The Jewish DVD Library Catalog (beta)
Click to select a category:
CHILDREN * HOLOCAUST * ISRAEL * REBBE/CHABAD
EDUCATIONAL VIDEOS FOR CHILDREN
Welcome to Israel: Grover goes to Israel! Join your favorite blue monster and his new pal, Anneliese van der Pol, as they explore Rechov Sumsum, Israel's Sesame Street, and learn about a new country. It's an adventure they'll never forget — full of fun, friends and flying falafel! Grover and familiar faces from Sesame Street — including Big Bird, Snuffy, Ernie and Bert, the Count and Zoe — learn about new foods, new places and new cultures while exploring themes of travel, diversity and friendship. With guest star Christina Applegate.
Sticky Shofar: It's Rosh Hashanah, and Avigail discovers that honey is sweet and very, very sticky! Grover, Avigail and Brosh learn a valuable lesson in friendship and forgiveness, just in time to start the New Year right! Join Grover and familiar faces from Sesame Street in exploring the meaning of Rosh Hashanah, and learn about the symbols and celebrations of this special time of year. With guest star Ann Curry.
Monster in the Sukkah: Avigail and Brosh's plans to welcome their guests come crashing down with their sukkah. Oh no! How can they rebuild it in time for Sukkot? With a little help from their friends, of course! Come along with Avigail, Brosh, Grover, the Count and other friends from Sesame Street — visit an etrog farm, stop by a kibbutz, learn about the story of Abraham and celebrate Simchat Torah at the end of Sukkot!
Chanukah: The Missing Menorah: It's time to celebrate Chanukah in Israel! Grover is bringing the latkes, and all is well until Anneliese gets caught in a game of tag with a chicken and loses her special menorah… right before sunset! Can her friends find the missing menorah in time? Explore holiday foods, stories and traditions with familiar faces from Sesame Street including Grover, Telly and the Count. Learn to count in Hebrew, see how olive oil is made, and spin the dreidel with Baby Bear and his family in this new holiday special. With guest star Debi Mazar.
Grover Plants a Tree: It's Tu Bishvat! Grover, Brosh and Avigail get back to nature as they learn how to plant trees and make the world a better place. Take care of the environment with familiar faces from Sesame Street, including Ernie and the Count. Grow a beautiful garden, visit a "green" school in Israel and explore the many dried fruits at an Israeli market. With guest stars Greg Kinnear and Debra Messing.
Be Happy, It's Purim!: Everyone's dressing up for Purim, so get out your groggers (noisemakers) and join the fun! Avigail is inspired by the story of Esther. Moishe Oofnik is his usual grouchy self… but who is that mysterious masked singer at the Purim Shpiel? See how hamantaschen are made and pick out a costume for the Purim parade as we learn all about this holiday. With guest stars Jack Black, Eva Longoria and Natalie Portman.
It's Passover, Grover: It's almost time to celebrate Passover, and there is no horseradish to be found. Grover, Anneliese and Avigail put their heads together to track it down, but things get tricky when Moishe Oofnik's involved! Explore holiday foods, traditions, celebrations and the story of Passover with friends from Sesame Street including Grover, Elmo and the Count. With guest star Jake Gyllenhaal.
Countdown to Shavuot: It's Shavuot! Avigail and Brosh want to stay up all night just like the grown-ups. Will they be able to do it? They will certainly try with a little help from a dancing cow! Take a trip to the Israeli desert, see how a mezuzah is crafted, and learn the story of Moses at Mt. Sinai along with familiar Sesame Street friends. With guest star Ben Stiller.
Adventures in Israel: Anneliese's adventures in Israel are almost over, but there are still so many sights to see before she goes. Meanwhile, Grover explores Israel his own unique way. Join Sesame Street favorites Bert, Ernie and the Count and uncover Israel's treasures on an archaeological dig, visit the city of Haifa and sing "Rubber Duckie" in Hebrew! With guest star Maggie Gyllenhaal.
