Despite the balmy climate of my Florida home, the winter holidays are upon us. Which means that it’s time for my Jewish people to take sides in the battle of whether they want to have people with them a generic (and meaningless) “Happy Holidays” or are perfectly happy with the Christian majority wishing them “Merry Christmas” (or, since this is Florida, “Feliz Navidad”)
Oh, and it is also time for gift giving, which has nothing to do with Chanukah, but allows Jewish parents to deliver consolation prizes to their kids for depriving them of Christmas trees and stockings.
So, here are some selections of gifts that are sure to please on this Chanukah:
Herzl Action Figure
Created by the absolute geniuses at Piece-of-History.com, you can now have your own Theodor Herzl looking out over the crowds at the Zionist Congress and laying the foundation for the State of Israel.
The Santa Within
Modern Tribe is one of my favorite sites for unusual Judaica. This year, they found (probably inadvertently) that Macabee chocolates actually were Santas just costumed as Macabees.
Modern Israel Comes to Life
Piece-of-History came through with this set of collectible goodies. Menachem Begin, David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir and Moshe Dayan can come to life in your den or office through this group of action figures.
Songs in the Key of Chanukah
No, really. Erron Baron Cohen (a.k.a., the OTHER Baron Cohen) has produced a most unlikely collection of Chanukah music, including a clip below that features my friend Y-Love (the only person I’ve ever seen rap in Aramaic!).
The Kings Miniatures
Three biblical kings can sit on your shelves through another offering from Piece-of-History. You get Saul, David and Solomon in the set.
HAPPY Chanukah
Some evil genius decided to do a mash-up of a bong and a Menorah. Thankfully, it’s not actually available. But the creativity involved earns it special recognition in the video below:
All joking aside, may you and yours be blessed with a Happy Chanukah, and may the lights that are kindled shed spiritual light throughout our world.