The 2018 Hanukkah stamp will be issued sometime in late September or early October. The word "Hanukkah" is not on the stamp.

The explanation given by the USPS is "Though the word Hanukkah is not on the face of the stamp, the words "Happy Hanukkah" are printed at the top of the stamp sheet." They go on to say "The USPS has received many public recommendations over the years to do a Hanukkah stamp without the word Hanukkah thus giving the Jewish community could choose to use the stamp beyond Hanukkah. With the beautiful and meaningful design of the 2018 Hanukkah stamp we decided to take this public recommendation and gauge the response."

I have been campaigning to the USPS for a new Hanukkah stamp, every year, since 1993 and I've never been asked about leaving the word Hanukkah off the stamp. Personally, I use the Hanukkah stamp all year long with the word on it.

Now the USPS says they are listening to us, the Jewish community. Please ask your readers and/or members to send an email to the USPS and tell them you want a new Hanukkah stamp every year and that it should have the word Hanukkah on it.

Send the email to Roy.A.Betts@usps.gov (he is the manager of Stamp Services) and, cc to Postmaster General Megan Brennan pmgceo@email.usps.gov.