Shabbat Shalom, Grover: Grover can't seem to figure out why everyone is so busy just getting ready for a day of rest. Join Grover as he learns all about Shabbat, and sing along to Avigail's favorite Shabbat song, "Bim Bam"! Join Big Bird, Elmo and the Count from Sesame Street as Shabbat approaches. Explore the sights, sounds and smells of the shuk, see how challah is made and spend Friday afternoon in an Israeli kindergarten classroom. With guest star Cedric the Entertainer.
Mitzvah on the Street: When a storm makes a mess of the neighborhood, everyone lends a helping hand. In the meantime, Grover is invited to a Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem. Come along with Matisyahu and Oofnik as they beatbox the "Hava Nagila". Join familiar Sesame Street friends in learning about mitzvot and the many ways in which people can work together and treat one another with kindness. With guest star Matisyahu.
Grover Learns Hebrew: Join Grover as he learns lots of new words in Hebrew and is welcomed by the Rechov Sumsum family. Come along and sing the Aleph-Bet song and find out what Grover's favorite Hebrew word is. Explore the sounds and origin of the Hebrew language, while trying out some new words and phrases. Join Sesame Street friends including Zoe, Elmo, and the Count and follow Grover as he explores the beautiful city of Tel Aviv. With guest star Debra Messing.
Chanukah & Passover at Bubbe's: Join in a joyful romp with a host of colorful muppet-like characters. There is Anton the bully, who insists on having things his way, Rhino, who "horns" in before he understands the situation, Chester, who tries too hard to fit in, practical Zachary and adorable Muffin. Chanuka at Bubbe's - While this fascinating group prepares for the holiday feast, we witness the pasat as Bubbe relates the story of Chanuka - the fight between the Greeks and the Maccabees - the miracle of the burning oil - the importance of religious freedom for all people. Passover at Bubbe's - The all-puppet cast and everybody's favorite grandmother, Bubbe, prepare for the annual seder. They are surprised by a talking Haggadah and are magically whisked back to Egypt during the time of the Pharoahs. DVD exclusives: “Sing Along at Bubbe’s” (songs from the programs with lyrics), traditional games, phrases and recipes.
Young Abraham: Nimrod’s kingdom is about to face its greatest challenger in a young boy named Avraham. While little is known [from the verses of Genesis] of Abraham’s childhood, the Midrash presents a mighty tale of this courageous boy who stands toe to toe against the most powerful ruler of the ancient world. From the ancient city of Ur to the lush hills of Canaan [where Abraham goes to learn from Noah about G‑d], Abraham’s journey is filled with adventure, danger, and plenty of laughs. Our thanks to the writer, R' Yisroel Bernath, for donating this DVD to our library.
Eli Learns His Aleph Beis: Let's see... Aleph... Hey... Gimmel... uh, no, that's not right. The Gimmel comes before the Hey and after the Aleph. Or is it the Aleph comes before the Gimmel, but farther away from the Hey?
Eli can't remember all the letters of the Aleph Beis in order; that is, until he gets help from his friends on Mitzvah Blvd. Join Eli and his friends as they learn the entire Aleph Beis one by one, but will they be ready in time for the big Aleph Beis contest?
Shuey Learns His Brochos: An apple. A cookie. Pizza. What are the correct Brochos (blessings)? Shuey seems to have trouble remembering which brochos are said on which foods. Join Shuey and his friends as they travel down Mitzvah Boulevard gathering food for a grand picnic and learning the correct Brochos all the way to the park!
My Land: A children's tour through Israel's Holy Cities accompanied by the teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson. Join young boys and girls as they lead us on an unforgettable tour of the holy cities of Israel - Jerusalem, Tiberias, Chevron and Sefad. The lessons and messages of our Holy Land are taught through fun and song. Come along as friendly children, fun jugglers, street vendors and mysterious strangers show you the special places of your heritage - your nation, your history and your Land!
