Shabot ShaBOOM!

Support Seda' Club in the FOX-Aniboom Holiday Animation Challenge!

Share the video with your friends, and if you think it deserves a chance, vote for it in September. I'll post a reminder then, too.

Thanks!

Matzah Boy

Meet Billy, son of Simon. Simon edited our "20 Things To Do With Matzah" music video, as well as Rosh Hashanah Girl and Pass The Candle. This is a photo from Simon's blog, of Billy's first Passover party at preschool here in Brooklyn. According to Simon, Billy prefers to strip and eat the chocolate off the matzah, leaving behind the flat, unleavened bread. At least we know what he can do with all that leftover matzah!

See more photos, and help Simon solve the mystery of the frogs.

Passover Videos

JTA, one of the sponsors of the Pass The Candle music video I made with Michelle Citrin for Hanukkah, was busy this week with articles and blog posts about Jewish videos for Passover. Author Amy Klein took an in depth look at the reasons behind the Jewish YouTube craze in her article, Let my people post Passover videos, where she interviewed Michelle about our Matzah Song, and followed up with a Top 10 list, 10 YouTube videos for Passover, (which I'm surprised failed to mention my Shabot 6000 "Seda' Club"), placing our "20 Things To Do With Matzah" at the #1 spot. And as a bonus, a JTA blog post, Two more Passover videos, by Ami Eden, gives a shout out to Bitter Herb.

Thanks for all the attention, JTA!

Bitter Herb

Meet Bitter Herb, the star of my new Passover cartoon for Taglit-Birthright Israel. His name pretty much says it all -- please try to laugh with this standup comic, not at him.

Starring Meir Taub as Bitter Herb
Illustration, animation and music by me (William Levin)

Share it with your friends!

20 Things To Do With Outtakes

This Passover marks the first anniversary of Michelle Citrin's and my video, "20 Things To Do With Matzah". To celebrate, Michelle compiled this blooper reel of our experience while making the video. There are some really funny moments in it, and as well as few embarrassing ones I forgot about. Thanks, Michelle! And thanks, Jesse Epstein, for your camerawork!

Also see the original video, "20 Things To Do With Matzah", edited by Simon Weaver.

Happy Passover!

Pass The Candle

I am pleased to announce my third music video collaboration with Michelle "Rosh Hashanah Girl" Citrin. This one is called Pass The Candle, a Hanukkah celebration around the world. We received hundreds of submissions of video clips of our friends, families, and fans around the world, and compiled our favorites into a musical montage to our new song, "Left To Right".

Special thanks to ROI120 for honoring me with the 2008 ROI Small Grant to fulfill my "Music Videos for Jewish Kiddios" project. To fellow ROI120 participant, partner and friend, Michelle Citrin for her incredible talent, creativity and patience. And to Aryeh Goldsmith of Jewster.com for hosting the site and providing the inspiration for this music video over a year ago!

More thanks to Jesse Epstein for her help with the How-To video, and to Simon Weaver, who stayed up late at night editing the final music video.

Also special thanks to JTA and The Jewish Channel for their support.

And thank you, everyone, who sent in your video clips. We couldn't have done it without you! Including fellow ROI120 participants Marcus Freed, Harry Rubenstein, Esther Kustanowitz, Uri Levin, Josh Nelson, and Justin Korda. And friends Lisa Kingston, Andrew Krucoff, Ephraim "Ha'anak" K, Jesse Epstein and family, my niece Lola, Dina Garfinkel, Tova and Molly Gold, and Billy Weaver.

Help Us Pass the Candle

Michelle "Rosh Hashanah Girl" Citrin and I are making our next music video for Hanukkah, and we need your help! Send us your video clips of you passing a candle and lighting a menorah, and it just might end up in our musical montage. Watch the demo video and visit PassTheCandle.com for more instructions.

But hurry, Hanukkah is almost here, and we'd like to have all the video clips by November 28! If you go home for Thanksgiving, get your family involved!

Rosh to Buy

Exactly one year ago, Michelle Citrin and I released our first music video together, Rosh Hashanah Girl. Now you can purchase and download the song, "I Gotta' Love You Rosh Hashanah", along with our second holiday hit, "20 Things To Do With Matzah", together in a double release, aptly titled "Rosh Hashanah Girl & the Matzah Song".

Now, what the Jewish Advocate calls, "The best parody songs since Adam Sandler's 'Chanukah Song'" are available for download on your iPod with the release of their double hit album "Rosh Hashanah Girl and Matzah Song", so you can listen all year round!

