Sta-rti4'iMio-riiLy -tept 21st
thru Sept 30th 4pin — 6pin

Bread
Deli
and Reslaurant

framework to help parents feel more
comfortable and get them interested
in a search for identity themselves:'
Labin said.
The project also intends to supple-
ment the TV show with an inter-
active Web site and other media
platforms, including plans to use
joint online projects to help connect
Jewish Israeli and American chil-
dren with the show as a vehicle.
In the first episode of Shalom
Sesame, the character played by
van der Pol — a Jewish-American
actress who was named after Anne
Frank — is seen
on a plane flying
to Israel for her
first visit.
After hearing
Grover, cast as a
flight attendant,
shout out "Kosher
meal! Aisle 10!,"
they strike up a
friendship and
decide to travel
together through-
out the country.
Throughout the
series the pair
remain in Israel
— a device that
lets children see
various land-
scapes, meet
Israeli children
and even learn a little Hebrew.
There are episodes on the Jewish
holidays, mitzvah themes such as
loving animals and treating others
kindly, animation segments and
interviews. The Chanukah episode
will feature a visit with a family
whose menorah has remained in
the family for generations. The Rosh
Hashanah episode opens with a dis-
cussion about new beginnings as the
audience sees an Israeli girl start her
first day at school and her brother
learn how to blow a shofar.
In an exclusive interview with JTA,
Grover discussed why he was excited
about the project.
"My home is Sesame Street, but I
love meeting people from all over
the world, and one of those places
is Israel, where I have been able to
make new friends and learn:' he
said in his trademark high-pitched
tone. "I have learned a few words in
Hebrew, like `todah' [thank you] and
boker toy' [good morning], and that
pretty much gets me by."
Eric Jacobson, the puppeteer who
assumed the voice and actions of

Grover about 10 years ago after the
legendary Frank Oz retired, said
Grover seems to connect with audi-
ences young and old both in Israel
and around the world.
"Let's start with that Grover is
blue," Jacobson said during a break
from filming. "No one I know is blue,
and therefore he can be anybody."
Three other puppets join Grover
in the cast, including a floppy-haired
Arab Israeli named Mahboub.
Shahar Sorek plays another
human character, an archeologist
who is religiously observant and
wears a kippah.
Often he is the
one to explain
some of the
Jewish rituals and
Bible stories.
"I think it's
important to pro-
tect and present
our Jewish heri-
tage, and this is
a tool for helping
to do that," Sorek
said.
The Sesame
Workshop has
co-productions
with some 18
countries, includ-
ing an Israeli ver-
- Grover
sion called Rehov
Sumsum and a
Palestinian version called Shara'a
Simsim.
Shalom Sesame is the first series
intended to reach out specifically to
an American Diaspora audience, but
similar programs are planned for
children of Arab Americans and of
Indian Americans based on Sesame
Street-style programs in Egypt and
India.
During a scene shot last month
from the final episodes of Shalom
Sesame, at a farewell party for
Grover and van der Pol, a wistful
van der Pol looks around at her new
friends and says, "I can't believe my
Israel adventure is over. It's been the
most amazing experience of my life
— the friends, the fun."
"The falafel!" pipes in Grover,
prompting a round of laughs.
Shoshana, who plays an Israeli
family friend of van der Pol's char-
acter, turns to her and says, "You will
always have a home here. You are our
mishpochah now, part of our family."
The director calls out, "OK, every-
one, get a little mushy now." L

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105