My Pesukim: My Pesukim features the Twelve Torah Passages as recited by young boys and girls in the Rebbe's presence. Watch as the Rebbe affectionately observes the children recite the Pesukim, and join along with them. Hear a short explanation from the Rebbe on each of the Pesukim. “From the mouth of babies and infants You establish strength to silence the enemy and the avenger” –Psalms 8:3. As part of his campaign to educate every Jewish child, the Rebbe selected twelve fundamental Torah passages especially for every Jewish boy and girl. The Rebbe urged children to recite the verses, study them by heart, and teach them to others. The impressions these Torah thoughts would make upon their minds, the Rebbe said, would create a deep connection to Torah and the Jewish faith. He also urged the children to teach them to others. “When boys and girls recite words of Torah,” the Rebbe quoted, “they assure the peace and well-being of our People.” Since then, millions of Jewish children the world over have studied them by heart and recited them daily.
Belzec: Filmmaker Guillaume Moscovitz offers this eye-opening look at Belzec, a little known Nazi death camp in eastern Poland where over 600,000 Jews perished during World War II. Though the camp was only operational for less than a year, historical accounts verify that it was one of the most efficient of its kind. Conversations with the Poles who were recruited by the Germans to build Belzec reveal deeply disturbing details about the camp, which was burned down by the S.S. in a desperate attempt to cover the evidence once the Soviets launched their counterattack in 1943. Belzec survivor Braha Rauffmann offers a heart-wrenching firsthand account of the horrors she experienced while hiding from the Nazis with the help of a kindhearted Polish woman.
No Place On Earth: Filmmaker Janet Tobias traces the harrowing tale of 38 Ukranian Jews who survived the Holocaust by fleeing into caves for 18 months. Constantly scavenging for food and water while constructing a series of carefully hidden escape routes, the desperate survivors would bide their time in the unforgiving environment until the Soviet Army arrived to liberate the region.
I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal: Richard Trank's documentary I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Wiesenthal joins Into the Arms of Strangers, The Power of Good, and other recent nonfiction films that reflect on WWII-era individuals emotionally invested in the pursuit of justice. This heart-rending film concerns Wiesenthal, a concentration camp survivor released from the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in 1945 on the verge of death from starvation. During his imprisonment, Wiesenthal dreamed of one day re-entering society and establishing himself as an architect, but the atrocities of the camp pointed Wiesenthal's life and career in a much different direction. When Wiesenthal returned to the outside world, with 89 of his family members exterminated by the Holocaust, he vowed to track down and bring to justice as many of the perpetrators of the Nazi atrocity as he could find - and spent years at this task, via a running list of the camp torturers, that he had secretly kept as a detainee. In the early years, with much of the world still ignorant of the extent of the Holocaust, Wiesenthal's was virtually a one-man operation, but in time, he joined forces with the American War Crimes Unit and U.S. Army War Crimes Committee to see the task through to fruition. All told, Wiesenthal helped incriminate an astonishing 1,100 individuals, including the leaders of the Sobibor and Treblinka camps, Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele - and his overarching goal, astonishingly, was not cold blooded revenge but a simple love of humanity - the need to free future generations from the dark shadow of the Nazi threat. To create this film in Wiesenthal's memory, Trank and his crew travel to multiple continents, and film exclusive interviews with those whose lives were touched by Wiesenthal, as well as Wiesenthal's descendants; they intercut this interview footage with rare archival footage of Wiesenthal. Academy Award-winning actress Nicole Kidman narrates.
Paper Clips: Paper Clips is an inspiring 2004 documentary about a consciousness-raising project that blossomed into something beautiful at a rural Tennessee school. When the principal of Whitwell Middle School sought a program that would teach diversity to a predominantly white, Protestant student body, the notion of focusing on the Holocaust—specifically Hitler's extermination of six million Jews—seemed like an obvious way to go. But understanding what "six million" looks like became a challenge. Thus was born the idea of collecting that number of paper clips at Whitwell as a visual reference.
