Thanks for your continued business. This is us in the midst of the Hanukkah rush!

Rob and Lisi

...that we get an order like this:

Sent from: Lima, Peru
Sent to: Knoxville, TN

It's a small world after all!

As you prepare for Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur, let us not forget the lesser known holiday that falls each year on September 19, Talk Like a Pirate Day!

OyBaby has shipped to customers in 48 states, and that just bugs me. Alaska, I understand that you've been holding out to be #49, but can you hurry up already and place an order? And you, West Virginia, what's your excuse?

Anyone need a Jewish baby gift sent to either of those states? Email us here at OyBaby World Headquarters and we'll send the first order to each of those states for free!

When Lisi and I started OyBaby in 2003, never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we'd reach this point. Today, we're announcing total sales of 20,000 units of our DVDs and CDs for Jewish Babies. Thank you all for bringing us to this momentous milestone. None of it would have been possible without the word of mouth recommendations from our fantastic customers.

Many of you have written in to ask what's next for us. We're currently working with a few synagogues on some live shows over the next few months. If your synagogue or other organization is interested in sponsoring a concert for your community, please visit the "contact us" section of the OyBaby web site.

L'Shanah Tovah and all the best to you and your families.

Hello everyone. It's been far too long. I'm determined to start posting more regularly.

This just in from my hometown of Cleveland...The kids at Gross Schecter Day School love OyBaby products! Here's a letter sent to me by their Preschool Director:

Thank you so much for sending us the Oy Baby DVDs and CDs. We have watched them and listened to them over and over again. I’m sending a letter home to the parents of our students telling them of your generosity and kindness, sharing with them the love our children have for them and letting them know where they can be purchased in town or ordered online. Hope this helps your sales soar!

Even better, they included a picture of some of the kids from the school. I don't know of a company in the world with cuter customers than ours!

OyBaby was featured on the front page of the Life and Arts section of The Seattle Post Intelligencer this weekend.

Click here to see the article, along with an unflattering picture of me!

In the credits sequence that ends the video, I plan to have a montage of children from across the world that have enjoyed OyBaby. It's my way of saying thank you for all of their support and encouragement along the way. The pictures will have captions that state the child's first name and home town. You can have the baby in your life included by simply sending a digital picture to info@oybaby.com. Be sure to include their first name and city + state or country.

Hey everyone...sorry it's been a while since I've posted to the blog. I have been Bizzz-y! Between the day job, family time, and keeping up with orders for our existing products, it's tough to get time to hunker down and focus on the sequel.

But then I realized that as long as I was willing to give up sleep, I'd have enough hours to fit it all in.

We had a great article written about us in Portland's newspaper, and expect one in a few weeks in the Seattle PI.

The sequel's coming along, slower than I expected, but I'm really pleased with what I've got so far.

Last time, I had 6 hours of footage to work with. This time? 27. I'm being alot more deliberate about what shots I want to get. The scenes will be more varied. I've filmed a few scenes twice, after getting back to the office and deciding that they didn't look quite right.

I feel myself getting better at videography as I log more hours behind the camera. It's hard to train yourself to see how the camera sees. Cameras accentuate shadows. They see colors differently under different kinds of light. Learning to trust the camera's viewfinder, and not "your lyin' eyes" is a real challenge.

With about 95% of the filming done, I've moved on to editing. I've got about 5 out of 15 songs done, and have been focusing on some of the more difficult ones first. I should be able to finish up editing in the next two weeks, get it off to the factory, and ready to order in the beginning of November.

Thanks for all of your continued support along the way.

R

Sophie's looking forward to seeing you all in OyBaby 2. This time, she's bringing her sister along for the fun!

Click each image for a larger version. And yes...that's the same kid that was eating the challah last time!

Ten Li...one of 14 new songs on OyBaby 2. Just like last time...bonus points for identifying the guest male vocalist. He's a really well known Jewish musician. Not Bob Dylan or Paul Simon well known, but known to people that follow Jewish music.

Click here to listen!

Esther Kustanowitz is the reigning queen of the Jewish blog world. She digs OyBaby. Baby Mozart? Not so much.

