Gifts or not?

Gift giving in a historical perspective a very symbolic act. For most people today, it's probably about pleasing others or the joy of giving, whether to someone you care about, charity or something else - although it can still be quite symbolic. At this time of year, many gifts are traditionally given, whether the holiday is called Chanukkah or Christmas. But where does it actually come from?

In the Christian Christmas, the origin of the gifts is attributed to the Gospel of Luke's description of the three wise men's gifts to the newborn Jesus, but it can also be a more modern rethinking of a tradition. The historical origins in Denmark are somewhat difficult to understand. The oldest mention of Christmas presents comes from the Norwegian Snorri Sturlusson's Heimskrngla from the 1230s. He tells that the Norwegian king Håkan the Good (1093-95) in return for support from parts of the Norwegian population refrained from collecting the usual taxes, including Christmas presents. Arguably some kind of royal levy or tax. Elsewhere, the sagas tell of gift giving at Christmas among magnates in a form more reminiscent of the present day. This was probably also the practice in Denmark. In the 1200th century, a Danish bishop distributed gifts to his household for Christmas. However, we do not have many sources for this. They first appear in the 1600th century, when it is, on the other hand, a widespread practice for the master of the house to distribute gifts to the entire household, both family and servants. In the 1700th century, the sources tell us that the upper classes had gifts for the children. In the 1800th century after the introduction of the Christmas tree, the presents were hung on the tree itself as part of the decorations. At the end of the 1800s, they started wrapping them up and putting them under the tree.

Traditionally, gifts have not been given for Chanukkah. Gift giving was and is, in turn, a part of Purim. The tradition of gifts for Chanukkah that some practice is also not entirely clear. But there seem to be two tracks. One is the tradition of Chanukkah gelt (= small coins, money), which originates from Eastern Europe. Here they gave small monetary gifts in the form of coins to the – often poor – religious Jewish teachers. Perhaps because you were not allowed to charge money to teach the Torah. Later it became the practice that the poor students could also get Chanukkah gelt - perhaps a part of the teacher's money. It developed into some parents and grandparents handing out small coins to the children in the family. Today, there is a tradition in some families to give out small gifts, small coins or chocolate coins. In the USA, researchers agree that the gift-giving tradition moved from Purim to become more of a part of Chanukkah during the 1800th century in connection with the Christian holiday Christmas becoming an official holiday in the USA. It gained momentum especially after 1950. It is therefore a relatively new custom that arose in one way or another with the Christian Christmas and its traditions, which developed simultaneously in the 19th and 20th centuries.

How exactly it is in Denmark is not entirely clear. But our recollections in the collection suggest that a similar development can be seen, even if some of course stick exclusively to the tradition of giving Chanukkah gelt, charity or not giving gifts at all. There is an ongoing debate about the commercialization and secularization of the holiday. But that discussion takes place - despite few questioning the tradition of Christmas presents in itself - also in numerous Christian homes. We've already heard about Danish Jews hanging the gifts at Chanukah, but what are other Danish Jews doing in 2020? Once again, we encourage everyone to contribute their knowledge and family and genealogical histories, so that we can better illuminate it in a Danish context. Write to Thomas at te@jewmus.dk.