Welcoming Shabbat with an Animated version of Mah Yedidut - A Traditional Song of Shabbat Zemirot

Mah Yedidut (How Beloved) is a traditional zemer celebrating the joy and peace that Shabbat brings to every Jewish home. Tonight we welcome Shabbat with this beautiful melody  brought to life through heartwarming puppet animation. 

 

Watch as a Jewish village prepares for the holiest day of the week. The fiddler plays, the families gather, and the sweet rest of Shabbat arrives.

 

This video was created by Torah Toons - Jewish stories for the next generation. 

 

Enjoy, and Shabbat shalom! 

 

Long Story Short - A New Animated Jewish Family Dramedy is Now Available on Netflix

Netflix has just released a new very Jewish 10-episode animated comedy drama created by Bojack Horseman creator Raphael Bob Waksberg. We think it's worth watching the 25 minute episodes.

As Mira Fox, PJ Grisar, Olivia Haynie and Nora Berman wrote in The Forward, 

The Schwooper family, the central figures in the new animated Netflix series Long Story Short, are diverse and unique — religious and atheist, gay and straight, farmers and businesswomen. Simultaneously, they are basically like every Jewish family you’ve ever met. 

Naomi (Lisa Edelstein), the family’s domineering matriarch, is constantly nagging her kids to do better — her youngest son Yoshi (Max Greenfield) should be more professional; Shira (Abbi Jacobson), the middle child, should wear more dresses; her oldest, Avi (Ben Feldman) should be more observant. Her kids are constantly rolling their eyes and responding with sarcastic jabs. You’ve certainly seen this family. Maybe you’ve lived it.

Here's the official trailer. Enjoy! 

The Great Jewish Entertainers: Mel Blanc, Man of a Thousand Voices

We have been posting video clips of the great Jewish comedians and the great Jewish entertainers. We came across a video clip that tells the story of Mel Blanc, the voice of most of the Warner Brothers cartoon characters. Since there's no category of the great Jewish cartoon voices (Mel was unique) we're putting him in the entertainment category.

After beginning his over-60-year career performing in radio, he became known for his work in animation as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and most of the other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons during the golden age of American animation.

He later voiced characters for Hanna-Barbera's television cartoons, including Barney Rubble on The Flintstones and Mr. Spacely on The Jetsons. During the golden age of radio, Blanc also frequently performed on the programs of comedians from the era, including Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, Burns and Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, and Judy Canova.

Blanc died in 1989 and his Yahrzeit is coming up on July 10. Blanc's will stated his desire to have the inscription on his gravestone read, "That's all folks", the catchphrase that was the hallmark of Blanc's character, Porky Pig. 

This clip will take you back to the days when Blanc voiced so many cartoon characters.

Enjoy!

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Disney Announces its First (Sephardic) Jewish Princess

The Disney organization announced that its first Jewish princess will appear on the Disney Channel in a Chanukah-themed episode of its series Elena of Avalor.

The role of the animated Sephardic princess will be voiced by Jewish actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who appeared on The Sopranos as Meadow Soprano.  

As The Times of Israel reported this week,

The princess, still to be named, will appear on the Disney Channel series “Elena of Avalor” in December. The Hanukkah-themed episode will feature a visiting princess who is from a “Latino Jewish kingdom,” the Disney Channel announced. 

The series centers on Princess Elena Castillo Flores, a 16-year-old who saves her kingdom from an evil sorceress. For the past two seasons, the teenager has been learning to govern Avalor. The third season launches in October. 

In the video below Cheddar TV's Kim Murstein and Azia Celestino discuss Disney's move to expand representation and become more inclusive. 

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Wishing You a Happy Sukkot with the LEGO Sukkot 101 Movie

The Lego Movie franchise is a computer-animated adventure-comedy film series based on Lego construction toys. The franchise started in 2014 with The Lego Movie, which was directed and written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

The film quickly expanded into a franchise, including two spin-off films, The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie, both with 2017 release dates; a sequel; and a third spin-off, The Billion Brick Race, scheduled for release in 2019.

