Jon Stewart Wants to Help You Make a Minyan (Minion?)

Image by Comedy Central

By Lior Zaltzman July 1, 2015

Last night on “The Daily Show”, actor Jon Hamm came on to introduce a tribute flashback segment of Jon Stewart’s best singing moments — the title card dubbed him (spot on!). Later on, Hamm (or, the other Jon, as I like to call him) sat down for an interview about his latest movie, “Minions”. What followed was one of Stewart’s most Jew-y moments in “Daily Show: history.

Stewart started the interview with an educated guess: “Here’s what I hope this movie is about: Nine Jewish men looking for a tenth, so that they may celebrate the Shabbos.”

And from there, my friends, things only got more Jewish.

When Stewart posited that “Trying to Find a Minyan” would make a great movie, Hamm reminded him that he’s about to have a lot of free time on his hands (sigh).

Which led Stewart to make the following declaration: “I will be the designated minyan maker.”

Need a 10th? Wanna pray? Looking for some tefillin? Starting August 7th, a certain Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz is your man. “I’m ‘The Minyan Man’ […] I would like that very much.”

Important questions came up later in the interview such as, “does a bear count as a minyan?” (sorry, you’re gonna have to watch to figure that one out). And what would Jewish Minions look like?

“They would make them rounder and more squishy and marginally more yellow” said Hamm.

To which Stewart replied, “we’d all end up like cartoon knishes.”

Well, Jon, here’s my parting gift to you:

Watch the whole delightful interview here:

Lior Zaltzman was the Forward’s Digital Fellow. Follow her on twitter @liorca.

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