If you love Rosh Hashanah Girl (who doesn't?), show your support for the artists and download the songs from CD Baby!

Phone Atone

How do Obama, McCain, Biden and Palin celebrate their Jewish heritage during the High Holy Days? Check out "Phone Atone", my latest cartoon for Taglit-Birthright Israel, a JibJab-style animation featuring the 2008 presidential and vice presidential candidates exploring the tradition of making amends for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Atonement is just a phone call away!

Written and animated by William Levin
Voices by William Levin and Andrea Praet
Special thanks: Concept by Jesse Epstein

Todd & God Get Their Fruit On

I'm happy to announce my latest cartoon for MyJewishLearning.com, Todd & God Episode 2: Eat a New Fruit for Rosh Hashanah. This is the second in the Todd & God series, after the pilot episode "How to Light the Hanukkah Candles" was introduced last year. In this educational series, featuring a young boy who befriends God, we learn about the tradition of eating a new fruit on the second night of Rosh Hashanah. And, as an added bonus, remember the old Sesame Street bit where a stop-motion animated orange sings Carmen? It was arguably one of the creepiest things I was exposed to as a child. Were the animators on drugs? You might ask the same question when you see this Todd & God tribute.

Happy 60th

Star-studded Hallelujah finale at the Radio City Music Hall

Last night I attended the Yom Ha'atzmaut Israel's 60th Anniversary Celebration at the Radio City Music Hall with my friends (thanks, Lindsay!). It was my first time in Radio City, and the show was really spectacular. An impressive lineup of Jewish and Israeli musicians, including Matisyahu, Idan Raichel, David Broza, Rami Kleinstein, John Zorn, and my favorite acts of the evening, Habanot Nechama and Yael Naim who performed her hit, "New Soul", made popular in the Apple MacBook Air commercials, as well as her cover of Brittany Spears' "Toxic". In addition to these wonderful musical acts, we were treated to special appearances by guest hosts Natalie Portman, Governor (and genetically Jewish!) of New York David Paterson, Paul Schaffer and Richard Belzer.

Alicia Post and Lindsay Litowitz share post-show shots

Esther K. and Doree Lewak descend at Radio City Music Hall

Steven I. Weiss finds his audience for The Jewish Channel in front of Radio City Music Hall

After the show, which ran past midnight, many of us ended up at Tavern on the Green for the Dor Chadash Yom Ha'atzmaut bash. I think every young Jew in New York was there, it was an impressive party!

Jewish Robot flanked by his Israel Girls, Lindsay and Sydney

More photos on Facebook

Honorable Mention

After just a few days online, our "20 Things To Do With Matzah" Passover music video is definitely making the rounds: It was a featured Viral Video Hit on Yahoo! Video and even made it to the main Yahoo.com home page, bringing in over 120,000 views to date. And on YouTube, with about 90,000 views, the video has received the honor of being the #40 Most Viewed Music Video This Week (#49 Most Viewed in Canada, and #78 in Australia).


You can also find mention of the Matzah Song in The Jewish Daily Forward, YNet News, and CNET News.com!

Matzah MIA!

According to an article in the New York Times, there is a nationwide shortage of matzah this Passover, especially on the West Coast! Maybe it's because Michelle and I used all of it for our music video?

Also reported on News.com, where they also linked to our video, "clearly made in anticipation of a more plentiful matzah environment".

20 Things To Do With Matzah

Passover's over, and wouldn't it be neat
If you could use all the matzah ... that you didn't eat?

I am pleased to present "20 Things To Do With Matzah", the new Post-Passover music video I produced with Michelle Citrin, a.k.a. Rosh Hashanah Girl! We're just a couple of crazy matzah-eating kids who grew up on Streit's Matzos for Pesach, so when Streit's learned we were making a video for the holiday, they were more than happy to give us 35 boxes of the stuff to use in our video.

Music and Lyrics by me and Michelle Citrin, video editing by Simon, and camerawork by Jesse Epstein.

Like the tight tees we wore in the video? You can get them at PopJudaica.com

Lyrics and more at MatzahSong.com

Also available on Facebook, MySpace, and Yahoo! Video

Chag Sameach!

Join the Seda' Club

My animated Shabot Passover special "Seda' Club" is now easier to share and embed on your blog than ever. It's available on YouTube, as well as MySpace and Facebook.

