Top Ten Gifts for a Jewish Coworker on Chanukah
Chanukah Gifts for Adults and Children
1. It might not be wise to bring a bottle of wine, in case your hosts keep Kosher, but you might want to look into a nice dry-fruit gift basket. You could get them in health food stores or specialized online retailers after some comparison shopping. Of course, beautiful fresh fruit baskets are perfect eye-catchers and families with children would definitely appreciate such a gift. I like to surprise with out-of-season fruit such as a nice pineapple or luscious peaches.
2. Religious Jews keep a Mezuzah, a small rolled up scroll containing a prayer, on their doors for protection. Mezuzah cases come in all shapes and colors, from glass to wood, from porcelain to plastic. Various Judaica store sell these cases, and you could definitely get one online. See 'Additional Resources' for links. It makes for a gracious, non obtrusive gift.
3.Kosher cookbooks have evolved and you can now find one for every flavor, from vegetarian to Moroccan, from diet to holiday-specific. The new 'Kosher by Design' series by Susie Fishbein is a hit with Jews and non-Jews alike. You could choose between 'Kosher by Design', Kosher by Design for Kids, Kosher by Design Entertains, and more! Another favorite is the 'Spice and Spirit' cookbook, which includes short guides to Jewish rituals and holiday celebrations.
4. Jewish children play with Dreidels, spinning tops, on Chanukah. You could get cute a spinning top in any toy store. These toys range from plain wooden to fancy light-flashing, ditty-singing varieties. Alternatively, you could get a Chanukah specific dreidel at a Judaica retailer. Adults enjoy dreidel games as well, a bit like an after dinner card game ritual with real or fake money and unique rules dictated by each of the four Hebrew letters on the dreidel.
5. Many websites have a vast selection of Chanukah Song CD's. You want to look out for compilations that include old time traditional favorites such as 'Maoz Tzur' and 'Dreidel, Dreidel'.
6. Oil is used on the holiday, so a bottle of nice Extra Virgin Olive Oil would be perfect. I would purchase the Italian variety, one with tinted glass which guarantees freshness and safeguards from the light and heat.
A gift of vegetable oil would be insulting, but Olive Oil has a classy, gourmet ring to it and is always appreciated.
7. Some Jews like to hang a blessing for the home in their foyers. The Hebrew term is 'Birkat Ha'Bayit'. You could get one that is engraved in wood, or just a plain paper one with nice calligraphy and a decent frame. If you live in a city which has a significant Jewish community, such as New York or Chicago, you could purchase these blessings in any Judaica store. Alternatively, the internet is the next to best solution.
8.The Big Book of Jewish Conspiracies is a light read. It makes fun of timeless anti-Semitic claims, and is great for Jews and non Jews alike. The book explores typical assertions such as Jews being behind 9/11 or ruling Hollywood. This book is sold in general bookstores everywhere, and you could most certainly find it online.
9. 'Old Jewish Comedians' is coming out at the end November. The book portrays comedians born before 1930, like Milton Berle and Jerry Lewis. Preorder it on Amazon. For an early look at some of the caricatures, check out the Usa Today blog.
10. Last, I would recommend some hard liquor. Wine is problematic, but you usually can't go wrong with a nice Irish Mist, Jagermeister, even Scotch and Single Malts. Some liquor stores sell the Israeli 'Sabra' brand chocolate or coffee liqueurs.
As you can see, Jewish holiday gift shopping is not that difficult particularly in the age of the internet. Feel free to ask questions in the comment section, I'll do my best to formulate proper replies.
Published by Elisa Nova
Recently married and living in the NYC area, Elisa has been writing and translating for the past 10 years. She currently work as a legal proofreader, in-house and freelance. Elisa was born in Italy and is pe... View profile
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16 Comments
Post a Commentthe person who wrote this is a total complete #$%$ who implies that jews are some sort of odd type of freakish person!! jews are just like you. this article is very offensive! perhaps i should bring hard liquor,christmas wreaths or jesus figurines, and books about all non-jewish comedians to my "goyishka" (non jewish) friends. mental note to myself, dont forget to bring the jesus figurines, crosses and inflatable santas when visiting all my non-jewish friends. shame on you elisa nova.
Here is a unique affordable gift I give to my friends, family and students who enjoy plants, nature or gardening. -A TickleMe Plant!
Ever see a plant move when you tickle it? The TickleMe Plant grows year round indoors, closes its leaves and lowers its branches when it is tickled. It is an easy flowering plant to grow in its own TickleMe Plant Greenhouse. When I first saw it move I was startled and amazed. You'll love seeing the big smile on the face of the person who sees the plant move for the first time!
Visit http://www.ticklemeplant.com for kits to grow your own TickleMe Plant, more information and videos of the live plant. Most products are under twenty dollars.
How about a Jewish game? This is actually a really fun gift for Jewish people because it's a popular game, and the Jewish theme makes Jewish people feel recognized and celebrated.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/160357/apples_to_apples_jewish_version_is.html?cat=11
Apples to Apples Jewish Edition
(there is a Junior version too for families with young kids who read).
HAHAHA, doesn't that seem kind of silly to get gifts for the holiday? If your Jewish friend comes over for christmas I hope they don't give you an oversized lawn Santa!
Just stopped by to say happy Chanukah to everyone, and in memory of my friend Lisa L.
I definitely wouldn't go as far as to say it's offensive, but Sylvie definitely expanded on what I was trying to say. The fact that someone being Jewish would make an "uncomfortable" situation as Michael said just goes to show you how some people feel about differences. It's not that uncommon to be Jewish and I can't understand why anyone would have to address it specifically. Treat them the same as you would anyone else you would buy a gift for and mind your business about their religious practices.
funny how you can try to help those that would feel like they were in a uncomfortable situation and someone gets offended. Go figure. Good article and I'm sure it will help someone.
Great suggestions for anybody who doesn't have a clue as to how "Jewish" their co-worker is and is too lazy to find out. Really, if you don't know them well enough to buy an appropriate gift, why bother? For starters, an observant Jew undoubtedly already has a mezuzah, and it probably isn't even appropriate to buy anything that relates directly to the holiday, since that's a religious observance.
A final note: observant Jews are few and far between--the vast majority string lights, put up Xmas trees and overspend on non-essential gifts, just like anybody else.
Uhm, I'm very Jewish.
I wouldn't go so far as to call it offensive. I'm Jewish and I'm not offended in the least. But I do think a little common sense could have been applied. Christmas gifts are not all Christian-themed, after all, and neither are Chanukah gifts. A better article title would have been "Jewish-themed" gifts for Chanukah. Like Rebecca said in an earlier comment, Jewish people enjoy the same gifts as everyone else, and not everyone who is Jewish is Kosher or overly religious. Except for the liquor, and maybe the olive oil (because I enjoy cooking), I'd be very unhappy to receive any of these gifts. You can be pretty sure to be seeing me on the "Returns" line!