BOOK SIGNING TOMORROW!

And tomorrow, Saturday, December 6 from 1:00 - 3:00 P.M., I will be signing Jew-Jitsu: The Hebrew Hands of Fury at Just Books in Old Greenwich, Connecticut (click on the image above for the address or website and phone number for travel information).

Everyone's invited to come on by and say...and buy the book.

Chanukah's coming and it makes a great yarmukle stuffer!

The New York Times of Jew

Oy, I'm kvelling! A Google Alert for Jew-Jitsu: Hebrew Hands of Fury just pinged in and I clicked without even looking at where it linked. Where it linked was The Jewish Daily Forward, the New York Times of Jew, baby! They review it in a piece entitled "Being a Profound Critical Analysis of Contemporary Jewish Comedic Literature; Imbricated Theory and Praxis" by Jonathan Kesselman, screenwriter and director of "The Hebrew Hammer" and a Yale University professor yet! I sent the arts editor a press release and the book several weeks back, which resulted in a very nice piece that ran in several local area papers and a seven-minute interview that ran on the New England Cox Radio stations weekend business show. If I could figure out how to do it, I'd post the mp3 of the interview.

The review was more about reviewing these four Jewish humor books than it was actual reviews of the four humor books, but that it's a funny piece and what he does say about Jew-Jitsu is great:

"Next we have Jew-Jitsu. This book ironically juxtaposes Orthodox Jewry and an ancient martial art. It has pictures (a plus!) and humorous Jew-Jitsu 'moves,' such as 'Advancing Through the Buffet.' It was also co-written by a rabbi, so I refuse to say anything negative about the book for fear of pissing off God, if He does in fact exist. My suggestion? Buy this book, or you will be smote."

I'm plotzing. This is, seriously, great exposure.

This Just Announced:

If you're in the area, I sure hope you'll drop by!

It's Another Capes, Cowls & Costumes Friday

...Now it's a CC&C Saturday. Sorry for the sparse postings this week but things have been hectic and strange the last few days. Nothing bad or even particularly interesting, just unusually busy and frequently distracted because, as a writer, I only get to spend about 20% of my time writing. The other 80% is spent looking for stuff to write.

Be that as it may, head on over to Bookgasm.com and check out this week's Capes, Cowls & Costumes offering on novels based on newspaper comic strip characters.

Bookgasm was also kind words to say about Jew-Jitsu: the Hebrew Hands of Fury. Thanks, Bruce! The check is in the mail.

Jew-Jitsu is in the News!

Well, actually it's in the Stamford, Connecticut Times (and its local sister/associate papers here in Lower Fairfield County, such as the Wilton Villager) in a nice feature article, "The Art of Jew-Jitsu". Yes, it's a local giveaway paper, but they gave me great play: a promo blurb & picture over the logo on the front page, and almost the entire top half of the first page of the Arts & Life section and a picture:

Photo/Alex von Kleydorff. Paul Kupperberg with Felix the Cat,
a gift from a friend, in his Stamford studio.

THE ART OF 'JEW-JITSU'
By Chase Wright

© 2008 The Hour Publishing Co.

STAMFORD -- Paul Kupperberg has an obsession with absurd humor.

As a child, he read nearly every edition of Mad Magazine, collected Jerry Lewis memorabilia (he has a scotch tape dispenser with Lewis' smiling face on it) and still points to the best-selling humor book by Jack Douglas, "My Brother was an Only Child," as the source of his inspiration.

Now, the former satirical writer of such defunct prints as Weekly World News and Marvel Comics' Crazy Magazine has taken his obsession with absurdity to a new, more controversial level.

Kupperberg's new book "Jew-Jitsu: The Hebrew Hands of Fury" pokes fun at a people persecuted for over 2,000 years.

"Nothing is sacred," said the Stamford resident, who is Jewish.

The fictional humor book, co-authored by the fictitious Rabbi Daniel Eliezer, disguises itself as an illustrated instruction manual designed to help anyone, Jew or gentile, master an arsenal of both deadly and friendly self-defense techniques.

No longer will Jewish kids fear walking to temple, the book states. Jew-Jitsu teaches students "du oifn fun der mensch," or the way of the righteous man.

This step-by-step guide takes readers first through the "Eighteen Forms" of meditation (18 being a lucky number in Judaism) to mastering complex martial arts moves such as "Receiving the Torah," "Throwing of the Star of David" and "The Deadly Punch in the Kishkes."

Bet you didn't know that the same motion you use to break a loaf of challah could knock a man unconscious, did you?

