Sometimes our attachment to American Jewish life depends on a small square of sticky printed paper.

It's November, approaching that time of year when we go to the post office with an armload of Hanukkah cards all addressed, wait in line, step up to the counter, and ask hopefully: "Do you have some Hanukkah stamps?"

Since 1996 (when it was issued jointly with Israel), you can buy an official United States Hanukkah stamp. This year, as of October 14, there's a new edition out. It's a "Forever" stamp, depicting a brightly colored image of the word "Hanukkah" spelled out in eight individual panels, representing the Festival of Light's eight days. The "K" is even shown as a dreidel.
 
Upon seeing the new issue, I wanted to give it a spin.

But not so fast.

According to Ronald J. Scheiman, who closely follows all matters of Jewish U.S. philately, even though the stamp has been issued, and 25 million of them printed, you may not be able to find one.

"Not every post office has them. You might need to request it," he said in a recent interview, pointing out that typical run for a new stamp is much higher, around 50 million.

In addition to his goal of making sure that everyone who wants a Hanukkah stamp can buy one, Scheiman, is also on a related quest to have a new Hanukkah stamp printed every year. He reasons that since the US Postal service brings out a new Christmas stamp every season, why shouldn't they do the same for Hanukkah?

According to Scheiman's web site, only four Hanukkah stamp designs have been introduced, and the USPS has already announced they will not be issuing a new design for 2012, hence, the "Forever."

Why haven't there been more?

"There isn't the demand," said the US Postal Service when Scheiman cornered them on this question.

"Not so," responded Scheiman. "It's really a problem of distribution," added the retired postal clerk who lives in Boynton Beach, Florida.

"Many post offices still do not carry the Hanukkah stamp," he said. "When a customer shows up with their Hanukkah cards and asks for the stamps and they aren't there, they buy something else," he said, explaining why he thinks the demand may seem lower than it really is.

Also, Scheiman feels many potential users of the stamp still don't know it's available. Often, when Scheiman talks about the stamp, a common response has been an incredulous, "There's a Hanukkah stamp?"

Scheiman, who wants everyone to have local access to the stamp this holiday season, has been carrying the battle to the U.S. Postal Service's office of Consumer Affairs.

In response to Scheiman's inquiries, Christina Scacca, a Consumer Relations Specialist at the Postal Service, suggested in an email that, "It may be best to order this stamp through our Philatelic Catalog," which is online.
But Scheiman isn't buying it, or at least not that way.

"When I walk into three large post offices in my area and find that they have received only a minimal amount of automatic distribution and are not sure if they will get more, I call that lack of availability," he wrote in response to Scacca.  
"Hanukkah (and Christmas) are several weeks away. I'm sure every post office will have Christmas stamps available until then.  I doubt the same will hold true for Hanukkah stamps," he added.

This year, if you go to your post office, and they don't have the Hanukkah stamp, Scheiman wants you to send him the name of the office and the zip code, so he can bring it to the attention of the Postal Service, and get them to deliver.

On your holiday mail, "Why not show what you represent?" asked Scheiman.

Contact him at: hanukkah@att.net

Edmon J. Rodman has written about making his own matzah for JTA, Jewish love music for the Jerusalem Post, yiddisheh legerdemain for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, a Bernie Madoff Halloween mask for the Forward, and what really gets stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits for the Los Angeles Times. He has edited several Jewish population studies, and is one of the founders of the Movable Minyan, an over twenty-year-old chavura-size, independent congregation. He once designed a pop-up seder plate. In 2011 Rodman received a First Place Simon Rockower Award for "Excellence in Feature Writing" from the American Jewish Press Association."