For those of you who don’t watch The Late Show, (or, you know, YouTube highlights the next day), you need to see part of Monday’s episode. beginning Republican National Convention coverage. You have to watch this. I’ll wait.

OK, now that you’ve witnessed that bit of comedy splendor, you can join me in missing the heck out of Jon Stewart.

I do find it adorable that in his self-imposed exile, Stewart seems to have become a zeyde, still the same Jewish comedian, but older, fussier, and even more fed up with the world than he was before (nice joke about kippot there, too). I know he’s only 53, but I almost expected him to be wearing his pants up to his chest in traditional grandfatherly fashion.

After all, a large part of what made Stewart a great presence on late night TV was his uniquely Jewish attitude towards the absurd politics unfolding in front of him: There was frustration bordering on righteous anger, and a wit, and with a cynical candy-coating from a man whose people have seen it all. “You’re not crazy,” Stewart seemed to urge us, “It’s the world that is upside down.”

Years ago, I went to a taping of The Daily Show, and when the audience was given a chance to ask questions, I trotted out my then stock-prompt for Jewish celebrities about the impact of their identity on their work. Stewart told me that that it’s a part of his genes (I believe he made up a component of DNA he called “Jew-nine,”) and said that it related to his fear of being kicked out of whatever country he was in. Clearly, this Jon Stewart hiding out in a cabin in the woods still has such a genetic neurosis. And while his departure from The Daily Show wasn’t the death of comedy, it left a Jewish-sized hole (whatever that means) that’s still unfilled.

Yes, Trevor Noah has Jewish ancestry.  But regardless of how he feels about his own identity, there have been enough think pieces explaining why he’s failed to sustain The Daily Show‘s legacy. He’s no longer a substantial part of the political comedy equation.

This isn’t to say that the landscape is barren; John Oliver and Samantha Bee do fine jobs, fitting different niches in the political comedy sphere. And Bee even mentioned Sheldon Adelson on her most recent episode (though, oh, imagine how Jon Stewart might take him to task as only a member of the Tribe can). So now, we can only hope that with the release of this video Stephen Colbert’s conservative alter-ego (who then stuck around for an additional segment) will return again and again for the next several months, like a comedy Golem, called out to serve the people in our time of need.

Stewart should also come back in a more substantial way. Remember when Trump announced his candidacy, shortly before Stewart was scheduled to retire from The Daily Show? Stewart joked that the news was so absurd that he was tempted to stay. Even he couldn’t imagine then how much more surreal the campaign season would become.

Colbert teased more appearances of Stewart on his show this week, and we’ll see what that looks like. It won’t be like having him back at his old desk, but maybe he can supply us a little more of his unique, Jewish style of catharsis.

UPDATE: Oh, God. Thank you, God.

Image via YouTube

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When is a selfie not just a selfie? When the image, taken at the Miss Universe contest, features Miss Israel and Miss Lebanon—and an accusation of photobombing.

The scandal has been unfolding on social media since January 11, when Doron Matalon (Miss Israel) uploaded a seemingly innocuous photo to her Instagram feed. Taken at Wynwood Art Walk in Miami, she poses spontaneously with Saly Greige (Miss Lebanon), Urška Bračko (Miss Slovenia), and Keiko Tsuji (Miss Japan). They all look fetching, though Greige does seem to be grimacing a little. (But that could just be the bright Floridian sunlight.)

According to the New York Post, the photo caused an uproar in Lebanon, “which forbids its citizens from fraternizing with Israelis.” (The two countries have been in a state of war since 1948.) Some compatriots began calling for Greige to be stripped of her crown. This is not without precedent: according to Lebanon’s Daily Star, Huda al-Turk lost her title in 1993 after she was photographed with her Israeli competitor.

Greige then posted an edited version of the photo to her own feed (with Matalon cropped out), claiming she was caught unaware by the Israeli model, who swooped in on a three-person selfie at the last moment, turning it into a foursome. “Since the first day of my arrival to participate to Miss universe,” Greige wrote, “I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss isreal [sic], who tried several times to take a photo with me… suddenly Miss Israel jumped in, took a selfie, and put it on her social media.”

Yesterday, Matalon responded to the furor by reposting a link to the controversial image on her Facebook page with the following caption: “It doesn’t surprise me, but it still makes me sad. Too bad you can not put the hostility out of the game, only for three weeks of an experience of a lifetime that we can meet girls from around the world and also from the neighboring country.”

Matalon first rose to prominence in Israel in 2011, when she refused to comply with an ultra-Orthodox passenger’s demand that she stand at the back of a gender segregated bus in Jerusalem. Then an IDF soldier in uniform, she was traveling at the front of the vehicle when she was approached by a male passenger, who called her a prostitute and told her to “move back.” She refused, and the bus came to a standstill—literally—in the middle of the street. The police were summoned, passengers were questioned, and the sexist instigator was arrested.

Update: We’ll leave the final word to Jon Stewart. Here’s his sharp take from The Daily Show‘s new segment, “What Photo is Upsetting the Middle East This Week?”

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Jason Bateman appeared on The Daily Show a couple of weeks ago—ostensibly to talk up his new film, Bad Words, but really to riff with with Jon Stewart about Yiddish and Passover.

