Email to Jay, owner of Chrismukkah.org

Hi Jay, I just wanted to let you know that my wife Michelle and I have gone "live" with our preview Chrismukkah web site, in advance of launching our Chrismukkah card collection later this year. We know it's a little silly, but we just couldn't resist, and have dedicated the project to our 8 month old "half-jewish American princess" Minna. We've registered a few spelling variations on the Chrismukkah / Chrismukah name and are now in the process of transferring ownership of the Chrismukkah.com domain from the guy who owned it. He's happy. We negotiated him down from his initial asking price of 5 million to less than 1/2 of that... so we're both happy. :-) My impression is that he regrets sending you email about trademarking Chrismukkah. He told me he had intended the email to be in jest, and realizes it's not a trademarkable name. I'll stay out of it. In any event, we'd like to stay in touch with YOU both and do our best to support any Chrismukkah.org projects you may have in mind. We've installed a link from our site to yours, if that's OK with you. We're still in the design concept stage, both of the cards and the site, and haven't decided how extensive an endeavor this will be for us.... so long as it's fun, positive and makes the world a slightly better place. Stay in touch. Merry Mazeltov Ron and Michelle Gompertz Ron - Just went to chrismukkah.com - very cool to see someone who appreciates the true meaning of chrismukkah owning the domain. I've added your link on chrismukkah.org.

Critique from Mom about Chrismukkah and thought about growing up a Mischling in Nazi Germany

Good luck !!!! Chrismukkah sounds good to me. Now you have to think of clever ornaments . Just talked to my sister. Surprise, surprise. She did not have much enthusiasm for the site. I suppose She fails to see the humor in the subject. I suggested a response on her part. As I said yesterday, be prepared for criticism. Stick with the original copy. Don't use Shiksa. Hate the word Shiksa ,its crude and not funny. At least that is my opinion, but then I also hate Mel Brooks humor. Also Opa Leo did not have a thick jewish accent ,it was german. The german Jews were totally assimilated and did not speak yiddish . Had some time to browse through the " half jewish" link. Under the category "Mishling" It states that having two jewish grandparents made you "erster klasse" (first class) under nazi law. I thought that it depended on which parent was jewish. I wanted to know if I was 1 st or second class, not that it matters anymore. As far as I know,Mischlinge were not deported ,they could not get a higher education,were not allowed into the Hitler youth; take part in the evacuation during the war bombings; etc.etc. The adults were not allowed to marry non jews or have any kind of relationship. (Rassenschande) If the non-jewish partner divorced the other,the jewish partner was deported. The adults male mischling would be drafted into the army and used as cannon fodder at the Russian front. The females had to give up what ever job they held and work under the watchful eyes of the S.S. Omi worked in a fish factory, Of course if some one denounced you , for whatever reason,the shipped you off to camp ( if you survived the interrogations.) I remember a young man who fled across the border when he was declared half. He had not known of his background . He was caught and shot. We lived in a town that had few jews. I did not know anyone like us. Maren has been trying to find people with similar experience ,since our story of survival has often been questioned. Opa Leo had us investigated , he thought we might have been collaboraters. Ironic.

A great idea?

Yes, everyone I've spoken with about it thinks it's a great idea. Implementing it and marketing are the big challenges. I think it would be an easy one to publicize. The goal would be to get all the TV shows to do a story on it next holiday season... they're always looking for a unique angle. A see you being our lead spokesperson to the media - well spoken, good looking, charismatic. Michelle and I would be the back-up personalities - the interfaith couple with a baby. I think it's a dot.com venture first, and then a retail program to follow. I have friends who are stationary reps.. and they would probably pick up the line quickly. Much of the basic infrastructure is alreadyin place if the line is run through Mosiac Mercantile... manufacturing, warehousing, packing and shippping, customer service, phones, fax, computer software, etc. I still need to buy the URL form the guy that owns Chrismukkah.com. If you want to help make this idea a reality, we should meet. Either at your place or my office. R Ron- the little boy/girl who has interfaith parents & what that means for him/her during the holidays? what would be the twist? the creative way in which the parents deal with this religious fusion? very plausible. Rachel

