CHANUKAH CUSTOMS

CHANUKAH GELT

It is the custom to give children a little money on Chanukah.

The Code of Jewish Law states: "It is forbidden to derive any benefit from the lights of the Chanukah menorah... even to use the light to count your money."

It has been said that this law is the source of the custom to give Chanukah gelt (Gelt is the Yiddish word for money) b/c the illustration used for the prohibition against deriving benefit from the menorah was specifically "don't count your money" and not any other example. The fact that, of all things, it says, one must not even count money by the light of the menorah creates a link between Chanukah and money.

Additionally, giving children some money to give to charity teaches them about the good deed of giving charity. Since children like money as much as anyone, most people also give children some money to keep.

There is also a custom to give Chanukah Gelt in increments of 36, representing the total of all the candles lit throughout Chanukah (8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1; the boxes contain 44 candles because they have 8 for the Shammoshim).

FRIED FOODS (LATKES AND OTHER GOODIES)

It is traditional to eat foods fried in oil on Chanukah because of the significance of oil to the miracle of the holiday. Generally this takes the form of latkes (pronounced as either "lot-kuhs" or "lot-keys") or "potato pancakes" in English. It is said that originally the pancakes were made of cheese, as a reminder of a Jewish heroine, Yehudis (Judith), who killed an oppressive Greek general, Holofernes, by feeding him salty cheese and hen wine until he passed out and she was able to kill him. At some point the recipe changed to potatoes, but some still eat cheese dishes to this day.

Another traditional food is sufganoit, or fried doughnuts. The more traditional kind is jelly doughnuts, but today all kinds are served.