The LEGO toy animation style was an inspiration for Bimbam (formerly G-dcast), the new media studio making Jewish videos, apps and animated series for kids and adults to create a film with Lego characters and props to provide a full explanation of the Sukkot holiday.

The LEGO Sukkot Movie is a thorough description of the holiday in a very entertaining style. We hope you enjoy it as we head into the week of Sukkot celebrations. We'll be celebrating Sukkot and Shabbat for the next three days and we'll be back with more Jewish humor on Sunday.

Chag sameach and Shabbat shalom!

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This video was made possible with generous support from The Koret Foundation, as part of its Initiative on Jewish Peoplehood.
LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this video.

The Man Who Buried His Own Leg - An Animated Lesson

G-dcast has been offering Jewish learning in a few minutes at a time with videos, apps and interactive experiences for everyone. In 2009 they presented a four minute animated narrative of each of the 54 Torah portions.

Now, G-dcast has produced its first original narrative short, The Man Who Buried His Own Leg.

The topic may not sound humorous at first glance, but it's an important lesson in Jewish law that's presented in a very entertaining way.

 It was inspired by a story Sarah Lefton heard on the street almost ten years ago. It teaches about Jewish views on the body without getting into the details of source texts and whatnot...and might just send you off on a journey of your own.

It was an official selection at the Palm Springs Shortfest, LA Jewish Film Festival, San Diego Jewish Film Festival, Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival, Washington DC Jewish Film Festival, and the DAM Short Film Festival.

Enjoy!

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Shavuot - The Scandalous Backstory of Ruth and Boaz

The holiday of Shavuot starts this Saturday night. Although the two day holiday (one day in Israel) commemorates the giving and receiving of the Torah, it is the least well known and the least observed of the three pilgrimage festivals.

Shavuot doesn't have the vibrant visual symbolism of Pesach and Sukkot. Besides the festive meals that are part of every Jewish holiday, there is an emphasis on all night study and the reading of the Megillah of Ruth in the synagogue.

Today we came across an explanation of the Megillah of Ruth that we hadn't seen before, describing it as a tale of seduction that has links to similar stories about Lot and his daughters and Judah and Tamar.

The story is told by Rabbi David Fohrman, founder of Aleph Beta Academy, on the Orthodox Union website with the use of animation. It's an interesting take on a story that we thought we knew well.

We'll be spending the two days of Shavuot on Sunday and Monday attending classes at night, eating cheesecake, and reading the Megillah of Ruth with new insight. We'll be back on Tuesday with our usual mix.

Shabbat shalom and chag sameach!

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eScapegoat App Collects Your Sins in Preparation for Yom Kippur

A new app is circulating on computers, tablets, and smart phones that lets users get rid of their sins electronically before Yom Kippur. 

The app, half serious and half funny, was developed by Sarah Lefton and her team at G-dcast, the media production company that strives to mash up media literacy with traditional Jewish learning to help educators and parents share biblical and other Jewish content with their children in a fun way.

Here is the introduction to the app, which can be accessed at www.escgoat.com: 

In Bible Times, Israelites atoned with sacrifices. Once a year, on what we now call Yom Kippur, the High Priest placed all the Israelites' sins on a goat and set it loose in the wilderness.

Today we reflect and try to clean our slates during Elul, the Hebrew month before Yom Kippur. 

The High Priest took two goats. He sacrificed one, and then he laid his hands on the other, transferring the community's sins onto it. Then, he sent the scapegoat off into the wilderness. From the goat's perspective, neither path ended well. 

After this introduction, users are encouraged to enter their own sins anonymously, but include their email address, after which they are shown some of the other sins that have been entered by users. 

The app says: In preparation for Yom Kippur, atone* with the eScapegoat, but note that the asterisk is followed by a footnote that states "No actual halachic atonement implied." 

