While Pickle Boy runs to the rescue, creator Yaakov Bee shares the backstory of everyone’s favorite superhero

Photos: Naftoli Goldgrab

He’s the newest frum superhero, a young kid who discovers superhuman powers in a barrel of pickle juice. Before long, Moshe Greenberg is a refined yeshivah bochur by day, and in times of crisis, transforms into Pickle Boy! As the Pickle Boy craze has swept the imagination of Jewish children, creator Yaakov Bee shares the backstory of everyone’s favorite defender

IMAGINE A GROUP of campers at Camp Agudah 40 years ago: They’re sitting around a campfire, or maybe in the dining room, listening spellbound as their counselor spins the tale of a very typical 11-year-old Brooklyn boy who accidentally but miraculously develops extraordinary abilities that allow him to defeat evil villains and restore justice to the. world. The campers hang on to his every word, episode by episode, as the hero battles narrow escapes and setbacks until he triumphs. Whew! New York is saved for all posterity!

Who doesn’t love a hero? The Camp Agudah and Pirchei boys who were the first to meet Pickle Boy have grown up to become fathers and grandfathers. Now it’s their children and grandchildren who are glued to streamed audio episodes of the series.

Yaakov Bee — the name he uses in this capacity as he prefers to remain somewhat anonymous — is the former counselor who dreamed it all up, and he’s still telling Pickle Boy stories. But as technology advanced, his audience has grown from bunks of campers to millions of young listeners all audio streaming platforms. 24Six, which tracks the popularity of its offerings, notes that Pickle Boy shoots to their #1 slot every time a new episode is released.

Yaakov Bee relates that he recently took his son to an interview for beis medrash, and was amazed to find that all the young men there were familiar with Pickle Boy.

“Then, not long ago, my wife was in a parking lot, and turned around because she was sure she heard my voice — only to realize that my voice was coming out of a yeshivah bus filled with students from Stoliner cheder listening to Pickle Boy.”

The Pickle Boy craze has swept the world of Jewish children, and it keeps growing.

Who is Pickle Boy, and what is it about him that enthralls children so much?