In her fabulous blog, My Urban Kvetch, Esther writes:

Talk about a post that's way overdue...I started writing this months ago, when co-creator Rob Wolf sent me a review copy of the OyBaby CD and DVD, and then proceeded to become exceedingly busy...so apologies that it's taken this long.

Most of us who know people with babies (the must-have accessory this season), know that there is such an entity as Baby Mozart (Baby Picasso, Baby Warhol, whatever). And many of us may have even been forced to watch this video, which contains a series of images and sounds which are supposedly educational-slash-stimulating for babies. The images and words are unrelated; in one segment I remember, there is a stack of five or so out-of-order alphabet blocks that appear on screen when the alphabet song is sung, but there is no correlation between the particular letters on screen and the letters being vocalized. In my mind, this is a wasted educational opportunity. But what do I know? Oh yeah, it's also infuriatingly annoying. For me, watching Baby Mozart once was one time two many.

So my hopes for OyBaby were not particularly high. Imagine my relief and surprise when the contents of this DVD and CD set not only didn't annoy me, but actually intrigued me. The voices that sing the songs are not "frummie" voices, nor are they Israeli-accented (in a way that would create generations of American children with faux Israeli gutturals). They're sweet but not syrupy, and the images projected over the voices (actually)complement each other. The CD is great car listening; I gave my copy to my cousin for her son (born in November), and both of them really enjoy it. Songs include some classic melodies as well as more contemporary Hebrew tunes.

And that's just version 1. Now, OyBaby's announced that they're having a "new baby": version 2.0, coming this fall with 14 new songs. The OyBaby blog chronicles it all for your entertainment...

Anyone who reads this blog knows I became an aunt recently. As soon as I'd posted news of the birth, I got a package in the mail from Rob: another copy of the CD and DVD, for my new nephew. So, to sum up:

1) Rob's a mensch and a savvy marketer.

2) OyBaby is cool. And maybe they should call it OyBabyFishMouth, because it's sure to be sweeping the Jewish nation.

So visit the OyBaby blog, download some songs, look at some of their photos, and judge for yourself...and if you place an order tell Rob you heard about it from Esther, the Urban Kvetch.

I think the best part of the whole post is the Baby Fishmouth reference. My sister and I have been calling each other that for years. Don't get the reference? Click here.

Shalom Rav...one of 14 new songs on OyBaby 2! Bonus points for identifying the guest male vocalist...
Click and Enjoy!

Where oh where did the week go?!

The plan was to take the week off of work, do some filming, some editing, some blogging, and get all caught up on the business end of things. It seems like I blinked and the week was over.

I now see why Coppola almost went insane while filming Apocalypse Now. Just kidding--it was great fun. I didn't get nearly as much of the filming accomplished as I thought I would, but hey, that's show business for you.

The week got off to a rather rocky start. It was a nice splash of cold water to tell me, "hey Rob, this isn't going to be easy." By the end of the week, the shots looked better and I had regained the confidence that I felt eroding earlier in the week. Each day's footage seemed to improve in quality.

The video I'm creating is in many ways more ambitious than the first, with more variety in filming locations, and a more narrative thread to each video.

I'm encouraged by all of the great feedback I've received on OyBaby, but also take it as a challenge to surpass your expectations again with the sequel. This week marked another milestone on that quest. Thanks for your interest and support along the way.

Just like last time, we have some talented kids taking over the mic for a few songs this time around. Here's one called "Af Peh Ozen." It's sort of Hebrew's answer to "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." Click here for a sample.

I'm taking a week of vacation from my day job to film a big chunk of OyBaby 2. I've got a big week planned, and Lisi and I have lots of babysitters lined up so we can keep things moving. As cute as they are, our kids can't be in every scene.

We have about 50 kids lined up (amazingly, 31 girls and only 19 boys). We start Monday morning with a scene at a park. Tuesday night, we're doing a mock Shabbat dinner. We've got Puppets on Wednesday and "Seder" Thursday. Throughout the week, we'll be filming at some people's houses, and the elaborate OyBaby production facility our garage.

Check this site often this week. I'll post some "stills" from the set, as well as some more music samples.

Oh, you want another music sample tonight? Ok...Shabbat Shalom. This one's a full-length version: L'Cha Dodi.

