Jewish network chronicles ‘Mitzvah Mouse’ adventures

NEW YORK, March 16 (JTA) — The answer to the Jewish continuity crisis? Turn on your television and travel through Jewish history with Mitzvah Mouse, says Jay Sanderson, the head of the Jewish Television Network. Mitzvah Mouse is a purple, Muppet-like puppet who sprinkles sparkly “magic matzah meal” around to take two puppet pals, Rachel and David Boomstein, on trips through time. Such trips find actor Avery Schreiber playing Jonah in the belly of the whale, and actor Elliot Gould playing Abraham, smashing idols and outsmarting his pagan king. Along the way the puppets — and viewers — learn about Jewish holidays, customs and values presented at a snappy pace and with hip asides for the benefit of parents. The show is presumably more “Sesame Street” than “Barney.” It’s part of the “Aleph…Bet…Blastoff!” series that the Jewish Television Network has produced. Sanderson believes that high-quality Jewish television can reach the Jews who don’t want to walk through the doors of a synagogue or Jewish community center in a way that nothing else can. “We could be reaching out to unaffiliated Jews in such an easy way, not asking them to do anything but turn a knob” on their television sets, he said. “Then they get excited about being Jewish and go into a JCC or synagogue.” He added: “We’re missing the entry point for people to come in, and this is it.” The Beverly Hills-based Jewish Television Network has existed since 1981, but it has not successfully penetrated the consciousness of American Jews. Sanderson, who worked as a television writer and producer in Los Angeles before joining the network in 1989, is trying hard to change that. But he said he has been facing an uphill climb because the leadership of the American Jewish community isn’t as supportive as he would like. The network is a non-profit organization, so rather than raise money through advertising, it seeks funding from foundations. With a budget of just under $1 million to produce about 300 hours of programming this year, Sanderson said, it gets by on a shoestring. “We have not gotten any direct funding from a federation,” he said. “The federations are supportive of what we’re doing but have not shown us the money.” Though 90 percent of Jewish households have cable, which is more than most other religious and ethnic groups, he said, the Jewish community hasn’t capitalized on the medium. “We’re the only group that hasn’t embraced television for what it offers. Koreans, Iranians, Christians all have, but not us, mostly because the Jewish community’s leadership doesn’t understand marketing,” he said. Gary Tobin, director of the Brandeis University-affiliated think tank, the Institute for Community and Religion, said that such a single-minded focus is off the mark. “The Jewish Television Network would be helpful in reaching non-affiliated Jews, but so would Jewish radio and Jewish film and Jewish Outward Bound and retreat centers and 50 other enterprises that the Jewish community should be more actively engaged in,” he said. “There is no single silver bullet which will connect Jews.” Jewish Television Network programs currently air in several major markets, with the potential to reach 13 million homes, including 55 percent of all American Jewish households, Sanderson said. The stations which carry its programs are mostly Public Broadcasting System affiliates in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida, and cable stations in the Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington areas. In addition to “Aleph…Bet…Blastoff!,” which has won CableAce and Parents Choice Awards, the network also broadcasts “Twenty 2 Forty,” an interview show oriented toward Generation X, the term used for the 20-something generation. The talk show, “Dr. Dale’s Life Issues” stars psychologist Dale Atkins. A recent episode involved a frank discussion with several interfaith couples talking about the conflicts and challenges they face. A weekly news program, a kosher gourmet cooking show and a few others round out the offerings. In May, the network will begin televising a show featuring the best performances from the 92nd Street Y, a cultural and musical center on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.