For those who would rather work out their differences than stab an opponent with the three prongs of the menorah, there's a guide to non-violent fighting techniques as well.

Confuse your opponent by continually muttering such phrases as Oy gevalt! or Och un vai!, the book recommends. Or settle the dispute over a nice hot meal using the technique "Sit, Sit, Eat, Eat!" This move is particularly effective, says Eliezer, because, as it is said, "Brisket hath charms to soothe the savage beast."

Jew-Jitsu, developed by Rabbi Chiam Mangawicz, has its origins in mid-19th century Japan, according to the fictional book. In exchange for circumcisions and Judaism, the Japanese introduced Mangawicz to their language and the ancient and venerable art of Jujitsu.

With the addition of the Torah, Mangawicz created Jew-Jitsu, a combination of the Jewish faith and Jujitsu that come together as one.

"As the mama will gently sidestep objection with the gentle application of guilt, so does the student of Jew-Jitsu move his opponent with subtle leverage," wrote Mangawicz.

The book itself has no direct references to the sworn enemy of the Jewish faith, the Nazi, but Kupperberg says the obvious is implied.

"When you do Jews being picked on, you have to include Nazis," he said.

But don't go planning your revenge on the Egyptians, the Cossacks or the Bolsheviks just yet, Kupperberg warns.

"The book is merely for entertainment purposes," he says. "It's total farce. The only thing these moves will do is get you killed."

The Springdale resident is a comedic expert, but he doesn't expect everyone to understand his sense of humor.

"It wasn't my intention to insult anyone," said Kupperberg. "There's no hidden message. All I want from the reader is for them to sit back and laugh like an idiot."

Sitting in the basement of his Tree Lane home, surrounded by thousands of DC Comics, many of which he's had a hand in writing, Kupperberg reveals the secret to comedy.

"The secret to humor," he says, leaning back. "Is introducing an element of reality that people can relate to, and from there you branch off into crazy."

It's precisely what he's done with his latest book. He introduces stereotypes and symbols both Jews and non-Jews are well aware of and takes them to a ridiculous extreme.

"It's all in good fun," says Kupperberg. Plus, with a full Yiddish glossary included, you might actually learn something.

Published by Citadel Press, a notorious publisher of Jewish humor books, "Jew-Jitsu: The Hebrew Hands of Fury" is on sale in bookstores now for a price of $12.95.

L'chaim.

Enough Already with the Jew-Jitsu Cover!

How about something from the inside, where it really counts?

Sit, read, enjoy. As always, click on an image to view it in a readable size. And, please, buy the book. There's 108 more pages just like these.

JEW-JITSU: THE HEBREW HANDS OF FURY

Jew-Jitsu © Paul Kupperberg
Photography © Michael Simses

Jew-Jitsu Sighting!

Jew-Jitsu: The Hebrew Hands of Fury is on the shelves! I walked into my local Borders this morning and there it was, a generous stack of them (face-out!) in the 'New Arrivals' section by the entrance!

Needless to say, I'm excited.

Check your local bookstores...let me know if you see the book and where!

Christmas in September!

I returned home last night after a quick jaunt into New York City to find a big box waiting for me from Kensington Books. Contained therein, my comp copies of Jew-Jitsu: The Hebrew Hands of Fury, which officially goes on sale October 28!

Since it ain't really a book until you're holding the printed product in your hand, this is all very exciting. The finished book looks great, complete with photography by my old Weekly World News colleague Michael Simses (and starring another WWN alum, Michael Rovin as Rabbi Daniel Eliezer).

Hats off to the fine folks at Kensington Books, especially my editor Gary Goldstein, without whom this all wouldn't have been possible.

If it's Sunday...

Over on the Friends of Will and Gerry blog, friends Will Jacobs and Gerry Jones have opened their space to fellow writers to post bits and pieces of their writing. This week, they are kind enough to put up, in addition to the quite funny Grapes of Wrath: The Maunderings of Percival Peregrine Oatenshaw by Chris Wright, an excerpt from my upcoming book Jew-Jitsu: The Hebrew Hands of Fury (Citadel, October 2008)...a different piece, I might add, than the one I ran here last week. And there is, of course, always Gerry and Will's own excellent work to be found there as well. Thanks, guys!

Jew-Jitsu: The Hebrew Hands of Fury

A little something from JEW-JITSU: THE HEBREW HANDS OF FURY by Rabbi Daniel Eliezer and Paul Kupperberg, photographs by Robert Simses.

Coming from Citadel Books (November 2008). Feel free to pre-order your copy today on Amazon.com (Order here). Really, I wouldn't mind!

