What Are You Gettin Me For Christmas!! I Have To Know!!

Better yet, PM your PayPal address.

Not on your list either...but, My Grandmother used to tell me that I was going to get a bundle of switches for Christmas because I had been bad...

I think a bundle of switches for you would be most appropriate.:-)


jimmymc

Hmmm....Sock monsters...I know them VERY WELL. That's why I buy socks of the same color so that when I loose one, it won't matter! I pin the toes together before laundering. It works to keep socks from getting lost.

Hanukkah Tradition
It depends on the community. Some communities don't want to be like "christmas" so they don't do gifts AT ALL on Hanukkah. they do family and community festivities--A LOT of FUN. The gift giving season in these communities is over Purim ( remembering the book of Esther...in February ) and Tu B'Av--the Jewish Valentines Day in August. We give gifts, candies, love notes/cards, gift baskets with fruit, etc., to our family and friends, marriages are traditionally done on this day too.

Hanukkah History: It's really a holiday about remembering a historic event. http://www.history.com/content/hanuk...ry-of-hanukkah

When Greece was in power, ( around 2nd century bce ) when Alexander's kingdom was divided among his generals, Judea was given to Antiochus ( a Selucid -- Syrian ). About the 4th decended Antiocus was totally into the Hellensitic culture, was a meglomaniac and demanded total obediance and service. The Jews wouldn't worship Apollo, Zeus or any other of the Greek gods, so Antiochus, who called himself "the Epiphanes" or "the visible God, did AUTROCITIES ( http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Hol.../chanukah.html ) to the Jews to make them go along with his program ( some of the stuff he did would have shocked the most sadistic ). Finally, the Jewish people revolted, lead by Matthias, an elderly Jewish High Priest and his sons. Several miracles happened during the Maccebaen revolt.

One miracle, was that a nation made up of farmers beat the stuffin of the highly trained Greek Selucid army. The Miracle of Freedom. When they took back control of the Temple in Jerusalem, it had been desicrated by a sacrificed pig on the alter. All the sacred tools of worship were either broken or damaged...excepting one vial of oil. This one vial which was enough to burn for one day lasted eight allowing enought time to purify more oil for temple worship. The Miracle of Light, which is why we light candles for eight days.

Now, this isn't really a holyday for giving gifts, but many do because of it's coinciding with Christmas, and the Jewish children felt left out. So starting in around the 1700's, in many communities started to give eight DAYS OF GIFTS, not necessarily ONE gift per day, stating that they are celebrating the GIFT of FREEDOM being returned to them after the Selucid occupation. The gifts do not have to be store bought....they can be a special story read to the kids, it can be a trip to a special place---like an outing to the museum, play, or other community event. there's a lot of variability in how it's celebrated.

Heee...heee....what I did with my kids, I hid the presents in the attic. I took 'em out while they either were at school or out playing. I planned with other moms to let the kids come over to "play" and when they came home ( at sunset ), we lit the Hanukhia ( Hanukkah menorah ), ate a special meal and opened gifts. They went into their rooms and brought out gifts that they purchased for the family. We then either went to someone's house or to the synagogue for festivities. The synagogues will have at least one Hanukkah party during the week. I also like to drive around and look at the Christmas lights. We also went to events, and things.

This is a beautiful time of year for all cultures.

dorothy