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Dec. 9, 2005
Frying up a little fun
Jewish action doll arrives in time for Chanukah.
KATHARINE HAMER EDITOR
He makes a mean latke, caterwauls about the Maccabees and kvells
with a determined vibrancy. All this, and he's only 60 centimetres
tall.
Latke Larry - "the world's only talking action Chanukah gift"
- just appeared on the scene a couple of months ago - and already,
he's enormously popular.
"It looks like we're going to sell out," said Larry's
inventor, Columbus, Ohio-based Chabad Rabbi Areyah Kaltmann, in
a recent interview. "We had 13,200 and we only have 800 left.
We're overwhelmed. It's already nearly a month before Chanukah and
we have sold close to 14,000."
Kaltmann isn't surprised by the success of his invention, which
features the voice of Seinfeld actor Jerry Stiller.
"In Chanukah, there is no modern-day icon which kids can relate
to," he said. "You have Chanukah gelt, you have a dreidel,
but you don't have an icon. Jewish kids, especially kids in the
public schools, they're surrounded by other cultures and other symbols.
We want kids to feel good about their Jewish heritage, and Latke
Larry, in a very cute, enjoyable way, brings Chanukah to life.
"We want Jews, when they walk by a Chanukah menorah, to feel
a sense of pride and that they belong and that they have a place
- and just because their religion isn't the dominant culture, nevertheless,
there's a place for them. Latke Larry does all of that with a very
special, fun spirit that really transcends all ages in the family.
If you're a kid, you're fascinated by the rabbi with the frypan,
with the latke, and if you're an adult, someone older, you can appreciate
the humor in Jerry Stiller's song."
Profits from the sale of Latke Larry go to the Friendship Circle,
which operates in 25 cities across North America, including Toronto
and Montreal, and pairs teenagers with children with special needs.
Stiller, said Kaltmann, "has been an absolute mensch. He wasn't
paid anything, he did this purely out of the goodness of his heart.
He feels very strongly about Friendship Circle and helping children
with special needs. He's just a very special human being who has
a tremendous amount of love for others."
The Friendship Circle "provides a big brother and a big sister
for children," said Kaltmann. "You can get the best doctor
you want, but to have a friend, that's something you not necessarily
can have. It really brings meaning and an added dimension to [the
children's] lives. It helps the siblings who don't always get the
proper attention and at the same time it helps the parents have
respite, so it's a great program which benefits everyone.
"It also benefits the teenagers, because unfortunately, many
times, you can have people, when they get into adolescence, it's
very easy to become self-centred. What this program does is it encourages
our teenagers to appreciate how lucky they are – firstly, to
be healthy, and that they can make a difference in a child's life.
The whole idea of the Friendship Circle is to make a difference
– to bring some laughter, some love, some friendship. Latke
Larry, it's a great fit."
Kaltmann, who is originally from Australia, met his Cincinnati-born
wife when he was at rabbinical school in New York. He has been in
Columbus for 14 years, and says he came up with the Latke Larry
character as a way to entertain his Hebrew school students. Kaltmann's
brother-in-law, who is a rabbi and an animator for Sesame Street,
drew the character, and Kaltmann sat down with friends to write
some lyrics for the doll.
"I have six kids, and they all love Latke Larry," said
Kaltmann. "My three-year-old, the first day, she learned the
song off by heart."
By next year, he said, there may even be a Latke Larry children's
book, "about how he solves the mystery of being healthy. That
ties in with Chanukah – you know, Chanukah is this idea of
a miracle taking place, with the oil lasting for eight days, and
Latke Larry solves the miracle of just being healthy."
For now, though, Kaltmann is concentrating on making sure there
are enough Larrys to go around. A new shipment of 7,000 is due this
month.
"I expected [the success]," he said, "because there's
nothing else there. It's the world's only talking action Chanukah
doll and, even more importantly, it creates an icon for the festival
which kids can feel some Jewish identity and pride in."
To order a Latke Larry doll, which retails for $17.99 US, visit
www.latkelarry.com.
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