Here are some of the sins that have already been tweeted:

• "I use walking the dog as an excuse to leave a party I don't want to be at."
• "I steal olives from my restaurant. A LOT of olives"
• "I am sorry for being unreliable at times, cancelling plans just to make life easier. "
• "I'd tell old lady co-workers my wife doesn't cook so that they'd make me lunch."
• "I download Music from Torrent instead of buying legally from iTunes/beatport."
• "I stole a boy's shirt just because I had a crush on him. I wear it to sleep every night. "
• "Sometimes I pass gas near a group of my students and let them blame each other."
• "I was angry with my partner for being so career driven, I felt neglected but really I was being self centered."
• "I love bacon!" 

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"Green Eggs, No Ham" -- an Animated Dr. Seuss Parody for Rosh Hashanah

What happens when Allison Josephs, creator of Jew in the City (JITC) finds herself in a Dr. Seuss-like world with "Survivor" winner Ethan Zohn? "An animated story that uses the imamgery of the Seuss classic Green Eggs and Ham. This one, however, is called Green Eggs, No Ham!

Unlike the original, where the main character is nudged to try the combination of Green Eggs and Ham, a combination that he resists through many attempts to get him to try it, in this parody Torah study is the object that he is asked in many ways to try.

After many entreaties and rejections, the character finally agrees to give Torah study a try. The animated drawings and text have a Seussian look and feel although the video is a parody and is not made or authorized by Dr. Seuss.

Josephs started the Jew in the City website to counter negative impressions of Orthodox Judaism, to break down stereotypes about religious Jews and offer a humorous, meaningful outlook into Orthodox Judaism.

Jew in the City is reshaping the way society views Orthodox Jews and Judaism through social media, corporate cultural diversity training seminars, lectures, and consulting services. The JITC team publicizes the message that Orthodox Jews can be funny, approachable, educated, pro-women and open-minded—and that Orthodox Judaism links the Jewish people to a deep and beautiful heritage that is just as relevant today as it ever was.

Enjoy!

 

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Pairs Well: A Joyful Jewish History of Meat and Wine

G-dcast is a new media production company that has already created 54 animated short videos of the weekly Torah portions for educating Jews of all ages. Their goal is to provide meaningful and fun Jewish learning online.

Now they are expanding their horizons and producing animations of folktales, Talmud stories, and the holidays. Their latest production, Pairs Well: A Joyful Jewish History of Meat and Wine, debuted online yesterday. Here's the rich and tender story of meaty connections to food through the ages, checking in with Noah, Nadav and Avihu, King Solomon, Rashi, and more!

The film was inspired by a famous discussion in the Babylonian Talmud about how meat and wine are part of joy in Judaism. Ein Simcha Ela BeBasar Veyayin. (There is no joyous occasion without meat and wind.)

It was created with a cohort of 20-somethings during the Pastrami & Pinot happy hour series over Jewish deli and wine at Wise Sons, The Noir Lounge, and Faultline Studios in San Francisco. 

Enjoy!

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"Megillas Lester" - New Animated Purim Movie Rivals "Frozen", "Toy Story" and "Monsters Inc."

Frozen, Toy Story, Brave, The Lego Movie, Monsters Inc., and other animated movies have shown how animated feature films can achieve a new high level of quality. 

Films with Jewish content have not been able to match the realistic animation of characters with the motion capture technology used in these Hollywood productions. Until now. 

Now the Jewish world has its own Pixar-like production company. Yesterday they launched their first feature animated film, Megillas Lester, just in time for Purim.

As Alona Ferber wrote in Haaretz,

With Purim only a few weeks away, a new full-length feature animation takes the Book of Esther, Megillat Esther, and gives it a Back to the Future-meets-Pixar twist.

Megillas Lester, which will be out on iTunes, DVD and Blu-ray on March 3, tells the story of Doniel Lesterovitch or Lester, who gets knocked out while directing his school’s Purim play, and wakes up in the story that is traditionally read by Jews every year on the Purim holiday.

The Book of Esther tells the story of the Jewish queen of the Persian empire thwarting the plan of Haman, one of the king’s top advisers, to kill all the empire’s Jews. Lester puts a spanner in the works and alters the course of the story - it is up to him to get everything back on track so Esther can save the Jews.