Share Shushan Shabot

Now you can share the Shushan Shabot Purim cartoon with your friends on YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook!

Heebonism 2007

Heebonism New York will take place at the Knitting Factory and start with an hour-long open bar from 9:00-10 p.m. The 21+ blowout will feature live sets by Original Hamster, Terry Diabolik (Finger on the Pulse), June D (White Dove) and DJ Krowd Pleezr, Christmas Carol Karaoke, "Strip Dreidel" led by Kinkyjews.com and all sorts of other Semitic salaciousness.

The event runs from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. (open bar courtesy of LinLin Vodka for the first hour) and will be held at the Knitting Factory (74 Leonard Street, New York, NY). Tickets are $20 in advance ( Knittingfactory.com) or $25 at the door. (The event is 21+)

BOTRO

Move over, Shabot? Max Miller of Columbia, Maryland, sent me this picture of BOTRO, a Jewish robot that his father drew for him in the mid 1960s. Way ahead of his time!

The Hanukkah in NYC Real Estate

Shabot fan Stephanie from IntoTheBox.tv submitted this video blog episode, The Hanukkah in NYC Real Estate, about a new synagogue being built in Lincoln Square. Lincoln Square Synagogue will be the first new temple build in NYC in decades.

The Nightmare Before Hanukkah

I found this odd video last year but saved it for Hanukkah time. It's no Todd and God or 8 Nights of Hanukkah, but consider it your gift for the first night!

The Adventures of Todd and God

Ladies and gentlemensches, I am pleased to present The Adventures of Todd and God, a new educational cartoon I developed for MyJewishLearning.com. This first episode is a Hanukkah special on how to light the menorah, and if all goes well, hopefully we can develop Todd and God into a series. So please share with your friends and let MyJewishLearning.com know what you think!

All art, animation, voices, sound design, and theme song by William Levin of JewishRobot.com. Special thanks to Daniel Septimus of MyJewishLearning.com for entrusting me with this project, and buddy Berger Boy for helping me brainstorm!

Visit Todd and God at their special home at ToddAndGod.com

Hammy Hanukkah

Jones Soda has released a new series of limited-edition holiday soda flavors, available in Christmas and Hanukkah packs. The Hanukkah pack includes Latke Soda, Apple Sauce Soda, Chocolate Coins Soda and Jelly Doughnut Soda, while the Christmas pack includes such holiday favorites as Christmas Tree Soda, Egg Nog Soda, Sugar Plum Soda, and my favorite, Christmas Ham Soda! And the good news is it's all kosher, even the ham soda, so you can enjoy the refreshing taste of ham with no guilt! I might try mixing the Christmas Ham Soda with the Hanukkah Apple Sauce Soda so I can get a taste of Peter Brady's favorite "pork chops and apple sauce".

8 Nights of Hanukkah

I am pleased to present "8 Nights of Hanukkah"! a new musical cartoon that I produced for my friend Sara Schwimmer of PopJudaica.com, formerly known as ChosenCouture.com. Conceived by Sara, illustration and animation and music and voices by me, and featuring a Fran Drescher, Natalie Portman, and a dead-on Madonna impression by friend Andrea Praet!

Hookah in the Sukkah

Dope beats courtesy of Harel Schachal & Anistar
PresenTense Magazine celebrated the launch of their third issue (in which I have a full-page Shabot 6000 special "Shabot Spot" comic) with Sukkot in the PresenTense: A Feast from the Middle East, celebrated in perfect weather and under the sukkah at the Sixth Street Community Synagogue in Manhattan. With live Middle Eastern music, more hookahs than you could shake a bong at, and food and wine flowing, I believe everyone who attended had a fantastic time, and this party marked the best PresenTense event yet!

PresenTense editor Esther K. and graphic designer Sari Lisch
Educator and former PresenTense contributor Beth Pollack and voiceover artist Jessica Wachsman
Heeb contributor David Kelsey and Basya Schechter of Pharaoh's Daughter
New Jewcy contributor Maya Wainhaus, world traveler Raven Brown, and Alicia "The Postmaster" Post
The shwarma and pita simply wasn't Jewish enough for Eli Valley's strict standards, so he moved shop to the kitchen for some real Jewish food ... Matzo Farfel
Jewish Robot with bedazzled admirer Alicia Post
Success! Party organizers Ariel Beery of PresenTense and Maven Haven, Dara Lehon, and the Good Rabbi Charlie Buckholtz

Rosh Hashanah Girl

I am pleased to bring you my first non-cartoon video production, "I Gotta' Love You Rosh Hashanah"! Fellow ROI120 participant and music co-writer Michelle Citrin stars as Rosh Hashanah Girl in this musical parody of the popular "I Got A Crush...On Obama" video that came to fame on YouTube this summer.

