Simcha Weinstein has done it again. The hippest, coolest Hasidic rabbi in the city — he has his own Web site, even! — has come out with another book about pop culture.
“Shtick Shift: Jewish Humor in the 21st Century” follows Weinstein’s definitive work, “Up, up and Oy Vey! How Jewish History, Culture and Values Shaped the Comic Book Superhero,” which is best remembered for proving that Superman was Jewish.
Now he’s focussing on the changing face of Jewish comedy. Weinstein, a spiritual leader at Pratt Institute and at Congregation B’nai Avraham in Brooklyn Heights, believes that Jewish comics are no longer ashamed to be … Jewish comics.
“Jewish comedians were always ‘Jew-ish,” he said. “Think of Woody Allen, always being embarrassed about his Jewishness. “But now, comics like Jon Stewart or the guys with the big Jew-fros in Judd Apatow movies wear their Jewishness proudly.”
None more proudly than Sarah Silverman, who actually wears a T-shirt that says “Jew” on it.
“Face it, our shtick has changed,” Weinstein said, seque-ing back to the title of his book better than a Borscht Belt comic. “There has been a ‘shtick shift,’ you might say.”
Simcha Weinstein will read on Nov. 19 at 7 pm at Barnes and Noble [267 Seventh Ave., at Sixth Street in Park Slope, (718) 832-9066].
