The Mensch on a Bench is a Hanukkah-themed book and doll set created in 2012 by Neal Hoffman, inspired by a joke he had made about the 2005 book and doll The Elf on the Shelf.
[1] In 2013 the crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for the marketing of the product started.
The doll has appeared on Shark Tank, The Today Show, and The View.
[2] The toy and book are sold together as a package, and the book relates a version of the story of Hanukkah.
[3][4] In 2016, Team Israel adopted the book's Mensch character as their mascot for the World Baseball Classic.