Iftah Ya Simsim
Iftah Ya Simsim (; meaning "Open Sesame") is the first international co-production of the American children's television series "Sesame Street" created in the Arab world. It premiered in Kuwait on September 14, 1979 and was broadcast in 22 Arabic-speaking countries, running until April 6, 1990. The program continued to be well-known decades after it went off the air. In 1978, educators, mass media officers, and social planners agreed to adopt "Sesame Street" as a feasible and economical solution for the low attendance in preschools and illiteracy that plagued the region. They approached the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the producers of the American show, and purchased the rights to create an Arab version for US$2.5 million.
Simcha Lieberman
Simcha Binem was born in Warsaw, Poland on 29 December 1926 (24 Teveth 5687 in the Hebrew calendar) to his father Rabbi Brachya Lieberman, a notable Gerrer hasid. He received the traditional education in chasidic families, steeped in the study of the Talmud and its commentators. This ended abruptly in 1939 with the Nazi invasion of Poland.