December 8, 2024

It seems that every morning my Facebook feed is cluttered with a celebration of a special day. There is Toast Day, National Doorbell Day, and countless others. While many of them celebrate people’s love of a particular niche, few are altruistic and serve to add something positive to one’s life and those around them.

As the creator of  The Mensch on a Bench Hanukkah tradition, I have been fortunate to bring some joy and learning into over 100,000 Jewish homes during the eight nights of Hanukkah. As such, it seems natural to want to celebrate and educate what it means to be a mensch outside of just Hanukkah.

 

Introducing National Mensch Day on November 18! The goal of National Mensch Day is to bring some additional mindfulness to our actions and encourage people to do a Mitzvot that makes them a mensch.

What do you have to buy to support Mensch Day? Nothing. That is unless you want to be a mensch and buy a cup of coffee for the next person in line. We want to encourage people to say something nice, commit an act of kindness, help a friend, and simply start the process of paying it forward – from that day onward.

While mensch may be a Jewish word, the concept is universal! Teach your children good values, teach them kindness, and create a generation of mensches. Maybe if they can start off doing a good deed on November 18th, they can do another on the 19th and so on.

Happy Mensch Day! Spread positivity and share with us how you’re making a difference in your community using #BeAMenschDay. For suggestions on a variety of good deeds to do, visit us Here  And most importantly, what can I do to help YOU today?

 

About the author: Neal Hoffman is the creator of The Mensch on the Bench. A self-described, “big kid at heart,” Hoffman started his toy career at Hasbro and then relocated to Cincinnati with his wife and two boys. While walking through a department store, Hoffman’s son asked for The Elf on a Shelf, to which Hoffman replied, “Jews don’t do elves on shelves, we do mensches on benches,” and thus the idea was born. Hoffman went home, wrote the book, trademarked the name and started working on a prototype. In March of 2013 he took to the crowd-funding website, Kickstarter, and then became one of the breakout successes of ABC’s Shark Tank. The Mensch on a Bench product line now includes Ask Bubbe, Dreidel Dog, Hannah the Hanukkah Hero, and more!