The holiday season is finally here, and with it comes the quest for the perfect Chanukah gifts. Whether your loved one prefers the classic comfort of a cozy throw or something with a little more sparkle, here is a great selection of Chanukah gifts for everyone in your family. So spin the dreidel, eat some latkes, and prepare to tear into these fun presents — one for each night!
Every year around Christmas and Chanukah time, writers, commentators, pundits and many rabbis, priests and ministers exhort Americans against spending money on things. We are too materialistic, we are told every year. Happiness, not to mention a meaningful life, depends on our having non-material things, not material things.
There’s no longer a need for frantically searching for the best brisket recipes. Stephanie Pierson, author, food writer and brisket lover, has written a cookbook filled with only the best brisket recipes, accompanied by illustrations, poems, cartoons and musings. “The Brisket Book” has a recipe for everyone, and it’ll turn you into the star of any potluck. $30.
Here\’s some ideas for gifts that will continue to inspire long after the chanukiah has been put away.
After Ryan Silver returned home from a trip to Africa with his family, he began preparing for his bar mitzvah. Without hesitation, he knew that his mitzvah project would involve helping the children in the orphanage he visited in a Nairobi slum. Between the guests\’ donations and his own, Silver raised more than $2,700. In addition to completing a Jewish rite of passage, Silver was pleased that his celebration helped educate others about the plight of the children in Africa and to ultimately offer financial support.
If you\’re the type of person who likes gift giving, especially treats from your kitchen, then you probably look forward to the holiday as much as my family does. I especially enjoy the making of hamantashen. Holiday cookbooks are full of poppy seed, prune, chocolate, and even jelly-filled recipes.
Rosenfield started out collecting donations for one caseworker from the Department of Children and Family Service, and found she was so successful at motivating people to give that she adopted another caseworker a year later. Before long the former personnel manager had adopted the entire North Hollywood office.
We\’ve all been there.
You go to the store, turn on the TV or pick up a catalogue and see something incredibly silly that you never in a million years would buy for yourself (it\’s also called a \”guilty pleasure\”). But you can always say you are buying it for someone else. So in the grand tradition of the Pet Rock, the Moses action figure and the snow cone machine, The Journal presents the Chanukah gifts you really want but won\’t admit it.
The Cohens understand desperation. Eight years ago, Nouriel\’s beauty supply business went under, and the family had to give up their Beverly Hills home. He hasn\’t had steady employment since then and has had to rely on his parents and family to get by.
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