Or maybe he'll make pancakes or waffles at home. He hasn't decided. But what makes his activities notable is what he won't be doing: hosting the Jewish Community Hour on WCGO Radio, as he has done for the last 33 years.

The longest continuously running radio show in Chicago broadcasting history officially went off the air on Sunday, Oct. 25.

The bittersweet finale for a Chicago Jewish institution was mostly due to economic factors. Finkel, who has hosted the show from 11 a.m. to noon Sunday mornings since 1976, says that recently when his wife Matie brought up the idea of going to a warmer climate for the winter, "I started analyzing what was going on with the show. I realized I only had one full-time every-week advertiser, and they were cutting the budget after September," he said during a recent phone conversation.

Finkel is the show's owner, so when he doesn't have sponsorship, he has to pay for the air time anyway. And when a Jewish holiday falls on a Sunday - as happened three times this year - he doesn't broadcast, but has to pay for the air time.

"I was spinning my wheels," he says. "I thought, this is crazy."

So on his Sept. 13 program, he announced on the air that the show would have to fold unless he got some new advertisers.

"Nobody called, not even any listeners," he says sadly but with resignation. "But when I have free tickets to give away, the phone rings off the hook." Finkel estimates he has some 50,000 listeners in a four-state Midwest area.

Next he sent out letters to 30 former advertisers seeking sponsorship. None responded. He began making plans for his last show.

He was going to do it quietly, without any fanfare, he says, until a Chicago daily newspaper got wind of his plans and published a story. Then he decided to go public.

The program itself has been on the air since 1963, started by Finkel's friend, Cantor Jerome Rabin. When Rabin died, his family asked Finkel, a journalist and public relations man, to take over the show. With some misgivings, he did, and ever since has presided over a folksy mix of Torah commentary, Jewish music, interviews, news from the Jewish world, humor and special holiday themes. He has always seen his mission as "spreading G-d's word through entertainment and information," he said.

He takes that mission seriously. Finkel is an Orthodox Jew who, as a young man, turned down opportunities to try out for both the Cubs and the White Sox because it would have meant playing on Shabbat. Later he worked as a reporter for the Chicago Defender, the city's African-American daily newspaper. He reported for several other Chicago newspapers, then formed his own public relations and advertising business before taking over the radio show.

The long-running program has earned him kudos from Mayor Richard Daley and Daley's father, as well as President Ronald Reagan and many others. The Museum of Broadcast Communications is considering him for inclusion in its Radio Hall of Fame. He can pull out resolutions and proclamations honoring the show that go back decades.

Now that the show is over, Finkel is not fading away into the sunset, although he and Matie will probably see some spectacular ones from the condo they're planning to rent in Florida, where they hope to spend a few of the winter months.

His top priority now, he says, is to spend more time with his three sons - two dentists and a lawyer - and nine grandchildren. "Many times I've been invited someplace by my family and I had to turn it down because of the show," he says, calling the program "both a challenge and a pleasure."

And then, who knows? "Hopefully I'll do something with my experience and training, but I'm not sure yet what that will be," he says.

On his last show, Finkel began the same way he has for nearly 34 years: "Shalom, shalom, boker tov, good morning," then, as he always does, discussed the Torah portion of the week, which happened to be Noach (Noah). He played some music, then told his audience that the present show would be the last one and thanked many individuals for their support.

He reminded listeners that candle-lighting time on Friday, Oct. 30 would be 5:27 p.m. and asked them to pray for the safe return of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and for all the troops in Iraq and elsewhere, and suggested that they e-mail President Barack Obama "about whatever is on your mind," including "doing the right thing for the State of Israel." Then, using the Hebrew word for 'see you later,' he said "L'hitraot."