光明节几乎在这里，我们更接近了beloved holiday，我在八个晚上看到了更多关于礼物的文章 - 特别是练习的起源，以及习俗是否适合包括在节日庆祝活动中。Hanukkah礼物的起源也有很多手指指向和质疑。大多数迹象点圣诞节; namely, that Jews adopted the practice of gift-giving during Hanukkah to keep up with societal norms.
但是，我相信我们给礼物to our children on Hanukkah for an entirely different reason — one that is meaningful, appropriate, and rooted in Jewish tradition.
In my family, we give presents to our boys, ages 6 and 8, on each night of the holiday. In our home, we have themed nights: We have a fun toys night, a clothes night, a STEM night, a night of books and a calendar for the upcoming year, and a sporting goods night. There’s also one night for棋盘游戏, one for instruments, and, of course, Legos! We alternate the “fun” gifts like Transformers and games with needed items like clothes and books. My kids know that every night won’t be a cornucopia of gifts that they will be ecstatic about, and that’s OK. We have以其他方式有趣during Hanukkah — usually participating in community events or volunteering. This year, those will be replaced with safer在家活动, like cookie decorating, playing dreidel, and potato grating competitions (#KitchenHack).
然而，我们庆祝，我们每晚给孩子们送礼物。今年的光明节礼物都包裹并准备就绪（并编码，所以我知道哪个夜晚是哪个夜晚），而我的男孩非常兴奋地解开他们的第一次套装。并且，让它知道：在我们的家庭中，这种礼物传统没有任何东西与圣诞节有关。
My kids go to public school, and over the last four years, I’ve been grateful to have been邀请课堂to explain Hanukkah to their classmates. I review the holiday basics with them: the dreidel, the traditions, and the story behind the well-known but still mysterious holiday. Over the years, with a few lessons learned, I have developed a pretty solid lesson plan (former teacher and neurotic Jewish mother here!), so I know how to explain things in a way that will make sense to the kids. In the process, I have developed a pretty amazing theory for why we give gifts on Hanukkah.
The more I break it down for other people, the more I realize Hanukkah是的一件事。这不是灯光;这不是关于蜡烛;它甚至不是关于石油。相反，光明节是关于奇迹。奇迹有多种形状和尺寸。许多年前，它以麦克拉兹对希腊人的胜利的形式出现，而对于我们的人民来说，奇迹在很多方面都在很多道路上冒了我们。正如犹太人所迫害的那样，随着犹太人的少数群体继续成为，我们仍然坚持不懈，我们在这里讲述并分享发生了如此多年前发生的事情的故事。
Am I grateful and happy for the light, the oil, and the deliciousness that is involved in the happy holiday of Hanukkah? Of course! These are all things to be celebrated. But, in the end, wehave survived通过这一切讲述了故事 - 而且，本身就是一个奇迹。
Every year, we tell the story of Hanukkah — which, in a nutshell, mirrors most Jewish holidays: we struggled, we nearly died, we survived. We tell the story of Hanukkah to our children, now, just as we will in generations to come. The retelling of this tale is a reminder that our very existence is a miracle. Especially during these upsetting and unsettling timesof Covid-19，听到光明节的故事鼓励我们欣赏小东西，并认识到一些日常的祝福和奇迹。
There are countless examples of modern-day miracles, after all. We can celebrate our health, our homes, our families, or technology. We can recognize the small miracle that is the first sip of coffee in the morning, the taste of Shabbat wine, or even just a gorgeous, big blue sky. In these crazy times, evenj你很简单, deep breath can be a beautiful thing — a miracle.
Which brings me to the topic of gifts. Why does this Jewish mother think that it’s completely appropriate to give eight nights of presents to our kids on Hanukkah? Because I believe that during this holiday, in which we celebrate miracles, it is more important than ever to celebrate our children. As anybody who hasstruggled with fertility或者流产或死产，知道，每个孩子都是奇迹。对于没有经历这些事情的人，我认为忘记这种真相可能更容易，在父母身份的凌乱普通。所以我会再次为返回的人说：我们。孩子们。是。奇迹。
I think it’s appropriate to give gifts to our children on Hanukkah because we celebrate the miracle that is them. In the day-to-day drudgery of raising children — especially now,during a pandemic- 我们很容易忘记他们简单的存在是神奇的。即使我们的生活似乎不断围绕着它们，我们也必须记住他们不是给予的 - 他们是上帝的礼物。
Remember that the planets and stars and universes had to align in order to create each and every living child — and these children are an essential part of the celebration of Hanukkah. They are the reason that the Maccabees hid in caves to study Torah andplayed dreidel当希腊人来检查他们在做什么时。我们确保永恒的光线（持续八个而不是一天）被传递给下一代。当我们庆祝光明节时，我们不仅庆祝过去但未来，以及我们下一代的所有奇迹。
So the next time you are wondering if giving gifts to your children is just a byproduct of Christmas’s popularity, consider this alternative: By giving presents to our kids, we are honoring thespirit of Hanukkah。无论您的礼物是大还是小，庆祝我们的leittles的存在是纪念我们和我们祖先的所有奇迹的真实方式。
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