Monday, May 3, 2010

An Animated History of the Jews and Israel: 4000 Years in Four Minutes


A new animated cartoon showed up on YouTube a few days ago.  We thoroughly enjoyed it and found it a refreshing approach to relating history. It's called 4,000 Years in Four Minutes - A History of the Jews and Israel.  

The author isn't identified except as israelmaven1.  When he or she takes credit for this clever piece of work, we'll pass the information along.  But in the meantime, watch and enjoy.  

But watch carefully because it moves very fast and you'll miss some of the funniest parts if you see it only once.  It's worth watching again.  If you do, you may notice, as we did, that some of the characters look like Bart Simpson, the family tree includes a character that bears a strong resemblance to Bert of Sesame Street, and there's a brief reference to Gollum, or Smeagol, from Lord of the Rings.  But blink, and you'll miss it.


6 comments:

  1. Terrific! Loved this one - thank you!

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  2. This is one of the best animations I've ever seen. thanks!!

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  3. There's also a South Park reference (Goliath, post-beheading, says "you bastard!")and one of the guys at the beginning ("I'm not touching you...") sounds like Apu for some reason.

    The guy who created it contacted me. Let me know if you want his info for a follow-up post.

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  4. Very cute and succinct. Gave me a chucklle for the day so thanks!

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  5. This is the way they teach history in Israel: Biblical promise of the land; exile leads to persecution; then redemption and return to Zion.

    It's a grossly simplified, ideological account that no Jewish historian advances. It turns history into a justification for a particular political view.

    This video is cute, but has nothing to do with Jewish history.

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