Mensch on a Bench Is Ultimate Cure for ‘Elf Envy’
Do you have Christmas “elf envy”?
No more! The Elf on a Shelf has some Jewish competition: the Mensch on a Bench.
Mini tribe member Mosche is the brainchild of Neal Hoffman, a former employee of Hasbro Toys in Rhode Island, who thought of the Hannukah-friendly mentor after his son, Jacob, felt left out at school — all his friends had elves to play with.
After raising more than $22,000 on Kickstarter, Mosche the Mensch was born. According to the description, he brings some “Funukka to Hanukkah.”
The toy also comes with a book by the same name, telling the story of Mosche the Mensch, “who was in the temple with the Maccabees when they won the war against the Greeks. There was only enough oil for one night and everyone was exhausted from the war and wanted to go to sleep. But what if the oil went out while the Jews were sleeping? Moshe volunteered to sit on the bench all night and warn everyone if the oil ran out.”
Sound appealing? Well, too bad. Both the regular Mensch on the Bench ($36) and the limited edition ($75 — it includes a blue tallit) are sold out until 2014.
Pre-order yours now, to avoid the madness next year.
What a mensch.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30