Westlake Village Business Focuses on Judaism

For many local retailers, holiday business is still gathering steam. But for Lauree Feigenbaum, a busy season has just about wrapped up.

Feigenbaum owns Judaica, a mail order business featuring Jewish crafts and gifts. She began taking Hanukkah orders back in August for items such as her confetti shaped like mini menorahs, her menorah T-shirt with battery-operated flickering candles, and her Hanukkah cross-stitch kits.

The Westlake Village resident said she depended heavily on Hanukkah for the success of her year-old business. Hanukkah items, she said, have accounted for about 70% of her approximately 700 orders since June.

“The demand for Hanukkah items has increased tremendously over the past few years,” said Feigenbaum, who prior to starting her business test marketed products at Hanukkah bazaars in Thousand Oaks. “I’ve gotten orders from all over the country. It’s been heavy on the East Coast, but also from small Midwestern towns where people have no other source for these items.”

Though she sells some finished products, Feigenbaum’s catalog is heavily tilted toward craft-makers. “I have all the parts to make Hanukkah dolls, gift baskets, ribbons, fabrics, Jewish quilts,” she said. “That’s the thing about Jewish holidays. You have to make a lot of the things yourself because it’s hard to find them.”

Feigenbaum attributes the growing demand for such items to an increased sense of identity among American Jews.

“I’m in my late 40s. Our generation was, ‘Sh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h. Don’t let anyone know you’re Jewish,”’ she said. “But our children are saying, ‘That’s ridiculous. Tell them you’re Jewish. What’s to hide?’ ”