The what, you say? If the Menurkey doesn’t sound like a familiar part of your family’s holiday traditions, there’s good reason. For the first and only time in recorded history, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are overlapping, with the two heavyweight holidays both falling on Nov. 28 this year. So how does one celebrate this crazy confluence of events — which won’t happen again for more than 75,000 years (the year 79811, to be exact)? With a menorah shaped like a turkey, of course! Nine-year-old Manhattanite Asher Weintraub created the Menurkey in honor of this year’s dual holiday. Asher says he thought people might like to have a turkey menorah because the holidays are similar in that, during both, “we spend time with our families and are thankful for all that we have been given.” Asher came up with the idea and name on his own, designed the Menurkey prototype on CAD software, and even enlisted his music teacher to write the official Menurkey song. Asher and his father, filmmaker Anthony Weintraub, created a Kickstarter page in August to fund the production of the Menurkey, with the goal to raise $25,000 by Sept. 12. The project far surpassed the Weintraub’s expectations, raising almost $50,000 from more than 800 donors. According to the Kickstarter page, the Menurkeys will be made in two editions: a limited run of ceramic, glazed Menurkeys and a higher volume edition of plaster Menurkeys, which can be painted and personalized. For more information or to order your Menurkey (buy it before Nov. 19 to guarantee deliver by Thanksgivukkah!), go to Menurkey.com. The Menurkey song, performed by none other than The Dirty Sock Funtime Band, is available to purchase on iTunes. The Menurkey team is encouraging Menurkey purchasers to post photos of their decorated and/or lighted Menurkeys to its Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages.