In the Summer, 2005 issue of Reform Judaism, Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer writes:

"Searching for the perfect au currant new baby gift? Today, you need look no further than your local Sisterhood Judaica shop to pick up a copy of Judaism’s answer to the “Baby Einstein” trend. “Oy Baby!,” a video of Jewish imagery and music created for babies six months and up, is one of the fastest selling items in the gift shop of Temple Beth Israel in Fresno, California, says buyer Arlana Stewart."

Attention Disney Corporation lawyers: They said it, not me!

Modeh Ani...one of 14 new songs on OyBaby 2!
Click here to listen to a sample!

Use the comments feature to let us know what you think!

Mi Chamocha...one of 14 new songs on OyBaby 2!
Click here to listen to a sample!

Use the comments feature to let us know what you think!

Just a quickie...The OyBaby 2 music is being mixed this week by a guy that's been the engineer on a number of Prince albums. How cool is that?

We're two days into recording, and all seems to be going well down in the studio. We recorded all of the instrument tracks first, and the vocalists will sing on top of them for the rest of this week.

Tomorrow morning, Lisi, our friend Sheryl (whose hand you see lighting the menorah in Maoz Tzur) and I head down Interstate 5 from Seattle to Portland to watch and document some of the recording session. In OyBaby 2, you'll actually get to see our fabulous musicians in action as part of the visual treatment of some of the songs. I also plan to include a short "making of" vignette on the DVD.

Tomorrow night, we have our children's chorus coming into the studio to lay down their tracks. Doug Blauer, the male voice on Cheri Bim Bum, will be returning with his inimitable ruach to lead the kids on a hep cat arrangement of Hiney Ma Tov.

I'm excited to get there, but even more excited to get a CD with some rough mixes of the songs for the drive back. I'll post some samples soon, so keep checking this blog!

Many of you have heard of Craig Taubman--a giant on the Jewish music scene for the past twenty years. Craig and his production company (the aptly titled "Craig and Company") have selected OyBaby as their product of the month. Along with this selection, they're offering an outstanding deal on their web site. Get BOTH the DVD and CD for just $25. That's like buying the DVD and getting the CD for FREE!

So, if you have any baby gifts to buy, or want to recommend OyBaby to a friend, now's a great time to do it! This limited time offer is available at www.craignco.com

Of course, our website is always open for business as well - www.oybaby.com

Ok, enough with the commercials, back to the typical blog fare...

Is there a more beautiful Hebrew song in words and spirit than L'Cha Dodi?

Come my beloved
to meet the bride,
Let us welcome the Sabbath

L'Cha Dodi was originally a poem composed kabbalist Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz. Rabbi Alkabetz was a kabbalist in the 1500's, about 500 years prior to Madonna.

Lately, Stephanie and I have been trying to track down a particular arrangement of the song. It was the one I grew up hearing at B'nai Jeshurun in Cleveland (back when we called it Heights Temple). As far as I knew at the time, it was the only version. Turns out that there are about 50 different melodies for this song

Anyhoo, Stephanie spent hours trying to find this particular tune, so I turned to the fine people on the Hava Nashira Listserv. Within a few hours, I received about 5 responses pointing me to the correct answer.

It was one of those humbling moments when I realized that technology allowed me to do something I couldn't have done 10 years ago. In a matter of seconds, I was able to pose my question to the 2,000 people in this country most qualified to answer it.

You know, maybe this whole Internet phenomenon is for real after all.

As I'm planning the sequel, there's one book to which I keep referring...Joseph Telushkin's Jewish Literacy . If you're looking to learn more about Judaism, or just want a handy place to go to look up questions from time to time, this book is it. The other day, I decided to learn more about King David (the original, not the 2-year old monarch of our household), and Telushkin had a great 5 page summary.

Another great resource is the Aish Hatorah website. The have an enormous database of articles explaining both the what and why of many topics in Judaism.

Check 'em out. You just might learn something.

It's 12:12 AM, and David slept the whole way back. Now he's all hopped up on vanilla soy milk and playing with one of his many toy airplanes while daddy blogs.

Later today, we're sending out the press release announcing sales of 5,000 copies of OyBaby and our plans for the sequel. We'll also mention this blog as a way of keeping you posted on the progress of the sequel.

