by Vicky Krupka

by Vicky Krupka

Two new lines of biblically themed limited edition bears have recently debuted. The first line, called "Dov Babies" are adorable, bean bag bears. The second line features exclusive plush

collectibles around the country, and a portion of the profits would go to charity. Rothenberg discussed this idea with his mother, Elaine and brother, Mark, who both agreed that this was a great concept. Together, the family formed The Dov Bear Company, and set out to make Dov Bear.
"First of all, it was important to me that Dov Bear be something very special. He had to be designed by the best and I believe Sally Winey is the best ," recalled Rothenberg. So,he continued his previous dialogue with Winey and entered into an agreement for her to design, make and personally autograph a limited edition of the

handmade bears by Sally Winey. Both lines are unique in that they are the only bears by Sally Winey to be given Hebrew names.
The Dov Bear Company is the creation of Florida Attorney, Larry Rothenberg. Rothenberg had a dream. Nothing as profound as Martin Luther King's dream, but significant nevertheless. Rothenberg, an avid collector of Beanie Babies, had a dream that involved his late father, his own personal passion for bean bag collectibles and his desire to involve himself in charitable endeavors.

plush Dov Bear.
Rothenberg quickly learned, however, that the business of manufacturing quality bears was not a part-time task. "I had to with printers, webmasters and photographers. I was overwelmed, recalls Rothenberg. Help surfaced from long-time friend Larry Saichek, a successful attorney/CPA, who was loking for a new challenge. Says Rothenberg, "Larry has basically put his practice on hold in order to put together the pieces of our business. We're very excited about our product."

Prior to his dream Roth- enberg had been in Chicago for a family celebration. Hearing about the Beanie Babie convention in town, he went to the convention and introduced himself to reknown bear designer, Sally Winey. Rothenberg discussed with Winey his idea of creating a bear named Barrett in memory of his father who died of cancer in 1994.

DovBear.JPG (101202 bytes)

"The most important thing to us is quality, noted Saichek. "Our Bears are more then just collectibles. We hope their messages have an uplifting effect on their owners.
Each Dov Bear includes a tag with an inspira- tional message such as: "Dov, the Hebrew word for "Bear," will forever be distinguished by his sincere, loving and kind expression. The wise Rabbis once commented that human beings should be more like "Dov," whose layers and layers of wormth store an abbundance of goodness within. An inner spirituality, as demonstrated by Dov, allows for fulfilment of the commandment to positively impact others.

Weeks later Rothenberg dreamt about a bean bag bear - a bear named "Dov." Ironically,"Dov," the Hebrew word for "bear," was also the Hebrew name of Rothenberg's father. Convinced this was some sort ofsign, Rothenberg embarked on a project to produce a line of bears in memory of his father. His thought was to have a line of biblically themed bears with the first one named "Dov Bear." Like his father - a worm, spiritual, family-oriented man - the bear would have a siritual message to share. It was decided that they would be sold as

    They also agreed that Winey would design four bean bag bear as part of the Dov Baby Collection. The Dov Babies are named Dov, Aish "Fire," Shalom "Peace," and Emmes "Truth." The Bear's name os embroidered in gold on the back of each Baby.
     The Dov Company plans to follow up its introductory line with additional spiritual bean bag bears. "We have some pretty special ideas for future bears, sais Rothenberg.
     If it is true, as the memorable Disney song says, that "a dream is a wish your heart makes," then Larry Rothenberg's dream could very well warm the hearts of many in the months and years to come.