When I was in elementary school, I would always go to an after-school program called Bright Start. Every year, in December, we would put on a play based on a book called Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins, by Eric Kimmel. The book is about a man named Hershel of Ostropol, who visits a village that—to his surprise—doesn’t celebrate Hanukkah. This is all due to goblins who ruin everything for them. To help the village, Hershel is sent to a synagogue to light Hanukkah candles for eight nights. However, on night eight, the King of the Goblins himself must light the candles. Throughout the book, Hershel finds ways to outsmart the goblins using a jar of pickles, a dreidel, and other things he had with him to get away with lighting the Hanukkah candles each night. Soon, the eighth night came. That meant the King of the Goblins had come to the synagogue to pay him a visit. Fortunately, Hershel did find a method to trick the king into lighting the candles. Of course, this made the king of the goblins furious, so furious he ended up destroying the synagogue. On the bright side, Hershel had claimed victory and Hanukkah candles were being lit all across the village.
Participating in the play we did was actually very fun. We actually didn’t have to memorize our lines; we could read off scripts. I also did the play more than once too. One year, I even played Hershel of Ostropol himself. I also played at least one of the goblins. I was able to fit any role I played without hesitation. It would be so cool if Emmanuel College or another College of the Fenway did a rendition of this book for me to watch and videotape if that is permitted. I don’t know if I would participate, but if we were doing this book for a play, I would like to know.