Jolly Judah and the story of Hanukkah

For most people, the fact that Hanukkah is celebrated close to Christmas is not a concern, but for Jolly Judah the Hanukkah Elf it was a disaster. Most people shop early for holiday presents and Judah didn’t want to be forgotten. He wanted to celebrate the holidays with a family, not sitting in a store window unnoticed and unwanted. But that’s what was happening.

Jolly Judah had been waiting in the toy store window for someone to notice him for weeks. All the Christmas toys were gone. Judah was the only one left. He watched as one by one the other dolls left with their new owners. But, no one came for him.

“Maybe it’s my big barrel chest or rough red beard, or my big hands and huge green feet that children don’t like,” he thought.

Whatever it was, when passersby looked in the window they didn’t give Judah a second glance. There he sat in the back of the toy display, all but invisible except for the big red JOLLY JUDAH stitched on his chest. But Judah was anything but jolly.

As days passed, he became more and more depressed. His head sagged into his round chest, his hat drooped over his eyes, and his huge hands hung limp in despair. And, tonight was his last chance.

“It’s the last night before Hanukkah begins. I don’t want to be all by myself sitting in this window when the first candles on the menorah are lit tomorrow at sun down,” Judah moaned.

It was getting dark. Lights were going out in the store windows along the street. Soon it would be dark as pitch. Huge elf tears tumbled down Judah’s face and trickled from his beard. As he thought about not hearing the story of Hanukkah being told, one great sob escaped his throat. Only the single electric light of the store’s Chanukiah glowed in the darkness.

Judah loved the story of Hanukkah. It celebrates a great victory for religious freedom. The mighty Maccabees led by Judah Maccabee — yes, Judah — were victorious over the armies of the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Ephiphanes. The Macabees reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem that had been defiled by the Syrians with pigs and garbage. He was so proud that his name was Judah. How could he be alone at a time like this?

Now the street was empty except for an old woman dressed in a ragged coat. Her head was wrapped in a long scarf and she bent over her cane pushing against the cold night wind. As the stores grew dark and the streetlights dimmed, Judah watched her eyes searching every window. Only the light of the Hanukkah candle shone on Jolly Judah. The old woman stopped. Her eyes twinkled and she smiled. “That’s it!” she exclaimed, the perfect Hanukkah toy for my grandson!” and she hurried to the door.

The storekeeper was about to lock up, but the old woman tapped her cane on the window insistently. “Just one more moment,” she said. “Please! Jolly Judah is the perfect gift for my grandson.”

“We’re closing,” said the storekeeper.

“It will only take a second and you will give this old woman such joy,” she pleaded.

“OK,” said the storekeeper as she took Judah from the window, “but you must tell me why you are so anxious to buy him. No one has asked for Judah since we put him in the window weeks ago.”

“According to legend, when the Maccabees led by Judah recaptured the Temple from the Syrians and purified it, they were able to find only a single cruse of holy oil sufficient for one day’s lighting of the Eternal Light that burns continuously in the Temple. But, as the story goes, a miracle occurred and the oil burned for eight days. So for the eight nights of Hanukkah, we kindle the Chanukiah adding one more candle each evening. The Chanukiah’s increasingly brighter light has become a symbol of our resistance to tyranny. The story of Hanukkah is the age-old story of the struggle of the Jewish people to remain Jewish in a non-Jewish world.

“I want my grandchild to have a symbol of the bravery of Judah and the Maccabeean heroes. Judah is perfect with his great barrel chest, his rough beard, his great hands and Jolly Judah written across his chest. To me, he is a real hero!” said the old woman, her eyes twinkling. Now he will be part of our celebration every year.”

The old woman took Jolly Judah in her arms and noticed that his eyes were twinkling as well.

Ina Albert lives in Whitefish.