Q: The evening of December 25th is the first night of Chanukah. Should Jews refrain from giving gifts that evening?
A: My friends, if you won’t give gifts on Chanukah, you won’t be trangressing any mitzvah d’oraisah or any mitzvah d’rabanan. There’s no practice, there’s no minhag, there’s no custom that Jews give gifts on Chanukah. Chanukah gifts is an American translation of gentile ways.
Now, I’m not saying if you want to give gifts on Chanukah that you shouldn’t give. But don’t feel that you’re doing a noble and holy thing if you give Chanukah gifts.
TAPE # 245 (December 1978)
Im in agreement but how are we to apply this to the situation where we are pressured to give gifts to the moras and rebbeim who teach our kids? Dressing it up with saying its an expression of hakoras hatov does not negate the fact it bidavka happens on chanuka.
It just happens to be brought down in seforim that on Chanukah (and Purim) the minhag is (and always was) to give Chanukah gelt to the teachers of your children. Its given to the children to give to the teaches.
Conveniently, the American crowd – including the heimish crowd – has forgotten part two (to give to teachers) and remember VERY strongly about part one of giving $$ to children and they keep it.
Sharp!
Most of us give the teachers money. Giving money for chanuka is different than a gift.
There IS an inyan in giving chanuka gelt! NOT “holiday gifts”.
While there is no Inyan to give Chaukah Gelt, there is an inyan to give Chodesh Gelt, (OC, Siman 419, 1st Mishna B’rura, 2nd p’shat) which is EVERY MONTH, which I used to do on a fairly steady basis.
Gotta tell you, it’s the best investment ever !!
Another example of walking in gentile ways on Channuka is this new practice of Chanuka cookies: sugar cookies sprinkled with the “Chanuka color” which is blue.
This is a direct copy of Xmas cookies. They even look like Xmas cookies except they are blue.
Someone decided that Chanuka’s color is blue.
I have long maintained that there is nothing Jewish about all the above.
Gelt is a minhag though.
In the past I have given gone to the bank and bought a roll of Sacagawea bronze-colored dollar coins. They are pretty and a real treat for the kids.
It’s important to take care of Rebeim and Teachers; but it’s even more important to take care of your children. Whether a parent can afford big gifts or small gifts a child looks at the “moser nefesh” and hard work that a parents does for them.
The blue color of so called Chanukah cookies is rooted in the non religious Jews who invented Chanukah cookies and electric menorah to copy their Christian shchaynim.
Of course blue, to non religious Jews,
is rooted in the Zionist in “foon” which is blue and white.
Thus when you buy blue Chanukah cookies your supporting pure Zionism. If the cookies are green and red your supporting ….. etc.
Bottom line stay away from all these cookies.
Chanukah gelt is legit though, especially for the melamdim
R’ Fishel Schachter always quips, “If Rothschild would have been a rebbe, he would have been even richer, as he would have gotten Chanuka gelt too.”