Spotlight on Mitzvah Boulevard: Shabbos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have ever watched any of the Mitzvah  Boulevard videos, there is no doubt that you, like me, are already hearing the theme song in your head.   Come on…everybody sing along, “Mitzvah, mitzvah, Mitzvah Boulevard, Mitzvah Boulevard. Mitzvah, mitzvah, Mitzvah Boulevard.”

 

I can’t tell you that Mitzvah Boulevard is aimed at adults who might get corralled into watching with the little ones, but I can tell you that my test group, consisting of a six year old, a four year old and a three year old, spent a full 35 minutes with their eyes riveted to the screen as the humans and puppets who inhabit Mitzvah Boulevard delved into an all new subject: Shabbos.

 

Some of the segments were cute:  interviews with kids (humans, not the puppets) talking about soup croutons, their favorite challah  and what ingredients you put in a cholent, a question that brought the standard answers (potatoes, meat, beans) and the unconventional (peanuts, pretzels.)  There was the continuous plot line of Bubby (a puppet) who invited her grandchildren (human – possibly a mixed marriage somewhere along the way?) for Shabbos, involving a talking, mustached-challah, an emergency trip by two youngsters in a battery operated kiddie car to The Market Place to buy groceries for Shabbos and a beautiful Shabbos meal with Bubby and all her little ones.

 

Sprinkled throughout are stories about Shabbos, songs and a cooking show involving Chef Leibish Lokshen, Chazan Chaim Feivish and a pile of lokshen that mysteriously keeps crawling away.  My favorite part of the video?  A wonderful Lamed Tes Melachos song that will no doubt have my kids soon knowing all 39 melachos way better than I ever will.

 

So, let’s see.  We have educational content, some decent music and 35 solid minutes of entertainment that translates into just over a half hour of peace and quiet while the younger set is entertained.  To me that sounds like a DVD worth owning, particularly with both Chanukah and winter vacations looming.

 

Mitzvah Boulevard Shabbos is distributed by Aderet and is available at MostlyMusic.com and wherever Jewish music is sold.