Ellen and Nelson Robin designed these lights for Chanukah, with the "t" in lights in the shape of a chanukiah (www.Ivegotlights.com).

The Robins' goodies include bumperstickers, ties, T-Shirts, mugs, a mouse pad and even a Chanukah postage stamp. At $23.95 for a sheet of 20, you might want to stick with the U.S. Postal Service's Chanukah stamp at $8.80 for 20. That's, of course, if your local post office carries them.

Christopher Columbustein?

Some researchers, it seems, are determined to prove that Christopher Columbus was Jewish.

A study by Estelle Irizarry, based on official documents and letters of the explorer, found that Columbus came from the Kingdom of Aragon and his native tongue was Catalan.

Irizarry also concluded that Christopher Columbus' origins were not obscure by chance, but rather the result of the famed explorer's having purposely hid that he was a converso, a Jewish convert to Christianity.

"The people who [hid their origins] more and had reason to do so were the Jews," she was quoted by Matzav.com as saying, referring to the forced conversions and mass expulsions of Jews from Spain in the 15th century.

Irizarry, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, examined Columbus' writings in detail, and says that the peculiarities of his writing and other linguistic aspects were associated with Ladino, the Jewish ethnolect in late medieval Spain.

"Columbus even punctuated marginal notes and he included copious notes around his pages. In that sense, he followed the punctuation style of the Ladino-speaking scribes," Irizarry said.

Or, maybe, he just liked that style.

How's the rebbe's slam dunk?

Fans who go to home games of Hapoel Jerusalem's basketball team this year will not only witness three-pointers, dunks and defense. They also will be enlightened by messages attributed to the Lubavitcher rebbe such as "Your one good deed does good for everyone" or "You want to change the world? The power is in your hands."

Those sayings, reports Ynet, will be projected onto digital bilboards that line court and will be printed in the team's pamphlets distributed to the crowds at the games.

The ad campaign's objective, according to Ynet, is "to encourage love of Israel and to increase Jewish identity."

Spiritual ads for basketball games -- are you listening Washington Wizards?

That's some guest list

One-thousand eight-hundred chickens, 1,764 pounds of beef, 1.2 tons of carp and a 30-yard challah -- and that was food provided for just the men, among the some 10,000 guests who recently attended a massive wedding in Netanya, Israel, according to Ynet, celebrating the marriage of Meir Meshulam, son of Sanz Grand Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Halberstam, the Klausenberger rebbe of Netanya, to his cousin, Bracha Unsdorfer.

Oy, just imagine trying to make the seating chart for that reception.

Extra gigs

With baseball season over, the Nationals "presidents" apparently were looking for a few extra gigs.

They showed up at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in D.C. this week to greet guests at the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly.

The Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson characters were on hand Sunday, while George Washington and Abraham Lincoln showed up on Monday.

And, no, there was no race for Teddy to lose once again.

Also, at the G.A., American Idol, season 5 finalist ElliottYamin gave a shout-out to Chevy Chase's Michael Gelman Monday night, dedicating a song to the new JFNA executive committee chair.

-- compiled with reports from JTA News and Features, The Jerusalem Post and other sources