Hanukkah Book Set To Become New Holiday Tradition

by Dan Veaner for the Lansing Star

When you think of Kickstarter campaigns you think of nifty high-tech gadgets attracting techie-boys who love their toys to help finance the next great thing. But two Lansing women are using it to launch something much gentler: a Hanukkah story and game called 'The Gelt Giving Golem'. The product will include a boxed illustrated book and a plush toy golem used to play a game over the eight days of Hanukkah.

"It's the story of a character that I created called the 'Hanukkah Golem', who gives a piece of gelt to little children each night of Hanukkah when he witnesses good behavior the day before," says author Carolyn Greenwald. "The purpose of the story is to allow Jewish children to participate in a tradition that's been very popular on Christmas, where there is an elf watching children's' behavior every day and then reporting back to Santa Claus."

Greenwald's idea is that parents will read the book as well as play the game with their children every year as they grow through ages two through nine. She and illustrator Suzy Hill are working with a plush toy manufacturer to produce a ten inch tall golem based on Hill's design that will come with the book. It will have velcro hands and feet so parents can pose him in varios positions each night where their kids will find him in the morning. Each day they find the golem, he has a piece of gelt for them -- if they were good the previous day.

In Jewish lore a golem is a live person made of clay who is bound to carry out the wishes of the person who made it and gave it life. Golems are typically strong and used for brute-force tasks, mindlessly following their master's wishes. Hanukkah gelt is also a Jewish tradition where a coin is given as a present to mark the eight day holiday. Today chocolate coins are particularly popular in Jewish homes. Unlike Christmas, Hanukkah is a minor holiday, generally considered by Jews to be a children's holiday. But very much like Christmas the holiday includes a rich heritage of songs, games, lore and tradition for kids.

"We don't have an elf in Judaism," Greenwald says. "We don't have magical creatures. But there is a strong tradition of the Golem being a Hanukkah character. there are a bunch of children's books about a golem and Hanukkah. In the oldest story the Prague Golem was created on the first night of Hanukkah. Our golem is a little different because he does have a mind. He acts on his own. So we took the golem and made him into something that would work for this book."

That presented a challenge for Hill. It was up to her to take a traditionally tough and colorless character and transform him into someone lovable, approachable, kind and friendly. She is currently working on creating the illustrations in watercolor and pen and ink for the 32 page story book.

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