SPECIAL COMMENTARY

Lessons Of Chanukah Gelt

coin to a child was a magnificent gift,
New York City
sure to be met with surprise, delight
C hanukah gelt seems like a
and a strong sense of responsibility.
simple tradition. A grand-
Today, while there are those who
parent, parent, aunt, uncle
still struggle financially,
or family friend
many, thankfully, do not
hands the children a few coins
have
to worry about where
as they watch the Chanukah
the next meal is coming
lights flicker.
from.
Money goes from one gen-
It is safe to say that
eration to the next, expressing
many
Jews can afford to go
love and delight that speaks to
out
to
eat every once in a
the child in endless possibili-
while,
and give their chil-
ties. Yet, teaching the next
dren
a
new gift on each of
generation about money —
holiday's eight nights.
its value, what to do with it,
RABBI DANIEL
how to use it — is not such
BRENNER
Scarcity And Abundance
an easy task.
Special to
Do the lessons we once
There was a time in Amer-
the
Jewish
News
taught about money still
ica, at the beginning of the
ring true in a time when
20th century, when the vast
many
of
us
have a little extra to burn?
majority of Jews lived in poverty. They
The
theme
of scarcity lies at the
survived in crammed tenements, per-
heart of the Chanukah story. The oil
formed backbreaking labor and were
was scarce, but miraculously it lasted
met with hostility from the outside
for eight days. For our ancestors, oil
world. During those years, giving a
was as central to everyday life as
money is to ours — it was the source
Rabbi Daniel Brenner is a senior
of heat and of light, it was used for
teaching fellow, CLAL-The National
cooking and preserving food, and it
Jewish Center for Learning and Leader-
was, in many ways, their sustenance.
ship.
While the story of Chanukah

LETTERS

LEVERS

speaks of scarcity, the celebration is
about abundance. The act of lighting
a menorah is a pure act of enjoyment
— an acknowledgment that we are
blessed with enough oil to burn.
In times when oil or money was
sparse, we told a story about hope,
about the miracle of finding abun-
dance in that sparseness. Now that we

There was a time in America, at

the beginning of the 20th

century, when the vast majority

of Jews lived in poverty.

live in a time of plenty, we add a new
chapter to the story. As we stand with
those that we love and watch the
lights flicker, we couple our deep sense
of gratitude With a challenge to turn
our abundance into a blessing. Ulti-
mately, to celebrate a surplus means to
enjoy it, to give thanks and to invest
in ways that change the world for the
better.

This new era of abundance often
calls for new understandings of tradi-
tional Jewish practices and rituals.
A new way to give your children
gelt this Chanukah might be: one coin
or bill to enjoy; one coin or bill to
give away; one coin or bill to invest in
the future.
After giving the gelt, you could ask
them how they want to spend it, or
take them to a local mall, restaurant,
museum or bookstore. You could talk
to them about giving some of it away
and the difference they could make
with their gift. And maybe they'll even
come to understand the multiple ways
that they can invest in the future — to
help themselves and others.
What emerges is the lesson that we
feel less controlled by money when we
understand that it can only fulfill
some of our desires. But more impor-
tantly, it can provide the means to
bring light into the world. That's the
miracle of Chanukah.
As you celebrate this season with
your family, take time to live out the
Talmudic teaching:

One who acquires wisdom should study
the way that money works, for there is no
greater area of Torah study ❑

from page 35

dumbest idea possible. It assumes that
all the Arabs want is our standard of
living. How naive. They sense the
spiritual bankruptcy of modern Israel
and are going for the kill.

Neil Blavin

Oak Park

Our Money
Misdirected

Giving money to the Arabs living in
Israel? The Jewish federations of
America still do not get it ("United
Way," Dec. 3, page 30)
Robert Schrayer, spokesman for the
United Jewish Charities, states that all
federations are "seriously considering"
giving Jewish money to Arabs living in
Israel.
Israeli Arabs are, at best, silent in
the face of fellow Arabs' destruction of
holy places and the murder of Israelis.
If we wish to pray at our Kotel (West-
ern Wall), we must now consult the
Jewish Jerusalem police for "safety"
conditions. Rachel's Tomb in Shechem

was destroyed with Arabs promising
to build a mosque on the site. Who
can forget the video of the Israeli
reserve soldiers being slaughtered and
their bodies thrown from the window
into the arms of the crazed mob
below?
Those were not accidents. Docu-
mentary film exists giving evidence
of Palestinian Authority leader Pass-
er Arafat lying to the West while
speaking the truth to his Arab audi-
ence. He assured them that the
destruction of Israel remains in the
1964 PLO Covenant and that his
treaty with Israel is like the treaties
of Mohammed. They are not consid-
ered valid because they were con-
tracted with infidels. Wake up, fed-
erations!
Regardless, Schrayer says that
United Jewish Charities are "trying
to find ways of improving the stan-
dard of living for Israeli Arabs."
How can they think of elevating
Arabs when thousands of Jewish
families live below the poverty line?
These are the Jews whom American

tourists do not meet. As a people,
we must have a policy of "Jewish
money for Jewish families." We
must take care of our own first.
If federations believe that money
will win the hearts and minds of the
ordinary Arab, they are mistaken.
Arab pride is the genuine article.
The hearts and minds of this enemy
cannot be bought with indoor
plumbing.
So when our local Detroit Federa-
tion calls this year to contribute, it
would be wise to ask to whom our
money is going. Hopefully, Federa-
tion/UJC will see this disastrous pro-
posal for what it is.

Harriet Drissman
Farmington Hills

Do Not Bend
Tradition

The Women of the Wall have every
right to fight for what they believe ("A
Wall Divided," Dec. 8, page 6). How-
ever, exploiting the Kotel (Western

Wall) as a high-profile battleground
compromises our most scared site.
I believe the unity of Am Yisroel
(People of Israel) is equally sacred.
The only way to maintain unity at the
Kotel is to preserve the standards that
have existed for 2,000 years.
When Conservative and Reform
Jews get together, the food must be
kosher. If Orthodox Jews are in the
mix, there cannot be a dinner dance.
These are accommodations we make
for one another. In order for the Kotel
to remain a place for all Jews, the tra-
ditional standards must be upheld. It
must be understood that for those
who remain steadfastly committed to
worship there, Women of the Wall
cannot arbitrarily change the rules and
expect Halachah (Jewish law) to be for
them. By trying to force alternative
services, they are promoting divisive-
ness.
Shouldn't the sacredness of the
Kotel and Jewish unity come before
the current feminist trend?

Rebecca Freedman

Oak Park

