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A New Holiday
Tradition?
Famed Christmas elf toy meets its Jewish match: `Mensch on a Bench.'
Matt Robinson I JNS.org
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56
November 28 • 2013
JN
hen his son asked for the
Elf on the Shelf — the
famed Christmas toy that
is said to keep an eye on children and
report back to Santa Claus regarding
their behavior — entrepreneur Neal
Hoffman says he felt an admitted pang
of "elf envy" and saw the need to offer
something more appropriate.
"I said to myself that I wished there
was a toy and book that was an alter-
native, that was rooted in Jewish tradi-
tions:' Hoffman says.
Hoffman, at the time an employee
of the Hasbro toy and game com-
pany, would go on to create a new
toy to ensure that those celebrating
Chanukah wouldn't experience the
same "elf envy."
=
With roots tracing back to the 1970s,
the Elf on the Shelf has sold nearly 2.5
million units. The elf has now met its
Jewish match through Hoffman's the
l'
Mensch on a Bench, a toy and book
set based on the story of the character
"Moshe the Mensch." Available for the
first time this Chanukah, the set costs
$36 (plus shipping and handling).
Using the popular crowd-funding
website Kickstarter to raise money (in
Jewish-appropriate denominations of
$18), Hoffman brought his dream of a
Jewish judge of childhood behavior to
life.
The book that comes with Moshe
explains that this savvy tzaddik was in
the Temple with the Maccabees when
they defeated the Greeks in the second
century BCE. As the age-old story goes,
there was only sufficient oil for one night,
but it lasted for eight. How? Moshe vol-
unteered to sit on a bench all night and
keep an eye on it. Thousands of years
later, Moshe is still on a bench and still
watching over Chanukah, much like the
Elf on the Shelf watches over Christmas.
Hoffman, a Massachusetts native who
now lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, explains
that as a father of two in an interfaith
household, he was well familiar with
the Elf on the Shelf from his nieces and
nephews. When his son asked for one, he
says he initially laughed off his idea for a
Chanukah-themed alternative to the toy,
but the idea kept coming back until he
Moshe the Mensch, the newly offered
"Mensch on a Bench."
could resist it no longer.
While Hoffman sees the Elf on the
Shelf as a symbol of the commercialism
of a holiday, he suggests that Moshe the
Mensch is a keeper of the eternal tradi-
tions of Judaism.
"The Elf is more secular and not as
religious, just pure fun," he says.
Moshe may not be an "answer" to the
elf, but it is an "alternative" that is appro-
priate for Jewish children and allows
them to create their own Chanukah tradi-
tion, Hoffman says.
Hoffman used his years of experi-
ence at Habsro — where he worked
(and played) with the legendary likes of
G.I. Joe and the Transformers — to his
advantage for creating the Mensch on a
Bench. Yet the experience was different
than anything he had done before, he
says.
"This was the first time I had to
take an idea and figure out everything,
including the design, engineering,
packaging, marketing, fundraising, Web
development and timeline manage-
ment:' Hoffman recalls. "It really made
me appreciate the caliber of people I had
worked with in the past."
While he didn't have his former
Hasbro colleagues working with him,
Hoffman was far from alone. He quickly
found fans on Facebook and backers on
Kickstarter, and says his biggest support
came from his family. The passion for
Moshe the Mensch was immediately
"contagious," he says.
In an effort to explain Moshe to the
masses, Hoffman hurried to come up
with a believable backstory and created
the book to accompany the toy.
"The book is inspired by the story of
Chanukah:' Hoffman says. "It tells about
how the Maccabees came back to the
Temple and were tired from the war and
needed to sleep. With only one night of
oil, they were worried it would go out
overnight and leave them in the dark.
One man volunteered to watch over the
lights: Moshe the Mensch."
To give Moshe and his story more
staying power and appeal, the book also
includes activities for each of the eight
nights of the holiday. Hoffman hopes
to bring the book not only to his local
library, but also to the Jewish literacy
nonprofit PJ Library, which to date has
delivered more than 3 million books to
youths. He also says sequels are possible.
"There are still a lot of words that
rhyme with `mensch that we can work
with," Hoffman says.
In the meantime, Hoffman is looking
forward to opening his own Moshe on
the first night of Chanukah (Nov. 27).
"I think we have a fun idea that Jewish
families can rally around and use to make
Chanukah more fun," Hoffman says.
"Over the next couple of years, Jewish
families will decide if this is a great
idea and something they want, or if the
Mensch will become a rare collectors'
item:'
❑