Funniest Israeli Commercials: Hebrew University Encourages Calls to Grandma

One of the drawbacks of our technologically advanced society is that low-tech bubbes are often left waiting for phone calls from their kids and grandkids who are absorbed in Facebook and texting.

The U.S. branch of Jerusalem's Hebrew University wanted to call attention to the generational technology gap, and to its excellent high-tech reputation. So they came up with this funny commercial to drive the point home.

As Steve Lipman wrote in The Jewish Week,

A video on the website features an octogenarian identified as Judith Cohen who describes the “Would It Kill You to Call?” app she’s developed that will send periodic cell phone reminders to delinquent members of the mishpocha. “Do they ever remember to call their bubbe?” she asks. After seven days without a call, a text message goes out to the offender.

It seems like a great way to reach out and touch forgetful ones.Just one problem — the app isn’t real.

In online comments, many people said they thought the app “was real,” said Eileen Hume, chief marketing officer for the American Friends. Some asked, “where can I find the app?” Others responded with “a lot of laughing emojis and LOLs.”

The video came out of a brainstorming session on new ways to get the word out about Hebrew University’s work. Then came an aha moment. Or, in this case, an oy vey moment. What about a bubbe-centered video? “Everyone has a bubbe,” Hume said. “It’s a shared cultural experience.”

A casting call went out. More than a dozen actresses tried out for the role. Judith Cohen is played by Barbara Malley, an 84-year-old actress whose TV and movie credits include a nurse, a mobster’s mother and a “grandma.”Malley is not Jewish. She “nailed” the Yiddish accent and Jewish inflections, Hume said."

Enjoy!

A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.

James Gandolfini: An Israeli Connection in a Funny Commercial

When we were saddened to hear about the untimely death last week of actor James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano in The Sopranos HBO series), the last thing we expected to hear among all of the tributes that came pouring in was a Jewish or Israeli connection.

Well, Tzvee's Talmudic Blog, a blog by Tzvee Zahavy that we follow regularly, found one and posted it on Thursday. Gandolfini was featured in an ad for the Israeli cablevision network called YES. The ad was a tongue-in-cheek commercial for saying YES to trying new ways to stay healthy, illustrated by mob activities such as shooting at a man's feet to make him dance, dumping a body off a bridge into the river, and other such scenes as you'd see in a crime movie.

The ad was created to encourage viewers to try new things, such as a two-month free trial of the YES cablevision service,

We'll miss you, James.