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HARMONYHOUSE
U.d.141.1,Jelicesodrof4,44a,
Lewis as the host of a very po-
litically correct Pesach seder.
As the program begins,
Charlie Horse, unbeknownst
to Shari, is inviting neighbors,
including Robert Guillaume
and Dom DeLuise, and school
pals over for Passover. In
one of the best scenes in
the video, Charlie
watches as Dom pre-
pares chicken soup for
the seder. No matter
how many times they
see this, younger chil-
dren are going to laugh
as Dom sobs uncontrol-
lably while cutting
onions and uses a hand-
held vacuum on his
beard while cleaning up.
The seder itself is just
about as multicultural as
can be, and in bending
over backwards to ac-
commodate every one it
makes Passover seem
more like an American
holiday
than a distinctly Jewish
one (and indeed, there
are
suggestions throughout
that Pesach is not so un-
like Thanksgiving).
There's an especially curi-
ous moment toward the end
of the video when, after the
seder, Charlie urges Shari to
go upstairs and do some work
on her computer. Even in the
most secular home, this seems
unlikely, and it certainly is out
of place in a production that
purports to teach what the
holiday is all about.
Or is that the point?
Which brings me to the
question: Exactly to whom is
this video directed? It
seems unlikely the pro-
ducers had Jewish chil-
dren in mind, both
because it's so remark-
ably basic and because
there's virtually noth-
ing recognizable from
a real Seder -- no broth-
ers and sisters, grand-
parents, close friends
gathered around the
table, and only a curso-
ry mention of the Hag-
gadah.
But if the targeted
audience is gentile,
why wasn't any effort
made to make this
video more Jewishly
correct than politically
correct, so it could tru-
ly be
educational? What a
great
tookthis could have
At"
n had we seen
harm and her pets
wining (still with plenty
silly jokes and maybe some
ah ) to Robert
end Dom DeLuise
school children
§"So
ewish peo-
r
ticultural ex-
ory about
history and our ancestors
ur formation as a people,
hould not be embar-
aid to say it.
❑
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tilE
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Harmony Houselounder Carl Thom in front
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