PunkTorah Fridays at ModernTribe

Happy Hanukkah from PunkTorah! Here we have three great videos to kick off the holidays. First, this week's d'var Torah by PunkTorah web designer Michael. Second, a video with both of us on candle lighting. And finally, a musical treat by our friends Girls In Trouble.

Shabbat Shalom!

Parshat Vayeishev


Hanukkah Candle Lighting How-To


Girls In Trouble - I Was A Desert (Live in Atlanta at The Highland Ballroom)

ModernTribe: PunkTorah Friday!

Hey, this is Patrick. In addition to working with ModernTribe.com and singing in the Jewish punk rock band Can!!Can, I do PunkTorah, a website and activism project I founded last April. PunkTorah strives to provide meaningful Jewish spiritual connections to progressive people. The project includes weekly videos, outreach events, public speaking and blogging on several Jewish websites.

ModernTribe is a great supporter of PunkTorah (you can buy PunkTorah shirts on the website) and is letting PunkTorah take over the blog every Friday. Each week I'm looking forward to sharing with you the best of PunkTorah. For more PunkTorah visit PunkTorah.com. Shabbat Shalom and have a wonderful weekend!

Here is a short video about PunkTorah:



Parshat Bereishit (Shot Inside My Kitchen):



Sukkot Party Home Movie:

What's New On ModernTribe

If you are a fan of Twitter (like us), then you know that today is #MusicMonday, where Twitterers "tweet" their favorite artists, songs and albums.

We're taking this to the "next level" by showing you our favorite new Cool Jew Music Merchandise on ModernTribe.com.



The Ghettoblaster Bag by Parcel/Loop NYC is a great gift for anyone who likes the retro-hip hop style of DJ Jazzy Jeff, Afrika Bambaataa and Run DMC.

We first learned about this bag when Shopkeeper Jennie's niece came to visit. Jennie fell in love with the bag and just had to find it for you!

The bag has real working speakers for your ipod or mp3 player. Just plug & play, the wires and speakers are built right in!

Our fearless Personal Shopper Patrick Aleph (who happens to be a musician as well) thinks this makes an awesome alternative to a back pack, especially for grad students.

We also think it makes a cool alternative baby bag for hip parents (especially dads) that want their baby fashion to be...well...edgy!

Now here's a few Cool Jews that are changing the way the world sees (and hears!) Jewish music. First we have Matisyahu, with his new album Light. Matisyahu breaks the mold by effortlessly blending deep dance, reggae, electronica, and even acoustic folk into this album that showcases his brilliance.

We're proud to call Y-Love a personal friend. Y-Love's album This Is Babylon is an epic journey into the heart of a Modern Orthodox, biracial rap sensation, who brings together English, Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin into global hip hop. With themes of unity, spiritual journeys, and prophetic visions of the future, Y-Love is truly a hip hop revolutionary.

Consider the soul-moving sounds of Girls In Trouble, fronted by Alicia Jo Rabins of the klezmer rock band Golem. Girls In Trouble asks the question, "what would happen if the girls of the Bible started an indie rock band"? What you get is a marriage of classical instrumental training and folk-punk sensitivity through the filter of Jewish literature, mysticism and history. It will take your breath away.

As seen in Time Out New York, the Mix Tape USB Stick is one of our best selling products. These 64MB USB memory sticks will store up to one hour of digital music -- the same amount as you used to get on and old school C60 cassette tape.

What's new is our ongoing list of New Jewish Loves Songs. If you have a favorite, email ModernTribe today!

Follow us today on Twitter: @ModernTribe_Jew (Shopkeeper Jennie), @TexasDreidel (No Limit Texas Dreidel)

Israeli Electronica - Onili - Games

The first paragraph of today's JDub newsletter had a couple of words that intrigued me: "remix" and "chanteuse" and a link to Onili's single Games from her upcoming album First Kiss. I have a thing for electronica and super thing for female electronica... and Israeli female electronica? You can imagine. I've been searching for it for months! And check out this cute album cover of Onili with a shotgun - it's so Israeli fem-punk, love it!


You can hear her music at her website: www.onili.com

You can buy her single Games at CDBaby who describes Onili's music as:

"Girly Electro-PoP with rock energy played by a live band." and goes on to tell us:

Both French and Israeli, Onili is a mix of two cultures sharing her time between her little Israeli mountain where she runs her studio and Paris where she grew up...Onili's lyrics are stories of her life through her emotions of love, anger, frustration, conclusions and understandings, with humor and passion.

I can't wait to hear more from and about Onili.