The Weekly Schmooze: Fiddler on the Lego Roof

JPost column on hottest Jewish news: Goldblum to play 'Glee' gay dad; Bloomberg, Koch team up in funny video.

By LAHAV HARKOV
weekly schmooze 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
weekly schmooze 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
A Fiddler on the Roof. Sounds crazy, no? Sounds even crazier when a Lego piece says it! Someone named Terrence Donnelly decided to put recreate the opening scene of the film, using the Broadway soundtrack featuring Zero Mostel and tiny yellow plastic men.
Perhaps even crazier, a currently popular television series is drawing comparisons to the story of the shtetl Anatevka. Downton Abbey, a UK show about a titled family in the late Edwardian era has quite a few things in common with Fiddler on the Roof, Tablet Magazine explained this week. For example, both Tevye the Milkman and Lord Grantham raise three daughters of marriageable age who seek to break with societal norms and wed for love.
Economist Ben Stein, who is perhaps best known for his iconic role in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, is currently suing Kyocera Corp., which backed out of an agreement for him to star in commercials for its printers, for religious discrimination. The electronics company fired Stein because his denial of global warming is not “sufficiently conventional and politically correct.” However, Stein says that “it is a matter of his religious beliefs that God and not man controlled the weather.”
In news you’ll wish you didn’t hear: Tila Tequila is converting to Judaism. The woman who once had the most friends ever on MySpace because of the myriad risqué photos she posted, and then starred in a reality TV show in which she decided whether to date men or women, has decided to join the tribe. However, those of us living in Israel can breathe easy, as the rabbinate here won’t consider her a Yid: Tequila said that “Orthodox is a bit hardcore for me at the moment.” And making a sex tape isn’t?
In Glee news, fans will soon meet the two gay fathers of Streisand-wannabe character Rachel Berry. Berry, who identifies as Jewish on the show, is portrayed by Lea Michele, who also identifies as Jewish, though her mother is not. Michele’s character has a black father, played by Broadway star Brian Stokes Mitchell, and a Jewish father, to be portrayed by The Fly himself, Jeff Goldblum.
Lea Michele is just one celebrity on a long list of well-known figures on US President Barack Obama’s campaign “wish list.” The US president’s staff came up with dozens of celebrity names, including quite a few Jewish ones, such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler, Mila Kunis and Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.
Meanwhile, in New York, Mayor Mike Bloomberg made a bizarre and seemingly pointless, yet hilarious video, featuring former mayor Ed Koch and his famous catchphrase: “How am I doing?” The clip is completely inexplicable. Sure, a few of Bloomberg’s well-known policies, like bike lanes in New York City’s streets, are highlighted, and there’s a reference to the mayor’s New Year’s Eve smooch with Lady Gaga, but there seems to be no rhyme or reason behind it. At least it’s funny!
The Weekly Schmooze collects the hottest Jewish culture news from around the world. Ranging from celebrities to philanthropy to quirky communities, we're here to schmooze about Jews. If you have any news to share with The Weekly Schmooze, write to:weeklyschmooze@gmail.com