JEW-JITSU: THE HEBREW HANDS OF FURY

Introduction
Du oifn fun der mensch

© 2008 Paul Kupperberg

Rabbi Sausalito Ben Venuto of Sicily was once asked by a student, “Rabbi, why is it that the wisest of men, when asked a question of Torah, always pauses before he speaks?”

The Rabbi paused, narrowing his eyes and studied the inquisitive young scholar. He began to stroke his long, gray beard, nodding slowly in deep thought.

“As it is written,” said the Rabbi at long last, “the Talmud is so vast, so complex, even the wisest of the wise must naturally reflect before divining the single right answer he seeks from its multitude of layers and infinity of complexities.”

“Ah, and where exactly is this written?” replied the excited student, his quill poised at the ready to make note of the source of this rabbinical wisdom.

Rabbi Ben Venuto paused once again, then at last replied, “Let me get back to you on that.”

What does this have to do with the practice of Jew-jitsu, du oifn fun der mensch, or the “way of the righteous man,” the sacred Jewish art of self defense? Absolutely nothing, but since when is it such a bad thing to discuss a little Torah?

And, come to think of it, danger can be like the story of Rabbi Venuto. Often, it has nothing to do with anything else, coming upon us as a sudden and unwanted digression in the unfolding saga of our lives. One moment, we are discussing Torah, the next, we are engaged in mortal combat with some bulvan.

Thus, like the Talmudic scholar in whose mind rests the answers to almost six thousand years of accumulated Jewish learning, the student of Jew-jitsu must always be at the ready to answer danger with swift and decisive action. A klapn to the kop, a zetz to the kiskas, listen, a person shouldn’t be allowed to defend himself?

* * *

So what’s it all about, this Jew-jitsu?

I’ll tell you what it’s not about! Yes, there is a lot of hitting and kicking and geschreing, but that is only a byproduct of the discipline, the training of the mind and the body to become as one, to be as aware of your immediate environment as David was with Bathsheba.

It’s also not about a nice white set of rabbinical Jew-jitsu robes, or the color of your tzitzis as you progress through the ranks, or the bowing and the formality, ‘Oh, rabbi, thank you for your wisdom,’ ‘Oh, rabbi, thank you, rabbi, I shall treasure that forward hip throw for all the days of my life, rabbi,’ or any of that meshagass. No!

Jew-jitsu is about the chai (no, not like the tea, this one’s pronounced k’hí ... no, deeper, back in your throat, with that Khhuhk, Khhuhk sound. No? Okay, listen, you’ll practice later on your own, bubbee.)

Chai, in Hebrew, is spelled with the letters het and yod and means “living.” It’s part of the same word family as l’chaim, the Yiddish toast meaning “to life.” And because het and yod add up to the number eighteen in Kabbalistic interpretations of Hebrew, eighteen is a lucky number to Jews.

And that is why we follow the Eighteen Forms. Because eighteen means life and life means luck and luck, as it has been said by Rabbi Tony Faro of Las Vegas, favors the prepared son of Yisroel. Thus are those who accept the way of chai and follow the path of the Jew-jitsu macher walking the walk of life, of health, of happiness, and, go figure, maybe even a bissel knowledge.

* * *

Is that it? Is that what Jew-jitsu is really about?

Yes! It’s all about you! What more could you ask from a faith-based martial art?

But it’s also about the guy next to you, and your wife, and his wife, and your cousins, even that shnorrer brother-in-law of yours, and everyone else. Once you step into a chaider to study Jew-jitsu, you want to think about yourself, who’s going to stop you? Who else are you to think about? You’re in training! Of course you’re going to focus on yourself, so stop being so neurotic already.

People often ask me, “Rabbi Eliezer, do you have to be Jewish to practice Jew-jitsu?”

I tell them not to be such goyishe kops! Of course not! You don’t even need to belong to a Reformed temple. Jew-jitsu is for any righteous individual who seeks to right a wrong or prevent harm coming to himself or another human being. Or his property. And the property of the immediate family, some mamza comes along wants to start a ruckus, you’ll give him what for.

Jew or gentile, this book will start you on the road to enlightenment. But before you turn the page and embark on that long and arduous journey, please take a moment to pause and remember that which was written by Rabbi Zalman Lipton of London, “Sit, sit, have a nice glass tea, relax first, tell me how’s by the family, then we’ll get down to cases.”

Rabbi Daniel Eliezer
Jew-jitsu macher, 10th degree tallis with black tzitzis
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, N.Y.
3 Cheshvan 5768 (October 15, 2007)