Why did chanukah become the gift giving chag?

amother

OP ↓

Yesterday at 10:09 am

No other chag is like that.
The only thing I can think of is that it comes out around x-mas time and people in countries that also celebrate x-mas did not want their children to feel left out.
But that must be a recent thing. I grew up in america, with no gift giving. We got a chocolate macabee every night and we played dreidel and ate latkes.

But why the gift giving? its not x-mas.

amother

Stoneblue

Yesterday at 10:19 am

I’m with you on this one
We don’t give any gift but we buy Chanukah activities to play together as a family after lighting the menorah

amother

Outerspace

Yesterday at 10:19 am

Yes, you pretty much nailed it.
And still, my kids receive their fair share of gifts on Chanukah, in addition to money from parents and grandparents.

amother

Navy ↓

Yesterday at 10:20 am

amother NeonBlue wrote:

I believe all the Xmas marketing slowly crept into our communities.

Azoi vee skristalt zich azoi yiddisht zich.

amother

Aquamarine

Yesterday at 10:21 am

This is such a good question.

And my kids are preteen and have been spoiled since they were born with multiple chanuka gifts and I feel like we can’t backtrack now because they’ll be disappointed.

I so wish we did things differently.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 10:25 am

amother Navy wrote:

Azoi vee skristalt zich azoi yiddisht zich.

Please translate. so many here do not know yiddish.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 10:27 am

amother NeonBlue wrote:

I believe all the Xmas marketing slowly crept into our communities.

But why? I mean, there are so many who BH do not give gifts and have not fallen prey to this. And to me its so sad that anything should be brough into chakukah.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Yesterday at 10:28 am

hodeez wrote:

Yes it's the proximity to xmas

But so what? It should make no difference. I always knew that x-mas was very near, time wise to chanukah. But I always knew that that was their holday and not mine. It never occurred to me that we should get presents. It had nothing to do with chanukah.

amother

↑ Navy

Yesterday at 10:29 am

amother OP wrote:

Please translate. so many here do not know yiddish.

Just like it christians itself so too it judaizes itself. Meaning the secular seeps in to us.

giftedmom

Yesterday at 10:30 am

We make Chanukah cookies and give gifts. My kids look fwd to it all year. It’s 2024 and it is what it is. Not like it’s the only thing we copied from Christianity.

amother

Cerulean

Yesterday at 10:31 am

I always got them since I was a kid, I don't think it's a new thing.. so what? Kids get gifts, chocolate coins and 8 nights of sufganyiot, not bad...

amother

Offwhite ↓

Yesterday at 10:33 am

We got Chanukah gelt growing up. I think gelt evolved into gifts. My kids get gifts.

amother

↑ OP

Yesterday at 10:35 am

amother Offwhite wrote:

We got Chanukah gelt growing up. I think gelt evolved into gifts. My kids get gifts.

We got a little bit of gelt from one set of grandparents. Not a lot. And now, we do not give gifts at all.

amother

Zinnia ↓

Yesterday at 10:36 am

Yes, so agree with this. Never grew up with Chanukah presents, only gelt, and not planning for my kids to have it either.

Also the increasing encroachment of Xmas "minhagim", like decorations, Mystery Macabee, cookie swaps, etc.

amother

Olive

Yesterday at 10:40 am

Of course it's from the Dec. 25 tradition. My MO day school always taught that on Chanukah we get Chanukah gelt, ostensibly to enable us to learn Torah, and that giving other gifts is chukat hagoyyim. So imagine my shock when my semi-charedi neighbors gave us gifts! I give Chanukah gelt, period.

amother

Brunette

Yesterday at 10:46 am

We used to give our children chanukah gifts, until several years back our rav spoke about it and said that chanukah gelt is a Jewish minhag, but holiday gifts are a secular custom and should not be given. Since then we give our children money.

To make it more personal I include a personal note to each child about how special they are to us, how much they've grown over the year and how proud we are of them.

I kind of miss that look of excitement when they unwrap their gift, but instead I see them excited beforehand, mostly for the special letters, which they read, save and reread.

Anyway, this was our psak, so it's what we do, doesn't really matter what I'd prefer.

amother

Dandelion ↓

Yesterday at 10:48 am

My grandparents and great grandparents gave gifts when we were kids & now my kids get as well. So that's 5 generations right there.

lamplighter

Yesterday at 10:51 am

Our secular grandparents gave us gifts but our parents only did gelt. We only do gelt but my kids do feel like they are missing out.