From left to right: Evan Price (little boy), Lila (mommy), Joshua Horowitz (mezuzah), Lya Finston, Rivkah (the Bescht)
I Saw Mommy Kiss the Baal Shem Tov (כ׳האָב געזען די מאַמע קושט דעם בעש״ט) is a song and performance written by Lya Finston. This project was originally conceived of as a stop-motion animation in English and German (see clips below) before Lya was fluent enough in the mame-loschen to execute it properly in Yiddish.
The musical accompaniment for I Saw Mommy Kiss the Baal Shem Tov was written, performed, and mixed by Owen Harrington with violin parts by Athena Matsil. The lyrics and melody parody the popular christmas song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” The performance debuted at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York in conjunction with the 2024 Uriel-Weinreich Summer Program Siem. Lya constructed the mezuzah and bescht costumery out of paper-mache, cardboard, and paint.