Running with Scissors is the tenth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 29, 1999. It was the fourth studio album self-produced by Yankovic. It was the first album for Volcano Records after leaving Scotti Brothers. The musical styles on the album are built around parodies and pastiches of pop and rock music of the late 1990s, largely targeting alternative rock and hip-hop. The album's lead single, "The Saga Begins", however, was a parody of the 1971 single "American Pie" by Don McLean, and it recounts the plot of the film Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which was released around the same time. None of the album's singles charted domestically, although "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" charted at number 67 in Australia.
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is a Jewish seminary with several locations in the United States and one location in Jerusalem. It is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, Ohio, New York City, Los Angeles, California and Jerusalem. The Jerusalem campus is the only seminary in Israel for training Reform Jewish clergy.
Shlomo Carlebach, known as Reb Shlomo to his followers, was a singer, rabbi, and spiritual leader.
Avraham Shabsi Hakohen Friedman better known by his stage name, Avraham Fried, is a popular musical entertainer in the Orthodox Jewish community.
Yaakov Shwekey is an Orthodox Jewish recording artist and musical entertainer. He is of Egyptian and Syrian Sephardic heritage from his father's side; and Ashkenazi from his mother's side.
Yossi (Joseph) Toiv, known professionally as Country Yossi, is an American Orthodox Jewish composer, singer, radio show host, author, and magazine publisher. A pioneering composer and singer in the Jewish music genre, Toiv has to his credit three albums as a member of the group Or Chodosh circa 1971–73, seven albums under the name Country Yossi and the Shteeble Hoppers, and a series of six albums for children called Kivi and Tuki. He also released "Country Yossi's Classic Calls" a humorous collection of actual on-air phone calls to his radio show. He has also released two animated Kivi and Tuki DVDs.
!Hero is an album featuring the songs from the rock opera, !Hero. It is based on the question, "What if Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania?" The rock opera modernizes Jesus' last two years on earth and features a cast of many well-known Christian rock artists with Michael Tait, Rebecca St. James, and Mark Stuart as the three main characters: Hero (Jesus), Maggie, and Petrov (Peter).
Matthew Paul Miller, known by his Hebrew and stage name Matisyahu, is an American Jewish reggae singer, rapper, beatboxer, and alternative rock musician.
Rabbi Shergill is an Indian musician well known for his debut album Rabbi and the chart-topper song of 2005, Bullah Ki Jaana . His music has been described variously as rock, Punjabi, with a bani style melody, and Sufi-style (sufiana), and "semi-Sufi semi-folksy kind of music with a lot of Western arrangements." Shergill has been called "Punjabi music's true urban balladeer".
Baruch Chait is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, musician and composer. He is also the Rosh Yeshiva of the Israeli high school Maarava Machon Rubin. He is the son of Rabbi Moshe Chait, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivath Chafetz Chaim of Jerusalem, and a student of Rabbi Henoch Leibowitz, former Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim of Kew Gardens Hills, New York.
The Miami Boys Choir (MBC) is a contemporary Jewish religious music boys choir.
"Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of "Pretty Fly " by The Offspring, and it was released from the 1999 album Running with Scissors. The song was released as a single exclusively in Australia. Tress MacNeille performs the line "How ya doin' Bernie?", and appears in the music video. Voice Actress Mary Kay Bergman also contributes with the, "For a rabbi!" line near the middle of the song.
Mike Hanopol is a Filipino rock singer, guitarist, recording artist and Jewish Rabbi. He was a former bass guitarist for the Juan de la Cruz Band. He is a pioneer of rock music in the Philippines active in the 1970s, along with Pepe Smith and Wally Gonzales.
Reva L'Sheva was an Israeli Jewish rock band formed in 1994 by lead singer Yehudah Katz.
Moshe Aaron Yess was an Orthodox Jewish musician, composer and entertainer from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A member of the Chabad community in Montreal, Yess was a regular performer at Chabad House events and shows, together with general music festivals and the annual A Time for Music concert.
Baruch Levine is a Canadian-born American Orthodox Jewish composer and singer whose songs have become popular and classic throughout the Orthodox Jewish world. His slow, soulful, heartfelt tunes have gained wide popularity at Shabbat tables and kumzits gatherings. One of his most successful compositions is "Vezakeini", derived from the ancient prayer recited at Shabbat candle lighting.
Benzion Hakohen "Benny" Friedman is an American Hasidic Jewish singer. Professionally trained in voice, he rose to prominence on the contemporary Jewish religious music scene with his first album in 2009. His biggest hit to date is the song "ivri anochi", which has been covered by numerous Jewish musical artists. Singing mainly in Hebrew, Friedman tours extensively and also appears in music videos. He views his music as a shlichus (outreach) tool, with the goal of drawing Jews closer to Judaism.
Diaspora Yeshiva Band was an Israeli Orthodox Jewish rock band founded at the Diaspora Yeshiva on Mount Zion, Jerusalem, by baal teshuva students from the United States. In existence from 1975 to 1983, the band infused rock and bluegrass music with Jewish lyrics, creating a style of music it called "Hasidic rock" or "Country and Eastern". The band was very popular on college campuses in the early to mid-1980s, and was well known in Jerusalem for its Saturday-night concerts at David's Tomb. It had a considerable influence on contemporary Jewish religious music, inspiring later bands such as Blue Fringe, 8th Day, Reva L'Sheva, Soulfarm, the Moshav Band, and Shlock Rock. Fifteen years after it disbanded, band leader Avraham Rosenblum revived the band under the name Avraham Rosenblum & Diaspora and produced several more albums.
Ari Goldwag is an American-born Orthodox Jewish singer, songwriter, composer, and producer of contemporary Jewish religious music, as well as a rabbi living in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel. He was a soloist for the Miami Boys Choir at age 10 and starred on five albums and three videos before his voice changed at age 14. He launched a music career after his marriage and move to Israel. He has released five solo albums, and composes songs and produces albums for other artists.
