Now Reading
You’re Never Too Old To Watch Shalom Sesame’s “Tikkun Olam Song”
Slut for Slicha
A Very Jewcy Rosh Hashanah
Snipped and Satisfied
Schtupless in Seattle
Gefilte Guilt
Messy Meshugane. Again.

You’re Never Too Old To Watch Shalom Sesame’s “Tikkun Olam Song”

Ask a Jewish kid who grew up in the ’80s for their favorite examples of Jewish popular culture from that era and you’re certain to encounter fond memories of Muppets with a penchant for Hebrew, Jewish holidays and gloriously bad puns. Often they’ll give you just two words: “Moishe Oofnik!”

Your likely trigenarian would of course be referring to Oscar the Grouch’s Israeli cousin and the best-selling Jewish video series of all time, Shalom Sesame. Shot in 1986, and then again in 1990, the Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop) production combined segments from the classic Sesame Street with those of its Hebrew-language counterpart, Rechov Sumsum, mingling elements of Jewish and secular culture for American Jewish audiences.

Now, just in time for the prior generations’ viewers to share it with their own children, Shalom Sesame has returned for the first time in twenty years with a DVD collection slated for release this Hanukah. The new series follows our familiar friend Grover to Israel, where he joins the cast of Rechov Sumsum, as well as Jewish celebrities like Jake & Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ben Stiller, Natalie Portman and Matisyahu, in learning about Jewish and Israeli culture.

Of course no introduction to Jewish culture would be complete without a lesson in the value of repairing the world. In the episode “Mitzvah On the Street,” a storm makes a mess of Sumsum Street, creating an opportunity for the Shalom Sesame characters to help their friend Avigail learn about mitzvot like “helping each other out” and “taking care of what’s important to us.” Together, they sing and learn about engaging in tikkun olam, repairing the world, or as Avigail says: “We help the world when we help someone do what they can to make things right.”

That’s pretty good for a three year-old purple monster!

You can learn more about the series at the Muppet Wiki or pre-order now on DVD.

View Comment (1)
  • Nice post. I understand some thing much harder on diverse blogs everyday. Most commonly it is stimulating to study content using their company writers and rehearse a little something from their store. I’d would prefer to apply certain with all the content in this little blog regardless of whether you don’t mind. Natually I’ll provide link on your web blog. Many thanks sharing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Scroll To Top