Shalom Sesame: Chanukah

<p>To kick off Hanukkah, we’re shining a light on a 1990 episode of “Shalom Sesame,” an on-again, off-again co-production of “Sesame Street” and its Israeli counterpart, “Rechov Sumsum,” featuring the objectively better son from “Growing Pains.”</p><hr /><h4>On This Episode</h4><ol><li><strong>Mike Westfall</strong> (<a href="https://twitter.com/fallwestmike">@fallwestmike</a>), the world’s most famous jug of olive oil.</li><li><strong>Sarah Shay</strong> (<a href="https://twitter.com/thesarahshay">@thesarahshay</a>), your friendly neighborhood porcupine, <a href="http://sarahshay.com">writer, musician</a>, and co-host of the <a href="http://pilothousepodcast.com">Pilot House</a> podcast.</li></ol><hr /><h4>Topics and Tangents</h4><ol><li>A brief history of <a href="https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Shalom_Sesame">Shalom Sesame</a>, provided by the ever-thorough Muppet Wiki.</li><li>Israel’s Big Bird stand-in, <a href="https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Kippi_Ben_Kippod">Kippi Ben Kippod</a>, is mistranslated as a porcupine despite clearly being a hedgehog. A similar but unclothed costume was used in Spain’s “Barrio Sésamo” for <a href="https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Espinete">Espinete</a>, who’s identified as a hedgehog.</li><li>Jeremy Miller, as Linus, sings “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2MLcHNRJf8">The Vigil</a>,” while waiting for the Great Pumpkin in “Snoopy: The Musical,” also featuring Cam Clarke, the voice of Leonardo, as Snoopy.</li><li>Speaking of Ninja Turtles, <a href="https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Yoav_Tzafir">Yoav Tzafir</a>’s other credits include the Hebrew-dubbed voices of Michaelangelo, as well as Mario in “The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.” Later he directed the Israeli version of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”</li><li>The real, actual, annual <a href="https://www.maccabi.org/education/torch-relay">Hanukkah Torch Relay</a>.</li><li><a href="https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Moishe_Oofnik">Moishe Oofnik</a>, Israel’s counterpart to Oscar, looks less like a grouch and more like a standar