First Person: Making Chanukah Personal

This is an interesting article, showing how people keep their own cultural traditions and combine them with American traditions. - - Donna Poisl

Gail M Feldman

Chanukah is a minor holiday on the Jewish calendar. But it's a favorite, nonetheless, among Jews of the 20th and 21st century in particular because, with the assimilation of Jews into American community life, the pleasant practice of exchanging gifts was incorporated into its festivities.

Jewish families now give each other tokens such as gold- and silver-foil-wrapped chocolate coins (Chanukah gelt) or more substantial gifts, one or two for the holiday or one every night, according to personal and family tradition. My very secular family had no set custom; we got what we got. My sister and I generally gave each other, and each parent, one present, while our folks might or might not give us a little something extra. We couldn't afford eight nights' worth of unique goodies, and were not in the habit of creating inexpensive but personally meaningful objects for each other.
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