame Israel as an oppressive or colonial project, rather than as the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancient homeland. A striking 27 percent of those aged 18-22 said they believe Israel has a right to exist “but not as a Jewish state.” Just 24 percent of this age bracket believe that Israel should remain a Jewish state, according to the data. A plurality, 34 percent, said they are “not sure” what Israel’s political and cultural identity should reflect.
A large portion of young voters seem to be unaware of the definition of Zionism. Many of these Americans, according to the poll, perceive Zionism as an effort to dispossess Palestinians of their land and human rights. Among respondents aged 18-22 and 23-29, 27 percent and 25 percent, respectively, indicated they are “not familiar” with the term Zionism. Another 27 percent and 30 percent of voters aged 18-22 and 23-29, respectively, believe that Zionism is “a movement for self-determination
and statehood for the Jewish people.” A striking 36 percent of respondents aged 18-22 described Zionism as “establishing and maintaining a Jewish demographic majority in Palestine by driving out the native Palestinian population.” Similarly, 35 percent of those aged 23-29 responded with the same belief.
Yet at the same time, the poll reveals that Israel simply does not factor prominently into the political priorities of these same voters. When asked which issues would influence their vote, young Americans overwhelmingly named domestic concerns: cost of living, housing, democracy, jobs, and free speech. Foreign policy, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, fell near the bottom of the list, far behind economic pressures shaping daily life. Only 25 percent of voters indicated the issue was important, ranking below Russia and Ukraine (33 percent).
This disconnect appears to show anti-Israel attitudes and antisemitic beliefs are normalizing among the youngest slice of the electorate, but without clear political salience. The danger, according to some experts, is that these views may spread unchallenged because they sit unexamined in a political landscape consumed by economic anxiety.
The poll, conducted from Oct. 29 to Nov. 11, sampled 3,426 registered voters, including 1,706 voters aged 18-34.
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Tensions Escalate as Lebanon Faces Year-End Deadline to Disarm Hezbollah Amid Israeli Airstrikes, Iranian Influence
A civil defense member stands on rubble at a damaged site after Israel’s military said it struck targets in two southern Lebanese towns in Jbaa, southern Lebanon, Dec. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ali Hankir
As Israel steps up pressure on the Lebanese government ahead of a deadline to disarm the terrorist group Hezbollah, Lebanese officials fear an imminent Israeli operation that could push the country toward a renewed conflict with the Jewish state.
On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a wave of airstrikes in southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah sites, including a training facility, marking the second round of strikes on the Iran-backed terrorist group in a week following continued ceasefire violations.
Amid this week’s attacks, Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raji said government officials are intensifying diplomatic efforts with Israel to prevent a larger conflict, reaffirming Beirut’s commitment to the ceasefire agreement with Jerusalem.
“We have received warnings from Arab and international sources that Israel is planning a large-scale military operation in Lebanon,” Raji told Al Jazeera in an interview.
The IDF has drawn up plans in recent weeks for a large-scale strike on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon should the government fail to disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group before the year-end deadline, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan News reported.
Meanwhile, Israel has reportedly informed the United States that if Hezbollah is not fully disarmed, the Jewish state will take action on its own, warning of potentially severe consequences for the terrorist group.
In the Al Jazeera interview, the top Lebanese diplomat said that all government efforts to negotiate the group’s disarmament have been repeatedly rejected, blaming Iran for its role in empowering the Shi’ite Islamist organization.
Tehran has long provided funding and support for the Lebanese terror group, which has been the Iranian regime’s chief proxy force in the Middle East.
“The role Iran plays in Lebanon specifically, and in the region more broadly, is extremely harmful,” Raji said, adding that Tehran’s policies are a major driver of regional instability.
He also emphasized that the Lebanese government is willing to engage in dialogue with Iran only if it stops funding “an illegal organization” in the country — referring to Hezbollah — and stops interfering in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
As Lebanon stands on the brink of a major new conflict, the government is intensifying efforts to meet the ceasefire deadline to disarm the Iran-backed terrorist group, while trying to avoid plunging the nation into a civil war.
Earlier this year, the Alma Research and Education Center, which focuses on Israel’s security challenges along its northern border, released a new study revealing that Hezbollah, with Iranian backing, has been actively rebuilding its military capabilities, in clear breach of the ceasefire agreement with Israel brokered in the fall of 2024.
According to the report, Hezbollah, with support and sponsorship from the Islamist regime in Tehran, is intensifying efforts to rehabilitate its military capabilities, including the production and repair of weapons, arms and cash smuggling, recruitment and training, and the use of civilian infrastructure as a base and cover for its operations.
In recent weeks, Israel has conducted strikes targeting the group’s network, particularly south of the Litani River, where Hezbollah operatives have historically been most active against the Jewish state.
For years, Israel has demanded that Hezbollah be barred from carrying out activities south of the Litani, located roughly 15 miles from the Israeli border.
The Lebanese government is now facing mounting pressure from Israeli and US officials to disarm Hezbollah and establish a state monopoly on weapons.
As the Lebanese government works to meet a year-end deadline to disarm the terrorist group, the army has been carefully dismantling Hezbollah arms caches nationwide, seeking to avoid inflaming tensions among the group’s Shi’ite base while giving officials more time to reach an agreement on the group’s weapons elsewhere in the country.
Earlier this year, Lebanese officials agreed to a US-backed disarmament plan, which called for Hezbollah to be fully disarmed by the end of the year in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from the five occupied positions in the country’s southern region.
Even though the Lebanese government agreed to a five-stage plan aimed at restoring authority and limiting the influence of the Iran-backed terrorist group, Hezbollah has pushed back against any government efforts, even threatening protests and civil unrest if the government tries to enforce control over its weapons.
Dynamics in Lebanon changed last fall, when Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive, following the group’s rocket and drone attacks on northern Israeli communities — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
In November 2024, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.
Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure, including rocket launchers — calling such activity “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
Both Hezbollah and Iran’s influence across Lebanon plummeted in the wake of Israeli’s devastating military campaign last year.