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Buy, Buy, Buy
by Emily Ryan
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| I admit, I am one of those annoying people who finishes her Chanukah shopping
months ahead of time (I finished in September). Although this is partly due to the fact that I hate shopping during the “holiday season”— when you can’t even walk through a mall because everyone else on the planet had the same idea as you — I think the real reason is because I am an expert shopper. I buy gifts year-round so I’m always ready for a gift-giving occasion.
The other reason is the Internet. I love shopping online. I don’t have to make my way through a crowded store, and I don’t have to deal with salespeople or other customers. Here are some of the websites I like for Chanukah shopping, in no particular order:
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This site has categories ranging from Ahava skin care products to children’s and holiday-related items to educational tools. Under “fine Judaica,” there is a Chanukah section. I found a very pretty hand-painted, decorative wooden dreidel with a stand for only $15.
This site is easy to navigate, has great images of its products, and provides a good amount of detail.
This is another easy-to-navigate site, but with so many products, it can be overwhelming. For example, I entered the word “Chanukah” in the search engine, and I got 284 results. When I specified “menorahs,” it was much easier to find what I was looking for. I saw a great three -dimensional All-Collector’s New York City menorah for $60. Created before Sept. 11, the menorah includes the World Trade Center buildings in addition to the Statue of Liberty and other New York scenes.
This site also features numerous Israeli-made products, and offeres a 10 percent discount on selected made-in-Israel items.
While it may not have a huge selection, this site features cute items at reasonable prices. I found a beautiful tallit depicting the walls of Jerusalem for $19-$59, depending on size. The particular tallit I selected is made in Israel out of Dacron and wool, and was certified kosher.
I also liked that this site has a “guidelines” section. I clicked on “tallit,” and in addition to a brief description, there was great detail on how to determine size.
Artistic Jewish Promotions offers products made by Israeli and Judaic artists. The site is easy enough to move through, but as an added benefit, there is a “how to navigate” section.
Some of the items were fairly high-priced, but many were affordable. There was a gorgeous lithograph by award-winning artist Rochelle Blumenfeld, depicting the glow of a with all nine candles burning for $75.
The self-proclaimed “greatest Jewish place in cyberspace” title might be a stretch, but they do have a lot to choose from. There is a huge range in prices from very cheap to very
expensive; I saw a kippah for $2.50 and a kiddish cup set for $1,975.
This site has a lot of kid’s items for less than $10. I even saw a porcelain hinged box for a cheaper price than a similar one I found on , an online auction site.
This site wasn’t my favorite, however, they had the same menorah as the one on for $54.99. Not much of a price difference, but I always like to feel like I’m getting a good deal.
As the site name indicates, most of the products are menorahs, of which there is a large selection. There are a few other items for purchase—dreidels, decorations, etc.— but not much.
This site is easy to use, however, you can’t see any images unless you click on a product name. This can be extremely time consuming and frustrating, and, even then, some items are not shown. There was a Curious George musical menorah that would have made a great gift for someone I know (and it was on sale), but there was no picture of it.
There also are two Jewish search engines I like— and — which provide links to other websites. Both sites can be overwhelming, but you can narrow your search by category. Still, be prepared to receive a long list of sites.
Jewish.net displays its websites in alphabetical order. Watch out on maven.co.il — they list their sponsors first, and other sites follow alphabetically. The sponsors are not necessarily the best sites to go to, just the ones that pay for advertising.
Now that you know where to go on the Internet, I hope you will have a pleasant shopping experience. Best wishes for a nice Chanukah and a happy and healthy new year.
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