Project X-mukkah

Rachel, OK, here's the update on acquiring domain names for Project X-mukkah. Chrismukkah.com, Chrismukkah.org, Chrismukah.com and Chrismuka.com. were all registered in December 2003. The fellow who owns Chrismukkah.com is trying to sell it to the highest bidder. Chrismukkah.org is owned by Jay Brewer who is an IT at the New York Times. I spoke with him on the phone. I don't think he plans to do anything commercial with the site. I sent an email to the anonymous owner of Chrismukah.com to see if they were interested in selling it. Chrismuka.com is registered to a company in Yonkers, NY. Probably the owner's name is Chris Mukattore or something. Accordingly, I've registered the "next best" domain names. We will only succeed with strong content and search engine positioning anyway. CHRISMUKKA.COM (A common misspelling of Chanukah, plus it's shorter without the H at the end anyway) CHRISMUKKAH.NET (spelled just as they did on the OC episode) CHRISMUKKAH.BIZ (.BIZ domains were on sale at GoDaddy for $5.00-can't resist a bargain) CHRISMUKAH.NET (spelled differently from the OC episode.) CHRISMUKAH.ORG (playing monopoly.. don't want more competition) CHRISMUKAH.BIZ (on sale for a few extra bucks) OYJOY.COM (It's short, EZ to remember. Shorter domains generally have more value. It's a good catch-all name for this venture) Michelle is going to start working on a simple home page shortly. ********** Ron - great! i like how you are covering your tracks! i noticed that hannak(k)ah is spelled with one & two ks. which is it? i am not sure whether i prefer chrismukkah or chrismukah. you? oh, & i LIKE OYJOY. clever. simple. could be mother co. for chrismukkah. attached is the menorah cane sketch i have begun. i will color it in, do an illustrator graphic of it, etc. might be fun to use as a bright splash page on the website. that or another one of the illustrations.bright, simple & communicative is always good as an (eye) opener.

Copy for our first Chrismukkah Web Site.

Coming Soon: Chrismukkah Chrismukah Chrismukka Holiday cards, decorations and accoutrements Chrismukkah is a festive mix of Hannukkah (aka Chanukah) and Christmas (aka X-mas) characterized by a whimsical intermingling of traditions and rituals from both holidays. Chrismukkah is inclusionary, poly-denominational, celebrated most often by interfaith families - that is families where one parent is Jewish and the other Christian. Chrismukkah may also be celebrated by atheists, agnostics, cynics and sinners. All are invited to spin the mistletoe. While mixed-religon families have traditionally combined elements of Christmas and Chanukah, enjoying a hodge-podge of rituals, there never really was a good name for it. That is until now.... when in early December 2003, FOX television aired an episode of their trendy, teen angst show "The O.C." ( Orange County). The episode was entitled "The Best Chrismukkah Ever" and the context of the reference, while admitedly superficial, ironic and mildly irreverant. Nonetheless it struck a resonant chord in my family and inspired us to send out home-made Chrismukkah holiday cards, featuring the obligatory photo of our infant daughter Minna (see above), to all our friends and relatives. The reaction was overwelmingly positive with not a single discouraging "OY Humbug" heard. We now see Chrismukkah (it's yet to be determined if it should be spelled Chrismukah, Chrismukkah or Chrismukka) as an opportunity to create a new hybrid holiday...one that is openly inclusionary, good-naturedly whimsical, and free of the burden requiring chosing between competing religious beliefs. OY HUMBUG! Ron Gompertz and Michelle Gantt Vote What do you think - what's your favorite way to spell Chrismukkah?        Chrismukkah Links www.chrismukkah.org www.halfjew.com www.interfaithfamily.com www.mosaicmercantile.com (our sponsor) Join Our mailing list and enjoy pre-release pricing and information on our line of orignal design Chrismukkah cards, ornaments and accessories. Of course we respect your privacy and promise not to share, sell or trade your email address and information with anyone else! Contact Questions or comments?

Some of the first card ideas

Rachel: I'm glad you didn't think the idea silly. I LOVE the image of a snow man made from Matzoh Balls. When I was a kid, we always had a Chanukah bush. It was a stumpy little thing made of silver plastic... but it fit in our smallish 2 bedroom New York apartment and didn't make a mess with pine needles.. my mother wouldn't have liked Every year, my Uncle Albert would call me on the phone in his role as the "Chanukah Man." I was always so excited to get that phone call. His heavy German accent didn't really fool me, but I always played along. Here are some more visuals: - A close-up of a dreidel with icons of Christmas... tree, snowman, printed on the sides, rather than Hebrew letters. - A menorah with christmas tree shaped candles. - A traditional looking xmas tree with a Star of David on top. - A group of people caroling outside a house on a snowy evening, dressed in scarves and holiday attire, but all wearing Yarmulkes. - A Christmas tree with presents below all wrapped in Blue and Gold Chanukah wrapping paper. - A reindeer walking thought a silent snowy field... with 8 lit candles in this antlers. - Santa Claus with curly white payes instead of a beard. - Challah looking like a fruitcake.. cherries, nuts, etc. - A closeup of a bottle of Eggnog with a label that says it's Kosher. -A menorah with candy canes instead of candles. - Yenta Claus -A jewish looking older woman on the roof climbing into the chimney. - Fiddler on the Roof - Santa Claus with a fiddle dancing around on a snowy rooftop looking like Zero Mostel in the original film/play. I'm sure we could think of dozens more. ;-) Could it be a children's book too? Ron

