We personally do not make Hanukkah about gifts and consumerism. Often times, Hanukkah is called the Jewish Christmas and that perception is not one I want to perpetuate.
Here is an example of what Hanukkah looks like for many Torah observant families with ideas that will not break the bank and help to keep the traditions alive. Zechariah playing with his Electric Dreidel
As a family, we ponder how to kindle the light within ourselves. We always place our Hanukkiah by the window. I kindle the light in my home as it floods the darkness outside. I love the shorter days and coming home from work to just light the candles and enjoy a nice meal with my husband as the candles glow into the winter night. Simply lighting the Hanukkiah candles brings me enough joy that I do not need to do much else. I purposely keep it that way to keep the feeling of peace, light, love, and tranquility, which is why I love it so much. My love for Hanukkah comes from celebrating many beautiful feast days throughout the year that also involves a lot of work! It is not commanded that we celebrate Hanukkah, and although I love all of the other feast days, like Sukkot and Passover, Hanukkah has always been so simple for us. This date marked the third anniversary from the time the temple was originally desecrated by Antiochus. The 25th of Kislev was proclaimed as the beginning of a holy festival given to the rededication of the temple for the priestly service. And of course, we should follow His example. Many believe the center candle, called the Shamash, represents His character of love and light. And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.” Since Jesus attended this festival, we should not be surprised that many aspects of its celebration have lessons to His followers today. 8 Days of Giving ~ My Favorite Hanukkah Gifts What about Jesus?Įven Jesus went to the temple during the Festival of Lights as you can read in John 10:22-23. “And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. Because of this victory Jews and a few Christians have kept this celebration. The oil miraculously burned for eight days, even though there was only enough sacred oil for one day’s lighting. The temple had been used to worship pagan foreign gods by Antiochus.Īccording to the Talmud, legend says when the priests went to light the wicks of the menorah they only had enough oil for one night. Poorly armed and outnumbered they won the battle against the superior Syrian forces. My Favorite Hanukkah Gifts for 8 Days of GivingĪccording to legend, the Maccabees had risen up against their Greek-Syrian oppressors in the Maccabean Revolt in 165BC.
From using non-Hanukkah-related Jewish puns like “ meowzel tov” to some slightly antisemitic stereotypes (“ gelt digger?!”), these terrible sweaters are just super fetishizing and inappropriate. Let’s be frank for a second, a lot of Hanukkah sweaters? They’re bad. Unfortunately, my favorite Hanukkah sweater company, Gelt Fiend, stopped making their gorgeous knit sweaters (seriously, they were inspiring works of art - one sweater even had actually gold gelt on it!). Especially during quarantine, I’ve found comfort in my cozy, old Hanukkah sweaters - which nobody can judge me for wearing months in advance, because no one can see me anyway. In fact, I wear some of my more fashionable Hanukkah sweaters all year round. I grew up in Israel, so they just don’t have the tacky Christmas party connotation for me. To me, the most exciting thing about Hanukkah - which is coming up on November 28 - is getting to wear my Hanukkah sweaters every day.