The Rosh Hashanah Girl concept was originally pitched to client Taglit-birthright israel as another animated holiday e-card, but as I was recording the music with Michelle, I began to realize it would be so much better as a real live video, and with Michelle as Rosh Hashanah Girl. Reluctant at first, Michelle graciously accepted the star role, and we set out to shoot on location throughout New York City. Once we had enough footage, friend Simon Weaver lived up to his name and weaved the tapestry of video goodness you see above.

If you watch the video closely, you'll spy Leading Up North Fly Girls Danielle Cohen, Sydney Henning, Esther Kustanowitz, Lindsay Litowitz, and Gabby Sirner; Grey co-worker Jim Heekin; even notable Union Square 6'7" Jewish faith healer Te'DeVan.

We hope you enjoy the video and will share it with your friends and family ... Even Obama Girl herself is helping to spread the word!

For lyrics and more information visit Rosh Hashanah Girl on our website, rhgirl.com!

Happy Birthday, Motherland and Sister Sandy

Israel turns 59 today. My sister Sandy turns ... well, significantly younger than Israel.

Happy birthday, Israel and Sandy!

Dor Chadash Yom Ha'atzmaut in NYC

Berger Boy and I will see you at the Dor Chadash Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration in NYC.

Yom Ha'atzmaut - April 23, 2007

Where: Capitale - 130 Bowery

When:
6:00 Doors Open
6:30 One Hour Open Wine/Vodka Bar; Light Passed Hors D'oeuvres
7:30 Yom HaZikaron/Memorial Ceremony Begins - No Admittance During Ceremony
8:15 Yom Ha'atzmaut Celebration Begins!

Price:
Regular Ticket - $30 in advance; 40 at the door
VIP* Ticket: $75 in advance; $100 at the door

Teh History of Israel

Please join me in wishing Israel a happy birthday! "Teh History of Israel", is a new cartoon I produced for birthright israel in celebration of Yom Ha'atzmaut, or Israel Independence Day.

(Oddly, YouTube happened to chose the most boring frame of the entire cartoon as the preview screen.) The style of pictorial animation I used for this cartoon was inspired by Brad Neely's excellent Professor Brothers series.

Feel free to share with your friends, and have a wonderful celebration!

This cartoon is a product of JewishRobot!

Egg's Exodus

In the spirit of Passover, Karen the Exotic Egyptian German Australian Artist and self proclaimed Egg Princess sent me her cool cartoon illustration of Moses in what appears to be a moment of frustration, expressing his true feelings about the whole Exodus ordeal. You can find more of Karen's unique cartoons—and even be her friend—on MySpace.

Chag Sameach Pesach!
-- The Jewish Robot

Festival of Chametz

Prepare yourself for the Four Questions with the creative flavors of four Israeli artists making it in New York City: Sephardi-infused jazz by Ayelet Rose Gottlieb ; Beats by Modular Moods' DJ Handler backed by chanteuse Smadar Levi ; Short films by Aylam Orian ; Performance poetry by Eran Tzelgov.

Co-sponsored by Ben Gurion University of the Negev--where you can immerse yourself in Israel --and Jewlicious.

When: Saturday, March 31, 10:30pm till the Exodus
Where: The Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street, New York, NY 10013
Cost: $8 at the door, $5 presale or with donation of bread or grain at the door.
How: You can take the 1 or 9 train to Franklin Street, walk one block south to Leonard, turn left and walk a block & a half to the club
Contact: MiriamHaier -at- presentensemagazine.org

Come for art, pre-Passover partying and the official launch of PresenTense Magazine's third issue! (which is, well, Issue Two)

More information at PresenTense Magazine

Share da Love with Seda' Club

I'm trying a little something different this year for Passover. With the increasing popularity of video sharing sites like YouTube and MySpace, I've decided to share my own Seda' Club cartoon as an embedded video. Now you can display the cartoon on your own web page and blogs!


Get the code to share Seda' Club on MySpace. The original high-quality Flash version is still available for you to enjoy here on this site.

