The other day I had a conversation with my mother about gift giving at Hanukkah time. She had been doing her own Hanukkah research and found some of the same materials and resources online that I had found. (As a side note: I love it when my mom calls me to tell me what she's found in relation to these topics. It's exciting to see truth spreading, particularly to my mom who I owe so dearly for first introducing Passover to our family when I was just a child.) We ended up in a discussion about whether or not we should give gifts at Hanukkah. And I have to admit, I love having little things like this challenged in my beliefs. It makes me dig deeper in my spirit, go back the Source, and really consider why we do what we do. It is only through these conversations that I am challenged to live closer to the truth of God's Word and His purposes for our lives and these celebrations.
It is true that Hanukkah originally did not include presents, but rather candle lighting, worship, and time together with family. Presents were not part of the original Hanukkah celebrations. Gift giving over the course of the eight days was actually a response to Christmas. As I understand it, Jewish children were jealous of the many gifts the other children received at this time of year, so parents began to incorporate eight days of gift giving for the children. Gift giving is in fact a secularization of this special time of year.
Hanukkah is the Feast of Dedication, not a feast of gifting. So, I certainly see the point of those who wish to return wholly to a pure Feast of Dedication with candles and worship of our God as the sole purpose. If I am honest, though, I would miss the giving, gift wrap and seeing my children's faces light up each night. Certainly I can see the point of removing the gifts from this celebration, but I also question whether or not there is any harm in giving gifts to our children, if we desire to do so.
Disclaimer: My ideas are merely my ideas. I am not suggesting this would be right for any other family, other than our own. In fact, I may even change my mind in a future year; however, right now, this is where I have rested on this matter.
I personally don't see anything wrong (at this time) with gift giving as part of Hanukkah. Does it add a flavor of materialism? Sure. Does it add to the secularization of this feast? Probably. Do I feel I should remove the notion of gifts at this time of year? Nah.
My kids and my family have all celebrated Christmas for as long as each of us has been alive. Taking down the stockings, not cutting a tree together, skipping the Christmas carols, and Christmas Eve services is a lot of change already. In addition, I am not necessarily convicted about gift giving in general. I don't believe there is anything wrong with giving presents to your kids or others. I don't know that the main emphasis in pagan Christmas was gift giving either. So, since I cannot think of a solid reason to exclude gifts, since we and our children enjoy that piece of this feast, for now, we'll continue with it.
That does not mean we won't pare down from the materialism of Christmas. In fact, for the last few years, we've made an effort to cut back on the extravagance of it all anyway. This year, we will continue to trim costs, make more gifts at home, and make it ever more about the One to whom all feasts point, our Precious Jesus.
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