For those of you reading this blog for the first time, welcome! If you start from the bottom and work your way up, you'll be reading these posts in the order they were written. We haven't had that much to report yet on the sequel yet, but things will start getting busy real soon.

Thanks for reading, and let us know your ideas!

Outside of the tech world, blogs are still a pretty new "new thing." BusinessWeek just did a cover story on blogs and how they'll change the face of business. But as one blogger put it, "BusinessWeek is famous for jumping on the bandwagon just before it goes over the cliff." I too think the blogging phenomenon is overhyped in some circles. However, it's underhyped in others.

Most people in my informal sample of non-work friends had never heard of a blog. Makes me think back to the time when I'd ask someone for their email address and get a blank stare.

Did you know, for example, that there are 493 blogs listed in the Jewish Blog Ring ? There are blogs from all points along the Judaic spectrum. Some are worthless. Others connect us with prolific writers that share our passions, hope, and faith. I encourage you to check 'em out, starting with some of the ones I have listed to the right (Jewschool can be a bit risque). A nice thing about blog etiquette is that it's common practice for a blogger to link to other blogs and sites that he or she likes. Start with one and follow that bread crumb trail.

From a business perspective, blogs represent a refreshing new type of transparency. Whether it's my humble little baby video company or the slightly larger company I work for by day, blogs allow businesses to speak in a more human voice. More importantly, blogs invite customers to talk back--to make it a two way conversation that brings the business closer to its customers.

Some of the great brands on the web--Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, and others--let there employees blog publicly about the goings on at their company. Sure, there are limits, like don't post any trade secrets, but generally, the employees are given a pretty wide latitude. It displays both trust in the employee and respect for the customer to communicate so openly.

Does your company let you blog about it? Discuss.

One of the most popular Jewish blogs on the web these days is a site called "Jewlicious". It is a frequently updated blog that covers a wide range of Jewish topics with just the right amount of sass. A few weeks ago, I realized that they had posted a bit about OyBaby back in January. Here's part of what they said...

The other day I was at a friend’s house full of little children. He put on a DVD that completely captivated them and I thought was great. Oy Baby is a small company that has put out this video...

The creators of the DVD are a Jewish couple from the Pacific Northwest, Rob and Lisi Wolf, and I hope they’re making some money with this because they’ve done a terrific job. Seriously, go out and buy one for your nieces and nephews, or your own kids if you are so blessed...Nope, I have no financial connection to these people and had never heard of them until I saw their video while surrounded by little children. Their good work deserves praise and support.

Needless to say, it made my freakin' day.
Read The Full Review
The main Jewlicious site

Lately, I've been driving to work listening to mix CDs that contain both songs we'll be covering on OyBaby 2 and other songs I just happen to pluck out of my music library. It got me thinking...am I the first person to have ever burned a CD on which both Debbie Friedman and Tom Waits appear? Maybe I'll do a mashup of the two of them one day.

Video editing is a lot like golf--time consuming and expensive. Wait, that's not what I meant to say. Video editing is like golf in that someone can teach you to play golf in a day, but you can spend a lifetime mastering it.

Here at OyBaby World Headquarters, I've been training myself in some new video editing software that I will be using in the creation of OyBaby 2 (Adobe After Effects 6.5 Pro, for those of you that care). I'm working my way through a set of 15 DVDs that contain 47 hours of training. Sadly, this is my idea of fun.

Here's a list of likely candidates for songs on OyBaby 2, poorly transliterated. There will be 2 or 3 more. Let us know what you think!

Modeh Ani
Tzena Tzena
Shehechianu
L'cha Dodi
Shalom Rav
Hiney
Kobi's Lullaby ( a fantastic song by Rick Recht)
Hanukkah Blessings (yes, that one, BNL fans!)
Mi Chamocha
Hallelujah
Af Peh Ozen
Mah Nishtana

It's late at night. I'm exhausted. There are orders to be wrapped and shipped. I have bills to pay and a day job to get to in a few hours. Then an email like this pops into my inbox...

"I purchased OyBaby from a Judaica store in Delray Beach, FL. I love it, my 3 year old loves it, and my 1-year-old actually stops running around to watch and listen. Are you coming out with another one? Please say you will soon."
J.K., Alexandria Virginia

J.K., it's people like you that make it all worthwhile. Thank You.