WILMINGTON, Del., Nov. 15 (JTA) — With Chanukah approaching, the U.S. Postal Service may have just made sending gifts more satisfying by issuing its new Chanukah Stamp. With apologies to David Letterman and his famous Top 10 lists, we offer the Top 8 reasons for using the new stamp. 8. How interesting it is that this is only the second time a Jewish holiday has been mentioned on a U.S. stamp issue. It’s not quite the miracle of 164 BCE, but it’s not bad for 2004. 7. Amazingly, this stamp has Hebrew letters bright and bold unlike any other stamp in America. Why is this Jewish stamp different from all other stamps? 6. No worries about licking any treif ingredients in the stamp glue; these stamps are self-adhesive. 5. Unbelievably, the cost is a mere 37 cents, which can deliver a card across the street or all the way to the self-proclaimed “Frozen Chosen” Jews in Fairbanks, Alaska. A real seasonal bargain! 4. Keeping in touch by mail is still more enjoyable than sending and receiving impersonal e-mail messages. 3. Knowing a colorful dreidel adorns the stamp can brighten up any stack of mail and cheer the recipient. 2. After Chanukah, imagine how your gentile friends will become more sensitive to the possibility that using Madonna and Child stamps on their cards to you may not have been “kosher.” 1. How wonderful finally to be able to answer the question of why to use the stamp with the common Jewish saying, “Why not?”
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