But then it turned out paper clips actually have, in historical terms, symbolic value where the Holocaust is concerned. In this moving film, one sees Whitwell students dig into research on Germany's genocidal campaign, solicit clips from a variety of leaders and celebrities, and make a name for themselves on the national news. In time, the world comes to Whitwell's doorstep, via unsolicited donations of clips from people around the world, and in a tearful meeting of students and Holocaust survivors. The dimensions of the project, the lessons about prejudice and intolerance, are stunning to watch grow beyond anyone's wildest expectations. This is a great film for families and classrooms to watch together.
More titles in this category coming soon.
Six Days in June: Although the fighting lasted for only six days in June of 1967, the effects of the Six Day War are still apparent today. On its 40th anniversary, the region remains trapped in conflict and is every bit as explosive as it was then. Shot on location in Israel, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Moscow and Washington, this powerful film takes us through the weeks that preceded the war, its six days of fighting and its aftermath that lingers today.
Faithful and Fortified: Volume One - Defense and Intelligence tells the gripping tales of the Rebbe’s counsel to Israel’s military strategists and practitioners, as told by IDF generals and veterans. The Rebbe’s passion for Israel is anchored by a resolute strength, based on a Torah’s values, and a deep understanding of Israel’s societal and defense makeup.
Faithful and Fortified Volume Two - Israel’s Journalists turns the camera on some of Israel’s top military and political correspondents, who spent long hours in private conversation with the Rebbe. In encounters spanning decades and topics, the Rebbe shared incisive practical guidance on Israel’s strategic defense, transmitting to the Israeli public a message of faith and steadfastness.
Faithful and Fortified Volume Three - Israel's Prime Ministers takes you from the Rebbe’s office in Brooklyn to the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem. Tracing their relationships with the Rebbe back to their formative years in the political arena, Israel’s heads of state reveal, in their own words, some of the wisdom and spiritual fortitude that have guided them over the past sixty years.
More titles in this category coming soon.
Chabad History/Rebbe Documentaries
Sensitivity: Starting from Moses, their first leader, the Jewish People have been led by individuals exhibiting an essential and unique quality: They were thoughtfully attuned to the distinct and disparate needs of each person in their flock. Throughout history, in times of triumph and adversity, this trait has shown to be distinctively present and in each of our leaders. Culled from tens of hours of in-depth interviews, Sensitivity presents the simple but fascinating stories of those who felt the care and attention to their smallest needs exhibited by the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
Climbing the Rungs of Prayer: Prayer, a most intimate conversation with G‑d, plays a central role in Jewish life. It invokes man’s most basic needs while liberating him from them. It is a channel by which to influence one’s surroundings, and a vehicle for transcendence. Climbing the Rungs of Prayer allows you to learn and be inspired, first hand, through the elegant simplicity of the prayers of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson. This DVD contains narrations for both adults and children and explains many basic concepts of prayer and the prayer service, as well as numerous bonus scenes.
A Glimpse Through The Veil, volumes 1 & 2: “Miracles, and retelling the wondrous deeds of the righteous, uplift the individual, evoking a desire to shake oneself free from the mundane; they stir the soul – even one mired in the depths…”- The Rebbe, 1932
770 Eastern Parkway was the address thousands turned to in search of wisdom, comfort, and a miracle. Presented here are eight first-hand accounts of miraculous healing in the wake of the Rebbe’s blessings.
JOY!: The Rebbe was known to be an energetic, optimistic leader, who inspired the same of everyone with whom he came in contact, and his Chassidim and emissaries – the Shluchim – are renowned for their happy dispositions and downright jovial approach to challenges and problems. We’re sure you’ll walk away from the viewing experience moved by the contagious feelings of Joy!