Chanukah Gifts & Dreidels

Mundane as it may seem, the gift of money expresses one of the most powerful lessons of Chanukah.

On Hanukkah we give the children gelt. Why?

On Chanukah we have a dreidel, Purim a gragger. Whats in the spin?

The common reason is that the simple little top was used during the Chanukah era to preserve Judaism.

Since its discovery, potato has been blamed for everything from lust to leprosy. The oily potato mystery.

Are you having a Gimmel day? (It's been a while, eh?) Or perhaps a Shin moment? (That one doesn't require any explanation…) But did you ever ponder the fact that all four letters are faces of the same Dreidel?

Oh Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, I made you out of clay, and the Almighty Himself breathed into you a soul of fire and you in turn tempered in His people a will of steel...

I am having a very hard time, as the holidays approach, with teaching my children the beauty of Chanukah and not having them see it as a Jewish x‑mas. I know it has become somewhat of a tradition to give children gifts during Chanukah, but is this really a Jewish custom?

I can't help feeling that if G‑d by any chance feels the need for a bit of supernatural holiday déjà vu, perhaps He should consider creating a guilt-free jelly doughnut...

Each component of a Jewish holiday was put in place in accordance with the particular holiday’s singular message. So, where does that leave the traditional dreidel game?

But honestly, is there any real difference between the rest of the world and us? They give presents, we give cash. So what?

It seems that every year the dreidel-makers try to outdo themselves.