Also, if you love Shabot rapping with 50 Cent, and you've can spare 50 Cents x2, you can download the mp3 for your iPod!

Sweet Purim Jam, Brooklyn Style

IYUUN Chabad of Carroll Gardens Annual Purim Jam!
With no concrete Purim plans, I wandered over to the BAM Café with my buddy Berger Boy, only to discover that the Hip-Hop Hafla Purim Party, part of the 2007 Steinhardt Jewish Heritage Festival, was already winding down. We waited for Ariel Beery to show up before jetting, and going with the flow, we followed a group of nomadic Jews over to the Chabad of Carroll Gardens a few blocks away.

When we arrived, I was surprised to find an oasis of music, food, and celebration in a part of Brooklyn that I've only passed through, never stopping to smell the roses. And to make things even more special, Hasidic hip-hop artist Matisyahu made a surprise appearance, and put on an impromptu performance. Even though I've poked fun at him in my Shabot comics, I had never seen Matisyahu perform before, so I lucked out when I just happened to be sitting right up front, about two feet away from him as he busted out with the beats.

Impromptu Matisyahu
Berger Boy caught the whole thing on film

Watch a clip of Matisyahu perform live at Chabad of Carroll Gardens

After his performance, I had an opportunity to introduce myself and talk with Matisyahu briefly, before the swarm of admiring frum gals flocked around him, maintaining a respectable distance, wishing they could jump his shomer negiyah bones.

Matisyahu and the Jewish Robot
Resident Engergy Conservationist Ami "Greener" Greener and sidekick Adam
Who let Super Mario in the house? Ariel Beery wears his Leading Up North work clothes so he can get down and dirty.
Jamming out the Chabad Melodies, Purim style
Hasidic Crown Heights native and fashion designer Levi Okunov and publicist Berel made it to the party
By the time this photo was taken, Paul could not tell the difference between "Cursed be Haman" and "Blessed be Mordecai". Though the next day, Berger Boy confessed he didn't know the difference before he got drunk, either

Grateful Yid Purim Bash

If you happen to be Brooklyn-bound this Purim weekend, come to Southpaw for the 3rd Annual Grateful Yid Purim Bash:

Sun. 3/4
Chabad of Prospect Heights presents the 3rd Annual Purim Bash
Join us for an incredible evening of celebration, music & L'Chiam!
4:00pm Megillah Reading
5:00pm Funk & Festivities! featuring
MATISYAHU
Rahanim
Asefa
Y-Love feat. DJ Handler & Yoshie
with special guest Heedoosh
$15 adv./$15 d.o.s
3 pm doors
best Purim Costume takes grand prize -info. call 718-362-9213
Southpaw @ 125 5th Ave. Brooklyn, NY
Buy Tickets here

In the (Server) Closet

Speaking of cartoons from the Artist Formerly Known as Macboy, here's an old Flash cartoon greeting card for the holidays, Xmas, made especially for hardcore Macintosh nerds. The cartoon depicts a server closet with thirty, count 'em, thirty stacked Apple Xserve rackmount computers, and what might happen when the office shuts down for the holiday break. And for the server stickler, I programmed the light show to correspond exactly with the actual LED layout of the original Xserve computers. All illustration, animation, and music arrangement by me.

Happy Holidays from Macboy, a.k.a. The Jewish Robot!

Family

Visiting my grandparents at the Alliance Cemetery in Vineland
For the first time in a while, my entire family were together in my hometown, Vineland, NJ. That includes my parents, my sisters Sandy and Michelle, Sandy's husband Todd, and their baby LOLA, with special guest appearances by hot Jewish author P.D. Berger (not shown, because he was the Man with the Camera) and the infamous Shansta!

I was born and raised in Vineland, NJ, a town known for its poultry and farms. In fact, just down the street from my sister's place is a little family of llamas and donkeys. I know llamas can be kept for their wool, but I'm not sure what the advantage is of keeping donkeys. Maybe they're trying to crossbreed ... llonkeys?

Llamas and donkeys down the street
Thanksgiving was relaxing, and every time I visit home I wonder why I don't do it more often.

Then, by Sunday, I'm always scrambling for the earliest ride back to Brooklyn.

Sandy, The Shansta, Michelle, Lola, and the Jewish Robot
Photos by Paul Berger

Thanksgiving Tov

I'm heading home to Vineland, NJ to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Sorry no new comics this week, but I'll resume a normal schedule when I get back.

Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your Empire Kosher turkeys!