Full Disclosure: Elizabeth Ahlfors has been a theater critic for TotalTheater.com since 2010. David Lefkowitz publishes TotalTheater.com and therefore edits Ms. Ahlfors' reviews for publication.
How does one describe Shalom Dammit! An Evening with Rabbi Sol Solomon? A comedy, a passionate sermon, a witty diatribe, a musical? Actually it’s all of the above in full-volume yelling.
And who is Rabbi Sol Solomon? Is he a real Rabbi, the spiritual leader of Temple Sons of Bitches in Great Neck, New York? Surely, even in Long Island, there can’t be such a temple, especially one like this, sharing its shul with a gas station. However, could it be that the Rabbi is actually the director/star, Dave Lefkowitz himself? Could it be he’s just a character that Dave made up, or maybe he’s an alter ego? Oy! Enough already. Jew or gentile, this over-the-top, Jerry Lewis gone wild, wacky spiritualist with a salty tongue, is taking the stage at the Richmond Sheppard Theater, and the best thing is not to think too deeply about who is who and what is what. Sit back and enjoy because Shalom Dammit!, with its ebullient, angry (because why shouldn’t he be?), opinionated, outspoken, supremely self-confident leader, is hilarious. Actually, he’s hilarious only until he veers off into something that makes him furious, like Jews for Jesus (an oxymoron, he points out), the Middle East, and all religions. In other words, you laugh until suddenly you don’t. But wait a few minutes and you’ll laugh again.
The Rabbi brings you along on his personal roller coaster of bizarre viewpoints, or what he calls, “Rabbinical Reflections.” He calls himself a learned scholar and sexual dynamo, with a devoted wife, Miriam Libby and 21 ½ children. What he attempts in Shalom Dammit! is to discuss, with unabashed bias in his singular maniacal way, what it means to be Jew in modern-day America. How does a Jew live amidst all the goyim? How does Kosher food accommodate the Jewish love for Oreo cookies, and what about the Jews’ love for Chinese food? Incidentally, he points out, this Jewish-Chinese gastronomical love affair came about from the Oriental influx after Alexander the Great. They were the ones who got the Jews hooked on Chinese food. He explains that not being Protestant is easy. Judaism, like Catholicism, takes a lot of fierce study. He compares Jewish praying to obsessive compulsive disorder. With the various gyrations involved, he explains, “We’re the Special Olympics of religion.” The Rabbi breaks up his high octane ranting with musical numbers, all with lyrics written by Dave Lefkowitz, “translated from the original Swedish.” In the song, “Then You’re Jewish,” aimed for those who wonder if they are really Jewish, one finds hints like, “If your father and mother barely tolerate each other, then you’re Jewish.” As for the melodies, you will find that they are vaguely familiar, like the big opener, “Yeshiva Boy,” with a tune that may remind you of that Tom Cruise underwear dance number in “Risky Business.” Rabbi Sol Solomon is accompanied by his Harvard-educated music director/singer/pianist, Richard Shore. As the Rabbi likes to remind his parents, “I got a Harvard doctor working for me.” Besides an occasional song, Shore also pounds a mean bongo on a wastepaper basket when he joins the Rabbi in a frisky dance around the stage in the final celebratory, “Bagel Boat Song.” In the program there is a formal statement: “No goyim were harmed in the making of this show. Yet.” For this reviewer, who is not Jewish (although I grew up in Brooklyn where Yiddish expressions make up part of the accent), this unpredictable show starring Dave Lefkowitz as the Rabbi Sol Solomon, is a brashly in-your-face, fast-moving two hours. The irrepressible Rabbi just stops short at stepping over the edge while punching home some strong points and then, turning on a dime, will have you singing along with his silly songs. Shalom Dammit!, with all its fervor and fury, is a good time.
