That’s no ordinary menorah on Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro’s shelf

Image by Screenshot/Twitter
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Jewish day-school-educated and kosher-keeping attorney general, found himself in the spotlight last week when he became a symbol of opposition to the president’s baseless claims of election fraud.
Shapiro was a frequent guest on news shows, explaining the ballot counting process in Pennsylvania and reassuring the country that he had seen no evidence of fraud.
One other member of the Shapiro family became an unwitting star as well, when he unwittingly wandered into frame during his father’s interview with MSNBC Friday morning.
I’m taking his phone away for 24 hours. ? https://t.co/1OYI8N4LwV
— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) November 7, 2020
However, Shapiro’s son isn’t the only thing to notice in his background.
Shapiro has a few choice tchotchkes on the bookshelf which became a common sight on television. Something tells us they aren’t there by coincidence.
An RBG Menorah
That’s right, on Shapiro’s Hanukkah candelabrum, the ninth and center candle, also known as a shamash, is a figurine of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died only weeks before the November 3 election.
A model USPS Truck
A nod to the U.S. Postal Service, which managed to facilitate vote by mail for millions of Americans during an unprecedented election cycle.
A stuffed Count von Count
The famous character from “Sesame Street,” who loves nothing more than to enumerate. Possibly a rebuke to the president’s call to stop counting ballots in states where he was winning Tuesday night.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Ye debuts ‘Heil Hitler’ music video that includes a sample of a Hitler speech
- 2
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic, not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
Fast Forward Student suspended for ‘F— the Jews’ video defends himself on antisemitic podcast
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture How one Jewish woman fought the Nazis — and helped found a new Italian republic
-
Opinion It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump
-
Fast Forward Betar ‘almost exclusively triggered’ former student’s detention, judge says
-
Fast Forward ‘Honey, he’s had enough of you’: Trump’s Middle East moves increasingly appear to sideline Israel
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.