Arts & Culture

Gali Girls are Like American Girl Dolls Gone Frum

By JessM / June 25, 2008

“What do Gali Girls got that we don’t got?” asks a vaguely Barbie-ish cartoon doll.

“Uh…clothes?” responds her sarcastic teddy bear friend.

Thus concludes the online ad for Gali Girls, a line of frum-friendly dolls for strong, independent, Jewish girls. These American Girl–esque dolls and their “looks just like me” marketability made their debut on the creepy toy scene in November 2004, but their recent mention on BuzzFeed has the whole internet wondering what the heck we’ve been missing. Did I mention the ad was created by Jewish Robot and features the music of Shlock Rock?

Each doll comes with a bio book and matching outfit, matching Magen David bracelets, a hand-painted, wooden faux Shabbat table, a fill-in birth certificate in Hebrew and English, and a suitcase filled with Shabbat candlesticks. It’s a gantseh metsieh, dahlink! Of course, there's a whole host of accessories for purchase, including a Queen Esther costume, a Shabbat kallah (Sabbath bride) dress, or for the truly progressive, a suitable pants suit.

Perhaps, like American Girl, Gali Girl will soon offer actual store locations where the female future of Judaism can enjoy kosher dining and live musicals such as Fiddler on the Roof and The Diary of a Young Girl.

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  • By anngel 12/31/08 at 10:15 p.m. UTC

    I buy and sell American girl dolls and came acrossed the gali girls. Though not jewish myself I found it a very cool idea and means of teaching a different prespective of history to my own daughter and sons. 65.00 isnt that expensive and actaually i just spent 89.00 on Miriam for my daughter which is only a dollar shy of the AG dolls price,but I figure i’m opening her world to a different culture and customs that arent so whitebread and generic.  This last holiday season she asks me about what theyre doing on tv and what Hanukkah is all about and why they celebrate it ..etc..etc.. I felt kinda lame not being able to tell her more than a rough generic outline of the miricle of light. I remeber my best friend in 7th grade and feeling sorry for her since she was suposedly jewish but had no real identity or connection to any of it. Theres no excuse for ignorance and no tolerance without teaching.

  • Null
    By Helen Jupiter 6/26/08 at 4:56 p.m. UTC

    were the best.

  • By zbird 6/26/08 at 2:19 p.m. UTC

    It's so low-budget and over-the-top.  Not taking itself seriously at all. 

    –Z

  • By Tzveee 6/26/08 at 8:59 a.m. UTC

    Any word on their anatomical correctness? "In the Divine Image" and all that. . .

  • By RW 6/26/08 at 3:00 a.m. UTC

    I don't really imagine the Bratz people are shaking in their boots over this one. Like all well intentioned attempts to save children from perceived negative influences, this one also seems pretty doomed.

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