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Introducing GOLDA + Our Holiday Gift Guide

Featuring festive and fun ideas from Jonathan Adler, Molly Yeh, and more

Hi! I'm Stephanie Butnick, a writer, podcaster, and Jewish culture obsessive.

I’ve always been fascinated by the way people live their Jewish lives. For the past decade, while hosting the hit podcast Unorthodox, I’ve traveled the country reporting on and engaging with all kinds of Jewish communities. 

After publishing The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia: From Abraham to Zabar’s and Everything in Between, I took on another role: I became the person people ask about Jewish things. Whether it’s explaining the history of hamantaschen on CBS Sunday Morning or helping a friend find the perfect ketubah, I realized there’s nothing more gratifying (or more Jewish!) than sharing what I’veI’ve learned and collected.

 Over the past year, the requests have taken on new urgency. Where can I find the perfect Jewish Star necklace? What do I need to host a Shabbat dinner? What’s a meaningful Jewish gift for a newborn? What might seem like straightforward or even superficial questions actually reflect something deeper: people want to know how to live Jewishly in this moment. 

That’s where GOLDA comes in. 

GOLDA will be the online destination for everything you need to live Jewishly. Featuring curated shopping guides and recommendations from our favorite Jews, holiday how-to’s, Q&As, DIYs, and more, GOLDA is here for all of your Jewish lifestyle and life cycle needs. 

To kick things off, here’s the inaugural GOLDA Gift Guide. I asked my favorite Jews (and a few righteous gentiles) what they really want this year—and what they’re getting for the people they love. Their suggestions are entertaining and edifying, and a taste of what you’ll get from GOLDA. Their responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Sophia Rivka Rossi, Hello Giggles co-founder and total mensch 

I really want this Hannah Polskin menorah! Like, really badly. It’s expensive, but it’s also art? This would be up year round for me. I like giving this mezuzah from The Village Shop! Most don’t come with the parchment. These do—chic and simple. Also, this DIY challah baking kit! Chana is my favorite baker. I get this tiny toy Torah from Toba Toys for every newborn! It’s made from amazing materials by my BFF Miriam Munchkin. And the colors are chic. I also buy a Torah scroll letter for them with it.

Jonathan Adler, potter and designer, and Simon Doonan, author and TV personality

SD: Jonathan and I are obsessed with artist Leroy Neiman, RIP. One of his gooey palate knife extravaganzas would really hit the spot. Jonathan claims not to be a label queen. But I know he is always up for a Thom Browne quelque chose or a logo'd Gucci sweater.

JA: I’m kinda at the age where I don’t really want anything. Just kidding I want I want I want! A new Thom Browne sweater always puts a skip in my step and a pair of Freedom Moses sandals (more comfy than Birkenstocks) and a nifty orange Sundek swimsuit. Oh, also, we’ve had terrible leaks in our house, so I want new gutters and a talented roofer (not a euphemism).  Simon and I are ridiculously lucky because we need not look any further than our richly stocked gift closet, groaning withfabulous gifts made by yours truly (giving my tribe members my new Vienna Menorah this year) and rip-roaring reads by my talented husband. Simon is a genius.  His newest tome, The Camp 100, is riveting and highly giftable.

Molly Yeh, host of Food Network’s Girl Meets Farm and owner of Bernie’s in East Grand Forks, Minn.

I really want Ugg boots because I’m that basic and there’s no comfort on the foot like fresh fluffy Uggs. Also, stone bowls to make good bibimbap. And I just ordered Chocolate Babka Tea for my mom and sister.

Editor's note: You can preorder a signed copy of Molly's new cookbook, Sweet Farm, from the Bernie's Market!

Jacqueline Lobel, founder, Shtick NYC

I think the one upside of being a Jew during the holidays is that we are unburdened from all major gift giving! Or at least, gift-giving in the way other folks traditionally do on Christmas. That always seemed so stressful. This year, I want us to all agree on how we spell “Chanukah.” Let's just pick one way and stick with it.

Lia Ronnen, publisher and editorial director of Artisan, Workman, and Black Dog & Leventhal

I have two current obsessions—lowering inflammation, and everything Susan Alexandra makes. I’m hoping someone loves me enough to get me this PEMF Go Mat from Higher Dose, whose products I love. I’m also hoping someone recognizes our family’s love for asparagus and gets us this fabulous asparagus menorah from Susan Alexandra

I have a bunch of guys in my life who are generally hard to shop for, so this year I’m lucky that a handful of the books I published make the perfect gifts for them: There’sThe Tennis Court all the obsessives; The Old Jewish Men’s Guide for any Jewish man over the age of 50; and Tom Colicchio’s Why I Cook, which is such an inspiring read for young men looking to find their place in the world.

Betsy Blumenthal, senior editor, Chase Travel, and resident BRAT/kibbitzer

I’ve now taken several of Inbal Baum’s terrific Delicious Cities food tours, both in Israel—one around Shuk HaCarmel, and the other, around Levinsky Market. Since the onset of the war last October, Inbal’s business, like many others in Israel that are centered around tourism and leisure, has suffered, and she’s moved more of the company’s operations to the United States, where she’s from. I adore her (and great food); so this season, I’d love to give friends and family the gift of one of her New York City adventures, like the West Village Israeli food tour. Fun, informative, delicious, supportive—what more could anybody want?

Julie Rice, SoulCycle and Peoplehood co-founder

I love giving friends these Petite Plume wide leg pajamas. They’re so soft and comfortable to sleep in. Add a custom monogram—it really makes people feel loved! I keep a pair of these L.L. Bean slippers in every room. It’s like my “Mr. Rogers “ trick. They instantly make being home feel cozy. I buy them for me AND everyone I love.

Lauren Mechling, The Memo co-author and @thecloglife curator

OK, this is not a sexy "tastemaker" answer but it's The Truth: I really want My Own iPad. My daughter is ten years old and has commandeered the family iPad, and I just quit Twitter/X (seeya, Elon!), so I have a fantasy that if I had my own device I'd somehow be more Up On The News and Culture, and I'd have read the Bhagavad Gita that I took out of the digital library two weeks ago.

As for giving, I think I am going to buy my mom a year-long Patreon subscription to the Celebrity Book Club Friday VIP episodes. This wild and hilarious podcast is my heart and my life, and I have slowly been proselytizing and winning over diehard listeners, my mother among them. She is a fellow insomniac, and I think that she will appreciate a 3:09 a.m. hang with my pals Lily and Steven.

Zibby Owens, author, podcaster, bookstore owner

This year, I’m getting my BFF the Support Jewish Authors Ultimate Hanukkah Gift with five books, a ‘Jewish Stories are Best When Shared’ hat, and a chutzpah mug

Faith Salie, CBS Sunday Morning contributor and Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! panelist 

As a gentile mom to Jewish kids, I really want my 10- and 12-year-old Jewish kids to keep believing in Santa. I always want a totally functional, capacious, and relatively chic backpack to start wearing since I’m a New Yorker and I walk everywhere. My physical therapist wants this for me, too. For other people, tickets (plural) to Broadway shows. We are a jazz-hands NYC family, and there’s no better gift than seeing a Broadway show unless it’s being in a Broadway show! All real New Yorkers know to get show tickets on a discount at TKTS or Today Tix or the like.

Alana Newhouse, Tablet founder and editor-in-chief 

I either want a Year of the Flood chai pendant, or three consecutive nights of sleep.

That's it for the first GOLDA guide! We'll see you back here soon for more holiday fun.

Stay GOLDA,

Stephanie

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