Our Story

Justin and Michelle Esgar | Happy Jew Year Menorah

We’re Justin and Michelle — the creators of the Happy Jew Year Menorah and longtime believers that Hanukkah should sparkle as much as it inspires.

When we first got together, all of the Jewish holidays - Rosh Hashanah, break-fast, Passover - were run by our parents. But not Hanukkah. We decided that one would be ours - and began inviting everyone (and we mean EVERYONE) to our house to enjoy one of our favorite holidays of the year.

Each year, we would throw a massive party, and choose a different ethnicity of food, making sure we always had some sort of latke and jelly donut on our menu. That included blue corn tortilla latkes for "La Fiesta de los Luces", a latke-croquette for "Spanica" and deep-fried King's Hawaiian rolls filled with jelly for "Alohanukkah" (highly recommend trying that one yourself). We'd light the candles and all sing together - it's always been a highlight of our year.

When we realized that Hanukkah was going to cross over with New Year's Eve in 2024 and 2027, we knew we had to do something special to celebrate. Thus was born the Happy Jew Years Menorah - a beautiful, handcrafted menorah with just a little bit of "extra" to bring in the New Year. We've got two kids at home who we know will love the actual spinning ball (which glitters beautifully by the way) and can't wait to see families all across the country enjoying and sharing their own Hanukkah + New Year's Eve's ball drop moments.

What started as a family tradition has grown into a way for people everywhere to celebrate light, laughter, and togetherness. We’re thrilled to share a little piece of our joy with you — one disco ball menorah at a time.

So light those candles, sing those songs, count down from 10 and enjoy a Happy Jew Year! 🕎🕎

The name ‘Happy Jew Year’ celebrates the joy of Jewish holidays —
created with humor, love, and pride.