The Magic Door Television Theatre

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The Magic Door was a Jewish educational television series aimed at providing kiruv (outreach) to Jewish children in the Chicago metropolitan area. The show was produced by the Jewish Federation of Chicago; and premiered January 1, 1962. The show ran weekly until January 1, 1982 that aired at 7:00 AM every Sunday morning on channel 9, WGN.

[edit] Background Information

The main characters of the series included "Tiny Tov" (a character "reduced" to appear as a kind of elf), and two hand puppets named "Scrunch" and "Judy". Tiny lived in a house that was made out of an acorn, the entrance was "The Magic Door".

Each week Tiny Tov would travel back through time riding his Magic Feather. Each week he would educate Jewish children on Jewish history, sharing stories from Torah.

Every episode would include a brief Hebrew lesson, stepping through the Aleph-Bet (Hebrew alphabet).

Tiny Tov was played by Charles Gerber, who also created the song lyrics. Gerber, currently resides in New York.

[edit] Theme Song

A Room Zoom Zoom A Room Zoom Zoom Gilly Gilly Gilly Gilly Ot Zat Za Come open,Come open the magic door with me, With your imagination there's so much we can see. There is a doorway that leads to a place. I'll find my way by the smile on your face.