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“In a sense, there was an attempt to make kids living post-Holocaust happy that they were Jewish and not feel that they were losing out.” — Dr. Valerie aler, Towson University
immigrants had established themselves financially and possessed the disposable income necessary for gi giving. “All these things came together at the right time,” Weiner said. “You had upwardly mobile Jewish immigrants and their children, and you had marketers in this new consumer society starting to heavily market to the Jewish community and promote the idea of giving gifts at Chanukah.” The holiday never completely merged into Christmas because as buying presents became common practice, Jewish educators implored Jewish parents to reinforce the story of the Maccabees. Children’s books on the story of Chanukah were published, and
tales of their revolt accompanied gi ads in the newspapers. “These kinds of stories legitimized the gift giving that started to go on,” Weiner said. Chanukah was placed at the forefront, especially in the homes of loosely observant Jews, and the trend continued to strengthen, most notably after World War II. Following the Holocaust, Jewish psychiatrists and rabbis began promoting giving presents to help bolster Jewish pride and ward off any dejection about not being able to celebrate Christmas. “In a sense, there was an attempt to make kids living post-Holocaust happy that they were Jewish and not
feel that they were losing out,” said Dr. Valerie aler, assistant professor in the department of family studies and community development at Towson University. “at’s consistently a problem with Jewish children today. ey oen feel they are in the minority and they are missing out on some great celebrations that others are able to celebrate.” Har Sinai’s Rabbi Benjamin Sharff has an additional theory. He points out that too often our culture today focuses on the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days and not on the fact that the holiday stands for a Jewish fight for religious freedom. “By not placing that emphasis, already it then becomes easier to sell it
in sort of a more child-oriented kind of way. Once you sell it as a child-oriented kind of holiday, it’s immediately tied into Christmas, so for a long time we were in this effort to make Chanukah feel like Christmas,” Rabbi Sharff said. “I think it’s a response to Christmas really just taking over. It’s trying to help our kids have some sort of religious identity. But, to define it against, or in light of, Christmas celebrations — which in a lot of ways lost its religious identity — I think has done a disservice to both Christians and Jews.” JT David Snyder is a JT staff reporter dsnyder@jewishtimes.com
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