The Purim story ends with Haman and his ten sons being put to death, and the reveling Jews massacring thousands of Persians. Although the real story is violent, given that the film portrays a ‘dream’ version, and the perceptions of a young boy, says its creator Chananya Kramer “the story is only exciting and fun, never scary or violent. We were quite selective as to which parts of the story we portrayed.”

The 42-year-old wrote, produced and directed the movie, which is primarily aimed at the Orthodox Jewish community. He came up with the story some 15 years ago, when he first got into the multi-media and video business with his Baltimore-based company, Kolrom.

The video will be available through iTunes, and the DVD will be sold by ArtScroll.com and other Judaica sources. It costs about $25.

Here is the movie trailer, followed by a video about how the characters were created and animated.

Enjoy!

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How Eve and Adam Met - A Very Modern Version

Limmud (learning) is a Jewish education conference that's been going on in England for the past 30 years, with spinoff versions taking place in more than 24 countries on six continents.

Taking their inspiration from the Limmud festival, a grassroots group of Jewish young adults in Montreal created a version that they named LE MOOD, taking a very modern approach to explore Jewish life as they define it.

To generate interest in last year's conference, the LE MOOD organizers produced a short video purporting to show a modern view of how Eve and Adam met. You'll recognize the basic characters in the story, but probably not the clothes they're wearing, or Cain and Abel's, the cafe where they tell some of their friends about their first meeting in a garden.

Enjoy!

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Moses, Aaron, and Miriam Star in New Music Video

G-dcast.com,  the website that has created 66 short films based on Jewish texts including every parsha (weekly portion) of the Torah, has extended their range to include a music video that is making its debut this week. 

This work was created and performed by six families from Berkely, California, who after studying Torah together, decided to write a song about three famous siblings in the Bible: Miriam, Aaron and Moses. The song focuses on the relationships between them, and how they were there for each other when needed.

This is their music video, "I'll Be There For You" - from the words to the watercolors you see in the background to all the little choices about what color everyone's hair would be. 

Enjoy!

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Di Mamme Iz Gegangen - Delightful Animation of a Classic Yiddish Song

"Almonds and Wine" brings a Yiddish folk song to life, as the animated journey of a young bride and groom from Eastern Europe to North America is set to rollicking klezmer music. 

Fleeing the threat of war, the couple arrive in Canada, establish a new life together and hand down their traditions to the generations that follow. This film is set to a classic Yiddish folk song, Di Mamme iz Gegangen in Mark Arayn (My Mother Went to Market.) It was produced, directed and animated by Arnie Lipsey.

The animation is inspired, but the characters move through the story so fast that you'll have to watch it more than once or keep your finger on the pause button to catch all of the details and read what's written on the store signs and protest signs. 

How do we know that the couple settles in Canada and not the U.S.? Notice that the boy is running around with a hockey stick, not a baseball bat.

The depiction of the Jewish wedding ceremony is very detailed. Be sure to watch for the expression on the bride's and groom's faces when they are lifted onto chairs for the traditional handkerchief dance.

The Yiddish lyrics and English translation appear below the video. Enjoy!

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Oy di mamme iz gegangen in mark arayn noch keyln,

Oy hot zi mir tzurik gebracht a meydele fun Peyln.

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy Mit di shvartse eygelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

Oy di mamme iz gegangen in mark arayn noch kreyt,

Oy hot zi mir tzurik gebracht a meydele fun beyt,

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy mit di shvartse eygelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

Oy di mamme is gegangen in mark noch a katchke

Oy hot zi mir tzurik gebracht a meydele, a tzatzke

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy mit di vayse tzeyndelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

Ich hob gegesn mandlen, ich hob getrunken vayn,

Ich hob gelibt a meydele un ken on ir nisht zayn,

Oy iz dos a meydele a sheyns un a feyns,

Oy mit di roite bekelach, oy ketsele du mayns.

