Material gifts are no substitute for spiritual blessings our holidays symbolize

I cannot count the number of occasions when during conversations with my Christian colleagues we both shrugged our shoulders, resigned to the reality that too many focus the winter holidays around presents and gift-giving rather than the meaning of the holy days themselves.

Each year Hanukkah and Christmas face the onslaught of a commercial juggernaut rolling over their holy ground, undermining the awe and wonder this season evokes: For Christians, at the miracle of Jesus' birth; and for Jews, at the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greeks who threatened to destroy their faith.

Instead most of us gear up to the pressure of spending, too often beyond our capacity, to satisfy the children, make up with our spouse or significant other, or just to be loving and generous of spirit.

Hanukkah has its own struggle to maintain its authenticity versus the similar kind of gift giving over eight nights of the holiday.

For Jews, the miracle of Hanukkah occurred when Jewish forces, under the leadership of Judah the Maccabee, retook Jerusalem and defeated the armies of Antiochus IV in 165 B.C.E.

When they entered the Holy Temple they found it totally desecrated and set about to clean it and rededicate it (the word "Hanukkah" means dedication). When they found the Temple candelabrum, they discovered it had only enough oil to light the sanctuary for one night. But as legend has it, the oil burned miraculously for eight nights.

My question is: How did that miracle come to mean that Jewish parents have to give their kids presents each night of Hanukkah? (I have heard this same question from Christian clergy about the number of gifts parents and grandparents buy in preparation for Christmas, as well).

Hanukkah proclaims the value of freedom and the ancient adage, "Pray as if everything depended on God. Act as if everything depended upon you."

In Israel, Hanukkah is a big holiday even though, theologically speaking, it does not carry the same weight as Passover or the Jewish New Year.

Hanukkah has became the holiday in which we take pride in our ancient forbearers and view them as a model for the Jewish people to emulate physical and spiritual strength. When the state of Israel came into existence, the founders of the nation called their Jewish Olympic games the "Maccabee" games after the leader Judah the Maccabee.

In America, Hanukkah, like Christmas, shares a miracle story that inspires joy and wonder. Jews light a special "menorah," or eight-branched candelabrum, in commemoration of God causing the oil to last eight days.

We eat special celebratory foods such as potato pancakes and spin a four-sided top called a "dreidel" that on each side has a Hebrew letter signifying "A great miracle happened there."

Christians have the beauty of the midnight services, Christmas caroling and decorations. I have been to several Christmas Eve services over the years.

Both of our faith traditions have a depth of history and beauty surrounding these holy days.

It is so easy, on the other hand, for either Christians or Jews, to lose sight of the significance of the holy days and simply reframe these blessed events in a completely secular context.

We all want to fit into the majority culture, especially at this time of year. Must we relinquish our unique heritage and dilute these holy days into commercial buying sprees just for the sake of fitting in?

Does the desire to fit into the mainstream of American life mean that we end up giving up the holiness quotient just so that we can all feel that we aren't excluding anyone from the holiday parties?

I do not mean to sound cynical, but I just hope that we can cherish the religious diversity of all the holidays -- not only in December but throughout the year -- for all religious groups.

Far be it from me to discourage consumer spending at a time when we need to support the economy.

The challenge we face today is rather one of preserving the spiritual dynamic of Christmas and Hanukkah while recognizing that presents are important as long as they do not overtake the core values that belong to our religious traditions.

Remember the material gifts should not overshadow the spiritual gifts each holiday symbolizes in our faith tradition. Let's keep that thought in our minds when go out to shop this year.

If this past year's economic crisis taught us anything, particularly surrounding this winter solstice, it should be how spiritual values can make all the difference in holding onto what is really precious in our lives.

Rabbi Brad L. Bloom is the rabbi at Congregation Beth Yam on HiltonHead Island. He can be reached at 843-689-2178.