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A few years ago the religion editor of a metropolitan newspaper called me to discuss a piece she was working on about the upcoming holiday season. She wanted to know if I could provide her with a different "take" on Chanukah than she was used to hearing.
"And what is it you're used to hearing?" I asked.
"Well, you know," she said, "that Chanukah celebrates the struggle for national self-determination. Or that it's a time of giving, like Christmas and Kwanzaa, only in a Jewish sort of way."
Let's make one thing clear:
There is nothing bad about presents per se. It's just that they don't have any particular significance on Chanukah. In fact, if no one gives or receives even one present on Chanukah, they have not omitted anything central to the holiday.
CULTURALLY OVERWHELMED
Everybody I know, including my own kids, wants to strangle me after reading this. To set the record straight: Yes, I got Chanukah presents when I was a child. And yes, my wife and give our children a few gifts on Chanukah. Having said that…
The reason we give presents on Chanukah is because Chanukah just happens to arrive around the same time as Santa. Our Jewish holiday has become culturally overwhelmed by society's obsession with Christmas presents.
There is great historical irony in the fact that Chanukah has been so dramatically impacted by a non-Jewish religion and culture. The Jewish people fought to resist one culture and have celebrated that resistance for over 2,000 years. Now we find ourselves adopting the customs of yet another culture to celebrate the victory of Chanukah.
I wonder what Judah Maccabee would say about that?
THE SOUL OF CHANUKAH
Chanukah is about two ever-present forces: darkness and light. It's about a struggle between two world shaping ideologies: Hellenism and Judaism. It's about the imperceptible human spark that enables people to reach far beyond their perceived limitations. It's about the power in a diminutive flame to banish an enormous darkness. It's about a tiny people overcoming the most daunting of foes.
Presents are wonderful – to give and to receive. But Chanukah is primarily not a season of giving but a season of growing. It is the opportunity to discover so much more – to acquire fresh insights into Jewish life and a bold new inspiration for living.
After all, what greater gift could there be?
Adapted from "Chanukah - Eight Nights of Light, Eight Gifts for the Soul," by Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf. http://www.leviathanpress.com.
_(english).jpg "Chanukah Quiz")
_(english).jpg "The Ninth Candle")
_(english).jpg "The Triumph of Chanukah")
(14) LaNita Noah , December 4, 2007
This is a very interesting subject
I hope to learn more soon.
It's fascinating, and amazing the
things people had to endure long ago.
And, were are all enduring at this time.
(13) gallit , December 10, 2006
chanukah presents
it is so refreshing reading you article about presents and chanukah. Iwish more familiers were reminded of this. Thanks
(12) Anonymous , December 29, 2005
Chanukah is a gift...
The Maccabees and Ha Shem so long ago gave us a gift.. the true story I believe of fight, light and the flight by the Seleucid Greeks from our Holy State..we do not need store bought gifts as an enticement to celebrate.. nor do we become one big marketing exercise generating billions... the story is heroic.. the symbols hard earned and profound.. and Channukah itself is a gift from Ha Shem and our sages eternally through the Ages...we singssongs of praise and thankfulness...
(11) elan , December 25, 2005
gifts are nice, but . . .
during the early 1900's, when my generation's grandparents grew up, the individual and communal celebration of chanukah centered on keeping the tradition of lighting the candles and telling the story of chanukah.
in my teens, i remembered studying that jews took a great risk lighting candles (be it for shabat or for chanukah) from the ex-soviet republics to moslem ruled countries.
now, in my 30's, my kids are being exposed to an untold number of matel & fisher price products thanks to marketing experts who use advertising to drive home the message that material goods (toys, gifts) will make people happy, especially during the winter season of giving.
material goods are nice, but they don't really make children happy . . . unless children get the newer model, the upgraded version of the older toy, with more features, more accessories, more this, more that . . . i suggest that too many toys only cloud the abilities of our youth to really appreciate what they do have.
i, for one, plan on deprogramming my kids, so they don't fall for what society considers to be the 'norm' of giving and receiving gifts in order to be happy, as it is too easy to spiral out of control.
this is a battle between keeping one's heritage, and staving off the indoctrination of helenization, or the modern culture that is foreign to abraham and his legacy.
(10) a sandman , December 25, 2005
Chanuka gelt, origin
Being an avid historian I really had to ponder my grand dauughters question about Chauka Gelt. I read sever commentaries about the origins of the custom, and went to this sight for help. But I must say I was not satisfied.
In looking at the core of Chanuka I felt I could ascertain a much more cogent reason, the the Jars, Coricen for education, and other esoteria.
Well the answer like most thing was staring me in the face. What was the practical essence of Chanuka. Rededication of the Temple. What did one do in the Temple? Make the Daily Sacrafices. How did a lay person do this? by buying a sacrifice. It could be a loaf of bread, flower, or a pidgen. But it was done with coin. Walla, I contend the custom arose from this. In the earliest writings about Chanuka the giving of Shkoleim/money was the custom which was always associated with the lighting of the lights. In addition the Safardium, and Eshkanazim of the old world took it as an oportunity to give their Rabbis monies, usually in small bags of coin.
A frlicha, Chag to all.