Stewart greeted Bateman (a self-described “goy, through and through”) with the blessing “it’s nice when nice happens to nice,” leading Bateman to remark that his host’s words sounded “very Yiddish.” And then they were off, expounding on the joys of Yiddish (the sort of cute but cliched schtick that gives nostalgic viewers a thrill, and YIVO members a headache) and sharing Passover anecdotes.

Things get really, really funny at the three-minute mark, when Bateman describes a hilarious gaffe he made as a first-time seder guest. No spoilers—no spoilers!—but you’ll never see a shank bone in quite the same light ever again.

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Flight MH370 probably crashed into the ocean as a result of tragic technical failure (when in doubt, think Occam’s razor), but that hasn’t stopped the media from speculating ad nauseam about terrorism, black holes, and sinister supernatural forces for the past couple of weeks. Leading the vanguard were the cable news networks (lookin’ at you, CNN), and Jon Stewart took them to task last night, sparing no-one from his eviscerating wit.

Will this change cable news’ coverage of future tragedies? Of course not! But at least there’s Jon to remind us all that, yes, Lost really is just a TV show.

Related: Michael Sam Comes Out, Jon Stewart Rips Into NFL Hypocrisy And Homophobia

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In case you’ve been living under a rock the last couple of days: college football star Michael Sam came out in The New York Times on February 9, which means he’ll likely be the first openly gay NFL player ever next season. Most people—including Sam’s coach, teammates, alma mater, and the President of the United States—are responding positively. HURRAH!

But, there are detractors. And Jon Stewart—reigning king of talk show liberals and my heart—had some choice words for them on The Daily Show last night. Just watch. This is great television.

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Tis the season to reignite the fallacious War on Christmas (fa la la la la, la la la la). Heedless of the wind and weather, Fox News conservatives are again calling for the end to universal holiday phrases. No more of this “Happy Holidays” garbage, they say. If it’s December, it’s “Merry Christmas” or bust, they cry.

Though irate talking heads are bringing the issue to the people, Jon Stewart is taking them all down. This week on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, Stewart perfectly destroys the arguments of Fox’s Prom King and Queen, Sarah Palin and Bill O’Reilly.

And, if you watch all the way through, you’ll get the added bonus of seeing a clip of Palin divulging that in order to teach her family about Hanukkah, she leaves a menorah out on the kitchen table throughout the month of December. A great lesson in Judaism, Palin.

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The Internet has an obsession with Jennifer Lawrence. Though it’s creepy and awful, she should probably soak it up because all it takes is one nervous acceptance speech and she’ll be the Most Hated Women in America.

Proving that Lawrence can do or say no wrong, on last night’s Daily Show, she and Jon Stewart chatted about all the fanaticism. Lawrence responded with all of the self-deprecating comments that everyone loves her for, and then moved on to criticizing, jokily, Stewart’s interview style, calling him weird and continuously reminding the audience that Stewart was unprepared. An awkward seven or so minutes later, the Internet was alight with “Oh My Gosh, Look How Lawrence Schooled Stewart” posts.

Stewart isn’t necessarily known for his probing skills, but he steps it up when appropriate—just check out The Week’s list of “Jon Stewart’s 5 most hard-hitting interviews” if you want some freshening up.

Lawrence’s comments weren’t a big deal; the two got along just fine. Maybe Stewart didn’t have the foresight to see her movie or read the book—maybe he did. But really, who cares? Stewart’s audience isn’t tuning in to catch up on what’s happening with District 12 and all the injustice in Panem, amiright? Lawrence vs. Stewart is a silly war. Let’s save the online superstar battles for Kanye vs. Zappos/Kimmel/Obama.

You can watch the video here:

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Every so often, Stephen Colbert rises above and beyond, making us wonder whether he’s taken Jon Stewart’s place as the most trusted source in news—all of his Emmy’s might be proof enough. But then Stewart goes and does something great, reminding us who’s king.

This week, Stewart interviewed Malala Yousafzai— the education activist from Swat Valley in Pakistan who was shot by a Taliban assassin— about her new book I Am Malala.

You now my father was a great encouragement for me because he spoke out for women’s rights. He spoke out for girls’ education and at that time I said, “Why should I wait for someone else? Why should I look to the government, to the army that they will help us. Why don’t I raise my voice? Why don’t we speak up for our rights?”

Yousafzai inspired and charmed Stewart, as she did the world, prompting him to ask her if it’d be cool to adopt her—her dad was right backstage, but we don’t blame him for trying.

Enjoy:

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With Pope Francis’ progressive view of homosexuality, Atheism, and other former Catholic taboos, he’s garnered quite a lot of fans, one of the biggest being Jon Stewart. If you need some midday entertainment to go with your coffee, watch Stewart praise the Pontiff on The Daily Show.

While Stewart was talking up Francis, Fracis was talking up the Jews, YNet reports:

The pope, who has close ties with Jewish people from his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, says that Jews serve as an example for Christians. He says that they point Christians to the fact that they are always waiting for the Lord’s return, and so must always be open to him and never take refuge in what they have already attained.

Everyone’s on the same page.

(Photo by Alberto Pizzoli/Getty)

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Jon Stewart has been absent from The Daily Show all summer long filming in the Middle East and we’ve missed him so much. Though John Oliver was a great substitute pundit, there was a little part of us that just wanted our main man back. In anticipation of his September 3 return, Comedy Central compiled all of Stewart’s greatest Jewish moments— there are a lot of them.

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