Next stop: Chabotville!
Welcome to Chabotville!
Mr. and Mrs. Chabot’s neighborhood, right next door to Botsville USA
Chabotville is where the bots of Botsville come to learn about the Jewish holidays and celebrate them together. The videos here are for every age, from the Tiny Bots to the Builder Crew.
Mr. Chabot
Mr. Chabot is a wise, warm and gently funny bot who always has his book in hand. He hosts the holiday videos and explains each holiday, how we keep it, and the beautiful meaning behind it.
He always says: “Let’s learn it together!”
Mrs. Chabot
Mrs. Chabot is Mr. Chabot’s wife, a warm and patient teacher bot. She leads the traditions at home and in the kitchen, like baking challah for Shabbat, step by step.
She always says: “Every mitzvah starts at home!”
Play all Chabotville videos
The holiday videos play one after another. Tap any video to jump to it.
Botsville Bots Episode 4: Hanukkah Lights
Jewish holiday videos
-
Botsville Bots Episode 4 Ages 5-7Hanukkah Lights
Learning about Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, and counting eight candles.
The bots build a blue-and-white brick menorah, and Mr. Chabot, a kind and wise bot, comes to visit and explains Hanukkah: long ago the brave Maccabees got back the holy Temple in Jerusalem and made it special again, and one little jar of oil kept shining for eight days. The helper candle called the shamash lights the others (and reminds us we can be helpers too), one more candle is added each night, and the menorah goes in a window so everyone can see the light. They count all eight candles, spin a dreidel, talk about latkes and jelly doughnuts cooked in oil, and sing along to a Hanukkah tune with words on the screen.
Try it at home: Count the candles with a grown-up! Remember, only grown-ups light real candles.
-
Botsville Bots Episode 6 Ages 5-7Mrs. Chabot's Kitchen: The Great Challah Comeback
How to bake challah step by step, separating challah, and what Shabbat is.
Tonight is Shabbat, and the whole neighborhood is coming for dinner! But when Noodle, the friendly neighborhood puppy, gobbles up the challah cooling by the window, Mrs. Chabot calmly shows Pebbit, Stack, Widgely and Trilla how to bake it again, step by step: knead the dough, let it rise, separate challah with a blessing, braid three ropes and brush on egg. Mr. Chabot stops by to explain separating challah: long ago a piece of the dough was a gift for the kohanim, and it reminds us that what we have isn't only for us. Together they save Shabbat dinner, and Mr. and Mrs. Chabot explain what Shabbat is: a weekly day of rest from Friday just before sundown until the stars come out on Saturday night, with Shabbat candles, Kiddush, two challahs that remind us of the double portion of manna, time for family and friends, and Havdalah. Noodle is fine and nobody is in trouble: he gets his own dog treat and a bowl of water. Shabbat Shalom!
Try it at home: Next time you bake challah, ask a grown-up to help! Keep food covered and up high, and remember that only grown-ups use the oven. Bread and raw dough aren't food for dogs.
-
Builder Crew Episode 2 Ages 7-11The Great Sukkah Rescue
Learning how to build a sukkah the right way for Sukkot, and about the lulav and etrog.
Sukkot starts tomorrow when a gust of wind tips over the big city sukkah in the town square (nobody was inside, and everyone is safe). The Builder Crew cleans up, finds out the walls weren't braced or tied tight, and Mr. Chabot, a kind and wise bot, arrives to teach them the rules as they rebuild it the right way: at least three walls sturdy enough to stand in a normal wind (even toy bricks work), not too short and not too tall, and a roof covering called schach made of cut plants like branches and bamboo, with more shade than sun, room to see the stars, and no tree or roof above it. Remixa decorates it, the crew shares their first holiday meal inside, Mr. Chabot shares that the sukkah reminds us of the clouds of glory that protected the Israelites in the desert, and the next morning he leads the four kinds: the lulav (palm branch) bound with myrtle and willow, held together with the etrog (citron), with a blessing, then waved in all six directions. Chag Sameach!
Try it at home: Next Sukkot, visit a sukkah with a grown-up and check: how many walls does it have, and can you see the stars through the schach?
More holiday videos are on the way!