Rob Dobrusin
20 Aug
Beshert, Latest

Beshert | Roadside Assistance

It happened shortly after 8 on a summer Sunday morning. I was driving on a rural section of Interstate 75 in Northern Michigan on my way to Mackinac Island to officiate at a wedding. I had left home at 5 a.m. for the four-and-a-half-hour trip, allowing extra time so that I wouldn’t feel so rushed to make my 12:30 p.m. ferry reservation. The extra time was especially important as this was my first lengthy drive since recovering from a rather significant surgery six weeks before.  The drive started out perfectly. I was singing along with the radio, thinking about the d’var Torah I had written for the wedding when I suddenly heard a noise. It concerned me but I put it out of my mind quickly. Then, a few minutes later, the car started bumping fiercely...

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23 Sep
Arts & Culture, Latest

Steve Urkel Stands Under the Chuppah in "Road to the Altar"

By Sarah Breger The fall TV season has started, but there is one summer show you should make sure to catch up on (and with four minute long episodes that shouldn't be too hard). Road to the Altar, a Web-only TV series, stars Jaleel White of Urkel fame and Leyna Juliet Weber as White’s fiancée, Rochelle Shapiro. The series tells the story of the couple planning their nuptials, with each episode featuring one item on the wedding to-do list (the caterer, the flowers, the band etc). Rochelle (like Weber who is also the show's co-writer) is Jewish, and tribal references abound throughout the show. The best is when Rochelle’s ultra-Orthodox cousin, Ruchel Leah, flies in from Brooklyn for a bridesmaid dress fitting. Ruchel's Borough Park-style outfit covers her legs, arms and neck, confusing White's character Simon...

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03 Sep
Arts & Culture, Latest, Misc

You know something has jumped the shark when the Jews start doing it

by Sarah Breger So now Jews have jumped on the "dancing down the aisle" meme. In an homage to the overplayed, yet undeniably adorable, Chris Brown "Forever" wedding dance intro, some Orthodox Jews have jumped on the bandwagon and created a dance sequence of their own. Set to the Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling,” (listen closely and you'll hear the Peas say "mazel tov" and "l'chayim") the dance to the chuppah has the groomsmen getting down with moves similar to the ones from the original video. Unfortunately we Jews are not known for our hip-hop skills, and the white blazers are less Kanye and more Canasta. The saving graces of the dance are the confused looks of the grandparents (I survived the Holocaust for this?) and the little kid with the Jew Fro. He saves the whole thing....

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