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Well, we don't want to disappoint too many people.

MARTIN: Yeah, except that you didn't make enough for everybody to have one. MARTIN: Which makes you kind of a mensch. And starting this new tradition and sharing it with the rest of the community. They're taking pictures of themselves and their families playing and interacting. And what's really cool is the people who did get them are going onto the Facebook page. We're hoping that The Mensch on a Bench is going to go national next year. But the good news is that we've got some serious retail interest. Let's take a risk, bring a bunch of little Jewish dolls into the basement for this year and see if anybody's interested. And my wife and I decided, you know what, let's take a bunch of my son's college fund. We raised over $20,000, had over 300 people Kick Start the project. We got a prototype done and we went out to Kick Starter. So, you know, I realized we had a cool name, but we needed a reason for being. And the idea really just stuck in my head. And they asked, daddy, daddy, can we have an Elf on the Shelf? We've seen our cousins have this. And last year we were walking through Nordstrom's and my wife and son - we're an inter-faith family. HOFFMAN: Yes, I worked for Hasbro for five years. So - and you had the expertise to do this, in part, because - what? You used to work for a toy company - for Hasbro, right? So. MARTIN: That's what I was going to ask you. And the feedback we're getting from Jewish families already is incredible. He's got the tallit, and he's very clearly Jewish. So I think we found that perfect balance. HOFFMAN: I needed him to look Jewish but not so far that we're making fun of Jewish people. He's a little "Fiddler on the Roof" guy, kind of. Really what I wanted to do is get somebody who's Jewish but not stereotypical, so we tried to find. HOFFMAN: Don't want him to get splinters, or. MARTIN: So he doesn't get splinters, right? Kids have to change up how Moshe is sitting or standing or what he's playing with. So one of the rules is mensches get sore sitting on the bench every night. Kids can put him in different positions, take those pictures and share them with friends and family. HOFFMAN: Elf is so magic that the kids can't touch him. And that's part of the fun of it, is you've got to go find, you know, your elf and see where he or she landed after he's reported to Santa. He or she shows up in a different place in the house every morning. MARTIN: So now, as we mentioned, Elf travels every night. You're going to go out, you're going to buy presents for somebody in need and you're going to give them to somebody else. And one of the rules we created was also, one night of Hanukkah, you're not going to get presents. HOFFMAN: We created eight rules for having a mensch that ranged from singing and playing dreidel and doing latkes with your family, to having the mensch watch over your menorah. So how do you incorporate The Mensch on a Bench into your Hanukkah ritual? So it lasts eight nights instead of one, and so that's the miracle. MARTIN: The miracle of Hanukkah is that the oil lasts for eight nights, right? Is it seven or eight? You're such a mensch sitting that bench, watching over the oil. And they say, oh, Moshe, thank you so much. They all want to go to bed and this old man in the back says, you know what, I'll sit on the bench and I'll make sure the oil doesn't go out. And there's enough oil left for just one night. And Judah Maccabee, he fights this war, the Jews win, they come back to the temple and they're exhausted. HOFFMAN: We made him up so that we could introduce Jewish children to the real story of Hanukkah through the eyes of Moshe. MARTIN: So tell us the story of "The Mensch on a Bench." Who is Moshe? HOFFMAN: A mensch means a really good person. MARTIN: So first of all, for people who don't know, what's a mensch? And Neal Hoffman is with us from Cincinnati to tell us more. And Jewish dad Neal Hoffman got to thinking, why isn't there something similar rooted in the Jewish tradition? Well, meet Mensch on a Bench, a doll and book combination that Hoffman created for Hanukkah, which begins tomorrow. Now Elf on the Shelf has become wildly popular over the years.

And he or she flies back to the North Pole every night to report to Santa on just who belongs on the naughty list and who is being nice. He or she appears early in the holiday season, sitting on a shelf or somewhere in the house. If you don't, then just know that the elf is magic. Switching gears now to a happier subject, the winter holidays are upon us.Īnd if you celebrate Christmas with kids or have friends who do, then you probably know about Elf on the Shelf.