Hanukkah Gift Basics

I have had friends of the Jewish faith for years, but had never given much thought to whether or not you give gifts to your Jewish friends on Hanukkah and if so when do you give the gifts. Also, what would be an appropriate gift for a Jewish friend on Hanukkah.

Of course Hanukkah is the festival of lights and began as a celebration of the re dedication of the Jewish temple after the Jewish victory over the Greeks in 165 B.C. Judah Maccabees and his soldiers were looking for oil to light the temple and found only a small amount. The true miracle is that the oil burned for eight days. Thus the tradition of lighting the menorah to burn for eight days. Now that you understand the basics of the holiday, let's discuss gift giving.

Gifts have been given during the Hanukkah celebration since the 16th century. However the true tradition of giving gifts did not start until the 19th century. It depends on the family, according to my Jewish friends, when gifts are given. Of course some of my friends celebrate Christmas and exchange on Christmas, while others don't celebrate Christmas. Gifts are exchanged usually on the first and the last night of Hanukkah Also, sometimes, small gifts are given every night of Hanukkah. According to experts, just give a gift near the beginning of Hanukkah and it is up to the person when to open it. Think of birthdays. You give a gift and leave it up to their discretion. Now that we have the basics of gift giving during the Hanukkah season out of the way, what would be a special and unique gift for a Jewish person on Hanukkah. (findgifts.com/holidays/chanukah) (www.jewfaq.org/holidays7.htm)

Of course traditional gifts will do, but if you want to buy something more related to Jewish lifestyle or the holiday itself, I have several suggestions. Only you know your friend well enough to know what they would prefer. I have one Jewish friend who just celebrates Hanukkah because the family does and could really care less. I have another that makes Jewish lifestyle their entire way of life. For the first friend, I Decided to give her a traditional Christmas gift. For the more traditional friend, I decided a more Hanukkah related gift was appropriate.

1) According to my friend, money is very appropriate gift on the holiday or gelt, which is a Yiddish word for money. Supposedly the tradition began in Europe in the Middle Ages. I have seen Hanukkah money gift cards in several card shops and retailers such as Walmart. So it would be appropriate to give money in one of these cards

2) Kosher food basket. I can hear everyone asking the question where do you buy Kosher foods from? I am sure everyone has seen a Kosher food isle at their grocery store. In addition, our local health food store as Kosher food. Fine Fair is a national holistic and natural food store, and Kosher foods can be purchased there. In addition, there are various on line sites where you can buy Kosher foods.

3) Books. May sound boring, but on a recent trip to Books a Million, I noticed an entire end section on Hanukkah and the history. I'm not Jewish and I about bought several books, just for the history alone. I also checked out a wonderful on line site, www. A1books.com and they have several discounted books appropriate for your Jewish friends.

4) Miscellaneous gifts. Our local Christian bookstore had everything from Jewish t-shirts to Driedels to Jewish music boxes. I was very impressed that they would recognize the Jewish holiday and very pleased. In addition, there are numerous on line web sites that cater to the Jewish Holiday of Hanukkah and sell every ting from Driedels, to kosher gifts, to games.

The last question is whether to give traditional Christmas gifts or more Hanukkah related gifts to your Jewish friends. You are the only one who can answer that. I would suggest that the more traditional your friends are, the more likely they are to appreciate the traditional Hanukkah gifts.