My mother went to market to buy some coal,
She brought me back a lovely girl from Poland.
Oh what a girl she was, how beautiful and fine,
Ah, those black eyes of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

My mother went to market to buy some cabbage,
She brought me back a girl just off a coach.
Oh what a girl she was, how beautiful and fine,
Ah, those black eyes of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

My mother went to market to buy a duck,

She brought me back a girl - what a handful! 

Oh what a girl she was, how beautiful and fine,

Ah, those white teeth of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

I have been eating almonds, I have been drinking wine,
And I have loved a lass and could not part from her.
O what a lass she was, how lovely and how fine,
Ah, those red cheeks of hers, ah, you kitten of mine.

(A tip of the kippah to Malka Edelman for bringing this video to our attention.)

Matzah, Maror, and the Four Cups of Wine Tell Their Own Stories

Matzah. Maror (Bitter Herb). The Four Cups of Wine. Every year we place them on the seder table and talk about them, explaining their roles as we read the Haggadah. But do we ever give them a chance to speak up for themselves and express their feelings?

Of course not. They can't speak. Or can they? Chabad.org has put together a video starring these three characters from the Passover seder. In their animated versions, they talk about their childhood and why they are best suited to win the competition for which one will inspire you the most and become champion of the seder table. 

It's fun to watch, if you can stand the constant stream of Passover puns. Enjoy!

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Esther Goes Western: The Purim Megillah as Cowboy Epic

We've all seen classic plays such as Shakespearean tragedies restaged with modern sets and costumes and the morality and ethics of the basic story retold in a contemporary light. But until now we haven't seen the Book of Esther as an animated saga of the wild west, with nods to Clint Eastwood and the spaghetti western, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Here is a video retelling the whole Esther story in western style, with appropriate background music. Written and directed by Shlomo Blass, the commentary is based on traditional Jewish sources and an essay written by Rabbi Jonathan Blass: "Pluralism, Antisemtism, and man's strive to divinity".

Rabbi Blass, Rosh Kollel of Ratzon Yehuda and its founder, is a graduate of Mercaz Harav Kook and Kollel Shevet Mehokek in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Blass made aliyah in 1970 from the US where he had studied at Yeshiva University and Mesivta Tiferes Yerushalayim. He served as an officer in the IDF as rabbi of a tank brigade and currently also serves as the rabbi of Neve Tzuf, a religious community in the Shomron. In addition to numerous articles on halachic subjects, Rabbi Blass has written two books, one in comparative law, and the other in Jewish philosophy on Rambam's Guide to the Perplexed.

The video is dedicated in memory of the director's friend Udi Fogel, who last March was killed with members of his family in a terrorist attack in Itamar.

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"The Rabbi's Cat," First a Graphic Book, is Now a Movie

France's best-loved talking cat, star of a hit comic book series, makes his big screen debut in this long awaited adaptation by celebrated graphic artist-turned-director Joann Sfar (Gainsbourg). 

Rabbi Sfar lives a quiet life by the sea with his beautiful daughter Zlabya and her pet cat in 1920s Algeria. After swallowing his arch-rival the family parrot, the cat receives the miraculous gift of speech, with no intention of ever shutting up! This irreverent, quick-witted feline loves discussing philosophy and Jewish law and demands to have a Bar Mitzvah. When a mysterious stranger arrives in the city, the Rabbi, his cat and an array of motley characters set off on a fantastical Indiana Jones-style adventure into the unknown heart of Africa.

Co-directors Sfar and Antoine Delesvaux use beautiful hand-drawn animation and a nostalgic, groovy soundtrack to bring multicultural, pre-war Algiers, with its Arab, Jewish and European inhabitants lovingly to life, in this funny, quirky and thoroughly enjoyable film.

The film has been shown at Jewish film festivals around the world, but somehow has not yet made it to the United States. We are keeping an eye out for announcements of showings and will let you know as soon as we have more information. For now, we'll have to be content with the trailer below.

In the meantime, it's worth getting a copy of the book and reading it before you get a chance to see the movie. We got a copy as a gift and devoured it, much as the cat devoured the parrot in the story.

Enjoy!

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