Replace Hebrew School Books With Israeli B-Movies

Mason Lerner September 29, 2010

‘Don’t be a shvitzer,” said the mother to her son as he left to join the IDF. This is but one of the wonderful bits of motherly advice in “Eskimo Limon,” the 1978 Israeli cult classic. “Eskimo Limon” is among the many hilarious Israeli movies from the ’60s and ’70s known as “Bourekas films”: tawdry, cheaply made and rife with political incorrectness and cleavage shots. In other words, kids might actually look forward to learning Hebrew on Sunday mornings if Bourekas films made up the core of the curriculum.

Although these movies were passé in Israel by the 1980s, they remain powerful educational tools for teaching youngsters not only Hebrew but also Israeli culture and history. The films showcase the ethnic tensions that plagued Israel when the country itself was in young adulthood, usually pitting a Sephardic “good guy” against an Ashkenazic establishment figure. The sight of the short-shorts and hairy legs alone would be enough keep Hebrew school students laughing all semester. And the breast shots would help keep even the most rambunctious boys in their seats.

Memo to teachers: Do not show “Eskimo Limon” until the last week of class, lest your male students attempt to imitate the scene in which a young man inserts his genitals into the bottom of a tub of popcorn and then offers his date a handful.

Mason Lerner is the sports editor of The Faster Times.

Mason Lerner is a writer, artist and kvetch in Houston, TX. You can see his work on his website.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Forward. Discover more perspectives in Opinion. To contact Opinion authors, email [email protected].

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO