A Jewish Calendar You’ll Actually Use

Hi GOLDA gang! I spent the day helping out at our nursery school Hanukkah bazaar, where I got to hang with GOLDA pals like Tchotchke, Goldie Home, and Juju + Stitch. I love to see everyone getting in the holiday spirit (Hanukkah starts this Sunday; I’m told Christmas is sometime later this month).

It turns out my interest in material culture (fine, shopping) is genetic. Edith ran around that bazaar snatching up sparkly things, pink sunscreen, and more. Here’s some of our haul, which included a dreidel sweatshirt, this cute onesie for her baby sister, and new purple Goldie Home table linens.

Now back to the Eight Days of GOLDA—and something for the design lovers.

Graphic designer Bentzion Goldman has long been fascinated by the relationship between Judaism and design. “Jews have a natural tendency to find meaning in things, and find metaphor and expression and beauty in things,” he told me. “That comes out in art and design a lot.”

That’s certainly the case with his latest project, The Set Table, a 12-month exploration of Jewish food. It’s filled with striking photography that deconstructs the very idea of what Jewish food is. It sounds high concept, and it definitely is—but the result is so unbelievably cool that it’s worthy of a spot on your wall in 2026.

Bentzion’s passion project could just as conceivably have ended up as a series of gallery-worthy food photography. I asked him why he decided to make it a calendar. “I think Jews are so acutely aware of the calendar,” he explained. “We have the new year; we have the new month; we mark the end of every week.”

He pointed out that a lot of our association with Jewish food is based around specific times of the year, tied to holidays or harvests. He and his team used the calendar as their creative brief: they looked at each month and asked what the holiday or inspiration was—and then tried to do something interesting and creative with it. 

October features an edible riff on Sukkot’s four species: 

December features sfenj, the Moroccan counterpart to sufganiyot—the jelly donuts eaten on Hanukkah:

Bentzion clearly knows his way around Jewish design culture, so I asked him to share some of his favorite objects, inspirations, and gift ideas. Here are his picks:

The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, by Ellen Frankel

This is one of my favorite books in my library. It’s an index of Jewish visual symbolism. As a designer often working with Jewish themes, it's often the first stop I make during research.

Via Maris Challah Cover

Via Maris is making some of my favorite Judaica out there at the moment. Their challah cover is understated, elegant, and feels like such a marriage of tradition and modernity. I'm only upset that I didn't get my hands on the limited edition collaboration with Adeena Sussman.

Vintage Israeli Shekel Stamps (1981-1983)

The 80s were a wild time for graphic design around the globe. These pop art-inspired typographic designs for the Israeli Postal Service make me so happy.

@old_hebrew_bookcovers on Instagram

One of my favorite corners on the internet is the Instagram account @old_hebrew_bookcovers. It's a gold mine of vintage Hebrew graphic design, typography, and calligraphy.

Hannah Polskin Menorah Sculpture

Hannah Polskin nailed it with this organic sculpted menorah. It's simply breathtaking and now comes in multiple finishes. If anyone with a healthy budget is looking for a Chanukkah gift for me, this is the place to look

Thanks to our new pal Bentzion Goldman for letting us in on his wonderful world of design. Order his 2026 Jewish food calendar, The Set Table—and check out his other work here.

Stay GOLDA,

Stephanie