Pitching the Chrismukkah idea - first email to Rachel

Dear Rachel I've been kicking around the pros and cons of launching a holiday greeting card based on the pretend mixed-religion holiday called Chrismukkah. Those of us Jewish parents who are married to Christian parents struggle with the issue during the holidays, and wonder how to expose the kids to both cultures, beliefs, and traditions. The name Chrismukkah was exposed nationally by the Fox TV show "The OC" in early December, and Michelle liked the name so much, we used it for our holiday card - see below. I'm currently considering the possibility of purchasing the Chrismukkah.com domain name from a quick thinking fellow who registered that domain within a few short days of the OC show airing on FOX. Before I start spending money foolishly, I'm trying to be methodical and pragmatic.. exploring the viability of such a line of cards. The look of the cards would probably be whimsical and clever but not too campy or with too much irony or irreverence. Cute, but not Hallmark -ish. Playing with Jewish/Christian iconography - Dreidel's like ornaments from a Chrismas tree... that sort of thing We might even want to sell driedel ornaments. Your illustration style came to mind as an alternative to doing photography.. and I was wondering if you do freelance work.. and if so what your fees might be to help conceptualize and illustrate 12-24 different Chrismukkah cards... probably sold over the web and maybe in a wholesale line. Thoughts? Ron ron i can see it now: *dreidels on xmas tree *rudolph wearing a menorah *frosty w/ matza balls & a yarmulke. (tee hee ~ too ironic?) i must admit, the chrismukkah card struck me immediately. growing up, it seemed like the majority of my friends came from half & half households. i would often go over to their houses just to light candles, sing, & play dreidel (christian girl rachel really wanted to be jewish, you see). are you envisioning hand drawings, hand/computer combo, or strictly graphic drawings? whatever way, the ideas do seem like some which i'd be able to draw in a whimsical and clever way. The project might entail several hours of brainstorming & sketches until we identify a concept/style with which we want to move forward. then, depending,we can either work on an hourly/per card basis, or a lower base rate with royalties ~ again, fun concept ~ i can really see people connecting with it, as there are so many out there that celebrate chrismukkah & don't necessarily have the appropriate greeting card/iconography to represent. (just thought of idea of online animated e-cards too...} ok. let me know your thoughts. rachel

Step 1 - Liberating Chrismukkah.com

January 2, 2004 Hi Ron, how are you? Thanks for taking the time to write. Mixed marriages are an important issue in today's society. I have received offers for other site's that I didn't feel were appropriate, but yours has promise. However, I do not make a practice of having an "asking price". So, please feel free to make me an offer and I will take it into consideration. 1/7/04 Good afternoon Ron, how are you? Last week you wrote in reference to Chrismukkah.com I am motivated to sell the site and wanted to hear your offer.Please let me know if you still have an interest in the domain. 1/7/04 Ron, thanks for the input. Your idea sounds great, I have to say that were a Chrismukkah card available, I would buy it! Make me an offer :) 1/8/04 Ron, No email or contacts from Fox. I was trademarking the word until I learned that it was extremely difficult to do so. Its easy to trademakr a product, etc., but a word is nearly impossible. Although it was used on their show, it surely wasn't the origin of the word. If I hear from Fox, I'll let you know though. I agree, a battle with them would be expensive! I am getting so many emails everyday its crazy, well over 100 emails from people, adults and kids, some just saying hello and Merry Chrismukkah! Let me know how you're progressing... 1/16/04 Ron, I am consulted with various attorneys who specialize in this type of thing. I have also sold domains in the past. It is simple and painless and does not require any pricey lawyers. I simpley receive payment and transfer the domain ownership to your name. I have to tell you, this is a great name, as I'm sure you already know. I was told that this sight should bring in $40,000 if I sell it. While that would be great, I personnally don't see it as a reasonable expectation. I am willing to take $XX,XXX for the site. Its your call, throw those numbers around and get back to me. 1/28/04 Ron, haven't heard from you recently. I have received an offer of $XXXX for the site from a prospective buyer and am considering the sale. Let me know if you would like to make an offer of $XXXX and the site is yours. Please reply by February 1st as I told the gentleman I would have my decision by the 2nd. 1/28/04 Ron, glad you decided to accept the offer. I have all the necessary documents on hand and to be honest, I am really looking forward to seeing your finished product!