Santa's Jewish Helpers
by Emily Raij
We all know how hard it is for the real Santa Claus to deliver his countless gifts across the entire world in a single night. So, it’s easy to understand that when it comes to collecting wish lists from millions of children in the weeks leading up to Christmas, the big man needs some help. And here in Central Florida, he gets some of that help from a group of folks you might not expect.
One of those helpers is David Goldstone. He moved to Central Florida with his wife Juli in 1995 and started a family that includes son Max, now a law student, and daughter Maia, currently a pre-med student at FSU. But David’s friendship with Santa started long before his children were born.
“My first time being Santa was in a second-grade play, and I have played him off and on my entire life,” says David.
Then something shifted for David when he had children of his own.
“Up until my early 30s, I saw it as a part,” David explains. “When we had kids, my view changed. My HOA asked me to be Santa, and my own kids didn’t know it was me! Suddenly you realize, the Christmas magic is on you. If you ruin it for this child, you ruin it for your own kid.”
For some children, seeing Santa and delivering their wish lists is the happiest moment of the year, and that is why David has been acting as “Santa’s emissary,” as he describes, for children with special needs in Christine Holton’s classes at Apopka’s Dream Lake Elementary School for more than a decade.
“I go there every year and represent Santa for them,” he says.
David is a member of the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas and the Secret Sleigh Project, an organization that coordinates visits from Santa Claus for homebound children with acute medical needs so they can enjoy the Santa experience. David also has a network of other emissaries he can go to for advice, such as where to get Santa a custom belt or Mrs. Claus a new bonnet. And, yes, David’s beard is real, a follicle feat he starts growing in June.
“Many emissaries live and breathe Santa year-round,” David says. “Very often, a child will see one of us and ask if we are you know who, and I say, ‘I work with Santa. Santa asks me to help out in your area.’”
David continued helping during the pandemic lockdown. He and his daughter Maia – who serves as his elf, Jingle – did 30 Zoom visits with Dream Lake students as well as visits for friends and family.
“Santa is a responsibility – that’s how we refer to it,” says David. “It’s a mitzvah. We’re commanded to do it. This is our way of going out and giving a child in need a glimmer of hope where there may not be any. You can see it in their eyes. They understand who I represent and that Santa cares.”
Communication comes easy for David, and he is happy to use his talents for good, whether that be visiting Dream Lake Elementary or homebound children through the Secret Sleigh Project. He is also a local actor and happily shares the holiday spirit where he can. But bringing cheer to children and their parents is what David finds most gratifying.
“It’s a privilege if I can give them just a minute of joy,” says David, “just by being there and sharing time with their child.”
Growing Up Santa
Ben Ptashinsky-Skinner is another local actor and Santa’s helper you may remember from the cover of J Life’s Fall 2021 issue. Like David, Ben started helping Santa at a young age.
“When I was in high school, the local mall was looking for Santa’s helpers, and it paid twice what I made at my weekend job at Taco Bell,” Ben remembers. “So I auditioned and got it, and I was an 18-year-old Santa Claus in 2000... And I have done it literally every single Christmas since.”
After retiring from his job as a Disney World performer to become a stay-at-home dad to his young daughter Charlotte, Ben has been able to pursue other creative projects such as a cooking show on Instagram, @EquityBen. But he always returns to Santa.
“And I have no problem doing it because I’m Jewish,” he says. “I’m not missing out on time with my family.”
Ben typically does 50 Santa visits in December including fundraisers for organizations like Give Kids the World Village. He especially enjoys being able to visit the same children each year.
“I will say being Santa, it’s very sweet,” says Ben. “I’ve built a relationship with these families as Santa.”
That means learning from the parents about what their kids are really like and what they enjoy so he can personalize the visits.
“I love the specificity because it makes the situation even more realistic for the child – that’s so special,” says Ben, who gained an appreciation for staying in character and maintaining integrity from his days at Disney.
Like Santa’s other emissaries, Ben takes beard growth and maintenance very seriously, although he does require some extra pigment support from his barber since he doesn’t have naturally white hair just yet. But he won’t need to dye his beard forever. Santa’s helpers tend to stay at their jobs for a very long time.