Mensch on a Bench is Jewish answer to Elf on a Shelf

Two years ago, when Neal Hoffman was walking through a department store in Cincinnati, his five-year-old son Jacob spotted an Elf on a Shelf and called out,"Daddy, Daddy, can I have one?"

"We're raising him Jewish so I just made a joke and said, 'Buddy, you can't have an Elf on a Shelf, you can have… a mensch on a bench," Hoffman recalled to CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

Though he laughed at his own joke, Hoffman realized he might have stumbled on a good idea. He went home that night, drafted an idea for a stuffed doll mensch, which in Yiddish means "a good person," and wrote up a story to go with it.

The story uses the doll to retell the Hanukkah story to children and explains what it means to be a good mensch.

Like the Elf on the Shelf who moves around the house and keeps track of who's acting naughty and nice, the mensch does the same while watching over the candles in the menorah.

As a former executive at Hasbro toys, Hoffman realized right away he had the potential for a hit.

"This was just my past experience with toys and my passion for being a father and my Jewish faith all coming together," he said.

Hoffman mulled over the toy for a while until his wife prodded him to take the idea to Kickstarter. He quickly raised US$22,000 and Mensch on a Bench took on a life of its own.

"Last year, we made 1,000 and they sold out in 10 days," Hoffman said.

"This year, we're going to do over 50,000. It's a viral phenomenon and I'm having the time of my life with this."

Now, the Mensch on the Shelf is available at Target stores in the U.S. as well as Barnes & Noble, Toys 'R' Us, and more. In Canada, the toy is available at Chapters and Indigo.

Hoffman says he knew the toy was going to be a hit, but even he is surprised by how quickly it's taken off.

His own mother could be more proud – "kvelish," as Hoffman says – with the success of Mensch on a Bench. And Hoffman himself is pleased to see Jewish families integrating the doll into their own Hanukkah traditions.

"It brings it to them in a new way, and it is the most gratifying feeling," he said.