Shalom Sesame: The Complete Series

PreS-Gr 3—The newly updated collection opens with the episode "Welcome to Israel," in which young adult Anneliese travels to the country to visit her mother's friend Shoshana, who lives on Rechov Sumsum—Hebrew for Sesame Street. Anneliese and her new friend Grover learn all about the nation and Jewish holidays with the help of Shoshana and her human and Muppet friends, including Moishe Oofnik, a rather familiar grouchy fellow who lives in a garbage can. Like the Shalom Sesame episodes from the 1990s, footage of the daily lives of Israeli children is interspersed with a story arc featuring the residents of Rechov Sumsum, as well as celebrity appearances: Jake Gyllenhaal losing the afikomen and Debra Messing talking about her Hebrew name. Sketches with American Muppets, such as the Count, Bert and Ernie, Elmo, and Baby Bear, have them participating in Jewish rituals. Familiar scenes from the American Sesame Street—the Count's number of the day—are redubbed with Hebrew elements, so children can learn the language in exactly the same way they have experienced numbers in English. Each episode also features two Hebrew letters with accompanying Hebrew words, and gives thorough factual information about a particular holiday or custom while holding children's attention with perfectly timed elements and familiar characters. The vignettes about Israeli children depict families of diverse ethnicities and religious observance, including Ethiopian- and Moroccan-Israeli children celebrating different elements of Passover.