When Santa's toys go on sale, can Jewish buyers get in on the merrymaking?
Until recently, at the after Christmas sales, I would just float by the "Trim-a-Tree" stuff, not even bothering to ask: What can I do with it? After all, what Jew really wants Donner and Blitzen camped on their front lawn?
But with our household budget awash in Chanukah and year-end expenses, the deeply discounted tinsel and glitter began to draw my attention. When this holiday season, a group of neighborhood carolers came to our door and sang "We wish you a merry Christmas," sensitively changing the lyrics to "We wish you a happy Chanukah," I wondered, were there other things about Christmas that could be adapted for Chanukah as well?
During a post-Christmas bargain-hunting trip, I soon discovered that in addition to the clearance wrapping papers, Chanukah candles, even menorahs, that the department, drug and discount stores put out on the bargain tables, with a little re-imagineering, one can also find sleighs-full of Christmas items that can be repurposed for the year-round events on the Jewish calendar.
Suddenly, the name "Blitzen" started to sound a lot more Jewish.
Buying half-priced bags of green and red M&M's--they are even kosher-- to munch at my local Israeli film festival was just the beginning. And using discount tinsel and other assorted holiday bric-a-brac, to create your own "Ugly" Chanukah sweater--as one of my nieces did last year-- I found was a cheap way to stay one step ahead of the holiday fashion curve.
Seeing on-sale forest green tablecloths and small artificial trees, made me think about Tu B'Shevat--the Jewish holiday of trees (Coming up in January). Planning on using both at our Tu B'Shevat seder, I hope to create a very woodsy setting with nary a ho-ho-ho.
Previously, on Sukkot, I had already found that strings of marked down mini lights could brighten my Sukkah. This year, I plan to upgrade with 75% off twinkling strings of LEDs.
Come the Hebrew month of Adar, and Purim, price-trimmed Santa beards are great for Mordechai and Ahasveras costumes, and discounted small toys fit nicely into Shaloach Manot, gift baskets. Jingle-bells can find a new use at the megillah reading.
At the home improvement centers, living Christmas trees go on sale at this time too. I have one growing on my backyard, and one in my front that I bought at after holiday sales at OSH. One pine is now a beautifully green and 40 feet tall, and the newer tree in the front has shot up to 20.
This year, for the first time, I also saw strings of Christmas lights, giant flashing snow flakes, and electronic controllers used to light up a house for Chanukah. For those considering showing the Chanukah miracle more brightly next year, this stuff goes on sale now too.
For my own house display next year, on a tip from a friend, I found at Target, at a fraction of their original retail price, two silver colored electric menorahs to put in our windows. One even lights up using energy efficient LED's.
Now that's what I call holiday cheer.
But to go all out with my repurposing campaign, I wondered one night while surveying my neighbor's Christmas lawn decorations, how I could adapt one of his animated lawn reindeer for purposes more Mosaic.
"What Jewish holiday uses animal imagery?" I asked, watching the creature "feed" on my neighbor's lawn. "Hmmmm." If I just trimmed the horns a bit, and plugged it in--I would be all set for Passover with a light-up, head bobbing goat to accompany the singing of "Chad Gadya"-- and all for less than two zuzim.
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."
