As Jewish holidays go, Chanukah is arguably the most kid-friendly. Instead of long synagogue services to sit through, children can enjoy the warm glow of candles while singing songs with friends and family, playing silly games and eating oily, fried foods. Heck, such customs could make any child want to join the tribe, if only for the eight nights.
And, of course, there’s Chanukah gelt — as well as its American embodiment, Chanukah gifts. Understandably, parents and grandparents may feel torn between the temptation to out-buy Santa and the idea of going cold turkey.
The way out of this dilemma — modest gifts that are Jewish-themed if not outright religious — may be found in the nearest Judaica gift shop. This year Chanukah starts Friday, Nov. 29, the night after Thanksgiving, and talking with Bay Area Judaica store owners reveals that each store offers more choices in Jewish-themed children’s gifts than there are ways to spell “Chanukah.”
For starters, adults can get a child of any age his or her own chanukiah, or menorah. Ellen Bob of Palo Alto’s bob and bob says this is her favorite Chanukah gift of all. At bob and bob, prices for this year’s new chanukiot start at $18.
Don’t look for Winnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse chanukiot this year, warns Eileen Velen, the owner of Danville’s L’Chaim! Gifts for Jewish Life. It seems that particular manufacturer has not renewed its license with Disney.
Still, the general trend of putting a Jewish spin on Americana continues, perhaps because of the desire of many to feel Jewish and American. With the typical Chanukah gift today, “you don’t feel out of step with what’s going on in the main stream culture,” explains Velen. One example is the Unforgettaball Hanukkah, a regulation-size baseball with large Chanukah symbols in shades of blue, red, yellow and orange. Tastefully designed and cleanly stitched, this $15 gift includes a small plastic display stand.
Young children love puns, and no Chanukah gift has more of them than “Hanukkah Ha-Has: Knock-Knock Jokes That Are a Latke Fun.” Published last year and retailing for $6.95, this lift-the-flap paperback might make the 4- to 8-year-old in your life “Gladys finally Chanukah.” Don’t groan: Half the fun of this book is in Stephen Carpenter’s bright illustrations, which capture the warmth and joyous bustle of a family’s Chanukah get-together.
For more sophisticated readers, a big seller this year is “Alexandra’s Scroll,” a historical novel by Miriam Chaikin. Jerry Derblich of Afikomen in Berkeley particularly likes Stephen Fieser’s illustrations, which
complement the first-person narrative of a fictional Jewish girl who lived in Jerusalem during the time of the Maccabees. The hardcover book retails for $18.95.
Probably the most broadly appealing of this year’s many Chanukah books is “Chanukah Bugs: a Pop-up Celebration” by David A. Carter. “The paper engineering is brilliant,” says Ellen Bob, adding that “the way the latkes jump up and smile at you is just irresistible.” Carter has created several previous books in this series, including “Alpha Bugs” and “Giggle Bugs,” but this latest title is the first to include such characters as the Shamash Bug and the Dizzy Dreidel Bug.
This season, there are even Chanukah books for babies and toddlers. Derblich recommends “D is for Dreidel: A Hanukkah Alphabet Book.” This somewhat dreidel-shaped paperback, written by Tanya Lee Stone and illustrated by Dawn Apperley, has a simple Chanukah-themed rhyme for each letter of the alphabet and sells for $4.99. A rhyming book, good for reading aloud, is “Eight Nights of Chanukah Lights,” by Dian Curtis Regan.
Another new baby book is “Hanukkah’s Here,” part of the popular “Soft Shapes” series from Chronicle Books. Made of a foamy material that’s equally at home in little hands and little mouths, this book contains pop-out shapes of chanukiot and other Chanukah symbols. Written by Kate Davis and illustrated by Bob Filipowich, the little square book sells for $5.95.
“Happening Hanukkah: Creative Ways to Celebrate,”
by Debra Mostow Zakarin, would be a good one to give early on. The $5.99 paperback for children ages 8 to 12 tells how to make their own Chanukah gifts and crafts.
Being Jewish is a year-round activity, of course, and plenty of products focus on the many other aspects of Jewish life. One gift that keeps on giving is “The Shabbat Box of Questions,” a pack of cards (priced at $15.99) designed to help stimulate discussion around the Shabbat table. (“If you could invite anyone in the world to Shabbat, who would it be?” asks one card.)
For the musically inclined, several new albums are available, suggests Nurit Sabadosh, owner of Alef Bet Judaica in Los Gatos. First on her list is Paul Zim’s latest Shabbat album, “Shabbat is Here” ($12.95 for the tape, $19.90 for the CD). “I like his voice, and he always has children in it,” says Sabadosh. “The way he sings in Hebrew and in English makes it easy for a child to understand.”
A particularly timely choice is “Yavo Shalom,” Cindy Paley’s collection of Hebrew peace songs for all ages. It’s $12.95 for the tape, $19.90 for the CD.
And the all-instrumental “Golden Anniversary to Israel,” a gift for all ages, is a $21 two-CD set of 50 songs that Sabadosh says is fun to listen to in the car because you can talk without the potential distraction of lyrics.
Americans wishing to support the Israeli economy have plenty of gift choices as well, from hand-painted dreidels by Israeli artists (starting at $16) to jewelry, such as the $20 silver and turquoise bracelets. An $8.50 silver-and-lucite bookmark from Israel could be the perfect complement to a book gift, especially for an older child.
The jury’s still out about the power of the evil eye, let alone the ability of a hand-shaped amulet to ward it off, but there’s little to lose in trying. “In this crazy world we live in, a little protection can never hurt,” Ellen Bob says of the chamsa key chains that start at $3.50.
A $6 key chain that middle-schoolers might like to dangle from their backpacks features a plush Harvey Magila, the black-hatted little Chassid in dark sunglasses. A squeeze of Harvey’s tummy sets off an instrumental rendition of — you guessed it, “Hava Nagilah.” Larger dancing versions of Harvey have been dancing off the shelves of Judaica and synagogue shops, and some are already sold out. They sell for about $16, batteries included. Afikomen still has them.
Then there’s the realm of the tchotchkes, that huge category of inexpensive and marginally useful products that includes a Chanukah tic tac toe game (get three dreidels or chanukiot in a row) and a $2.50 lip-gloss necklace — made Jewish by its light-blue tone and Star of David imprint.
As always, prices and availability may vary from store to store. You could call ahead, but you might just as well drop in — there’s nothing like browsing for children’s gifts to get in the mood for Chanukah.