Moishe Oofnik

 MOISHE   OOFNIK  ( אופניק מוישה ) is a brown  Grouch  who lives in a broken car. He ’ s also the resident  GROUCH  on  Rechov Sumsum , the Israel i   c o - production  of  SESAME STREET  , & also appeared in the bilingual  ver sion  ,  Shalom  SESAME  & the later  Israel i  - Palestinian  co - production   Rechov Sumsum / Shara ' a Simsim . In 2006 , he returned for the new version of  Rechov Sumsum .

 OOFNIK  is also the cousin  of  OSCAR THE GROUCH  ( so he is also t he  cousin  o f  OSCAR  ’ s brother s,  ERNEST  &  OTTO THE GROUCH  &  t h e  i  r  sis t e r  BUNNY  ) , & , not surprisingly , he share s many of his  cousin  ’ s taste s. Rather than celebrating Rosh Hashanah by dip pin g app le s l ice s into honey for a sweet new y ear,  MOISHE  tell s us that  OOFNIK S  prefer to dip them into sardine grease so the new y ear will be slimy. He loves to hear Itzhak Perlman  play violin, as long as the music is off - key. If he respond s lovingly to flower s & puppies, it ’ s probably a sign that he ’ s gotten a bad case of spring f eve r. According to 1| 1 scene from the show ( re - dubbed for the  Shalom  SESAME  episode, "  Kibbutz  " ) ,  MOISHE  ’ s  grand father  was a pioneer & the 1| 1  st  Grouch  in  Israel.

 OOFNIK  is the only Israeli   Muppet  who has endure d since the first incarnation of  Rechov Sumsum . Haim Idisis, a long - time scriptwriter f or t h e s how  , explained his longevity : "  OOFNIK  is probably the only last in g character . Those type s always survive , he ’ ll stay shut in his  TRASH CAN  & survive . He ’ s not young , but he ’ ll stay child is h f or ever . "

His surname,  OOFNIK  i s Hebrew for  GROUCH . In 1 99 3 , he &  Kippi Ben Kippod  appeared on  SESAME   STREET  Stay s Up Late  , to show how  Israel  ring s in the  New Y ear. How eve r, the character w as introduce d as  OOFNIK   THE   GROUCH  , a redundant label. He also make s a cameo ( albiet colored  YELLOW  ) in the 1| 1 st  SESAME STREET   comic book issue.

T V / Movie s  /  Special s

 *  Rechov Sum sum  ( 1 9 8 2  - present )
 *  Shalom  SESAME  ( 1 9 8 6  - present )
 *  Rechov Sum sum / S har a ' a Simsim  ( 1 99 8  - present )
 *  SESAME   STREET  Stay s Up L ate  ( 1 99 3  )