Opinion & Commentary:
Hopping Hanukkah hurdles

by Rabbi Eli Garfinkel
Dec. 7, 2007

In a recent article published on Beliefnet.com, Frederica Mathewes-Green makes persuasiveargument that the idea of Santa Claus is bad for our nation's children and our society.

She says that the notion of a Santa Claus who comes in the night bearing gifts and then flies away discourages the quality of gratitude because nobody ever writes him a thank you note. As the author puts it, "They learn that goodies just magically appear and don't cost anybody anything. Their role in life is just to open packages and enjoy."

Mathewes-Green also says that our Santa Claus obsessed society creates a fertile breeding ground for greed. Why would children bother to be generous if Santa is up there with, as she puts it, "a lifetime pass on eToys."

The point of the article is that Christmas has become corrupted by commercialism, a materialistic avarice that causes many parents to go into credit card debt for months or even years.

Why am I writing about Christmas in a Jewish newspaper? I'm writing this article because Chanukah may potentially fall victim to this kind of materialism, too. When ambushed with the old "Why don't we have Christmas and Santa Claus?" question, many Jewish parents will say, "Hey, Chanukah is better! Christmas is only one day, but you get presents for eight whole days!" We say this kind of thing so our kids will stop bugging us. But underneath it all, there is the fear that our kids will intermarry and stop being Jewish if they find Christmas to be a more lucrative experience.

One thing I know for sure: no Jew has ever decided to live a Jewish life because we get eight days of presents on Chanukah. When we ape and even try to one-up the materialism that has infected and cheapened Christmas, we run the risk of polluting our own holiday with that greed.

I challenge you to make Chanukah an experience less about presents and more about holiness, light, and miracles. Here are some ideas that you can use to lessen the commercialism of our festival:

• Tell your kids or grandkids that they must buy a present for the poor with their own money. There are many toy drives at this time of year that help the many disadvantaged kids in our area.
• Tell them that they must donate one of their eight presents to a toy drive.
• Tell them that they must match each present that they receive with a mitzvah they would not ordinarily do. Such mitzvot could include household chores or community service.
• Instruct them to write thank you notes for their presents. (Not thank you emails–that's too easy.They should be handwritten.)
• Set a limit of purchases to $100 per child. (That eliminates the Wii, the Xbox, and the PlayStation, but it allows an ample budget for books, bonds and other worthwhile presents.
• Teach the value of investing by buying them a single share of a solid, reliable stock and let them watch it grow. Teach them that CD means Certificate of Deposit, not compact disc.

Chanukah is a minor festival not mentioned in the Torah and barely mentioned in the Talmud. That doesn't mean it's insignificant, but we should put it in perspective. The whole idea of gift giving on Chanukah is an import from the non-Jewish world. It was inevitable, and I'm not saying that we shouldn't give gifts during our Festival of Lights. But I am saying that we need to get back to our own special "reason for our season."

Naomi, Sari, Josh and I wish all of you a chag urim sameach!