Chanukah Trivia Contest: Second Question
Win, Win, Win … and then Win Some More in Kosher.com’s Chanukah Trivia Contest!
For the second night we have 48 Mesh bags (2 boxes) of Chanukah Gelt (Bittersweet/Milk Chocolate). This question closes at 6 pm on Dec. 3 (when the next question will be posted…).
Chanukah Gelt
Here’s the question …
“What is the origin of Chanukah gelt?”
Good luck!
For details on how we are going to pick the winner, read about all 8 nights of fabulous Chanukah Trivia here!
The winner of each night’s prizes will be posted on the Winners List! You can win more than once, so keep the answers rolling in 
.
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6 Responses to Chanukah Trivia Contest: Second Question
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Gelt is Yiddish, and originated in Poland as a gift students were to give to their teachers. Soon, as today, the kiddies started demanding their own share (cell phones for elementary students by our standards?).
There seems to be various origins but most all relate to the gift of education – educating the children of the Jewish Torah. Just as we “bribe” our children today $ for an A – they did the same back then it sounds like.
I think they used to play games to pretend they were not teaching Torah, whenever the Greeks would come near them, so they wouldn’t get in trouble for it, or something like that? And they would spin a top…
There is a N G H S, for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham – that spells out that a “Great Miracle Happened There”….
Rabbi Abraham P. Bloch has written that “The tradition of giving money (Chanukah gelt) to children is of long standing. The custom had its origin in the seventeenth-century practice of Polish Jewry to give money to their small children for distribution to their teachers. In time, as children demanded their due, money was also given to children to keep for themselves. Teen-age boys soon came in for their share. According to Magen Avraham (18th cent.), it was the custom for poor yeshiva students to visit homes of Jewish benefactors who dispensed Chanukah money (Orach Chaim 670). The rabbis approved of the custom of giving money on Chanukah because it publicized the story of the miracle of the oil.”
I don’t know how it originated but the idea is wonderful, especially when it is the candy Chanukah gelt because not always families can afford to give 8 days of gifts but this gives them the ability to give something shiny, pretty and sweet which children of all ages can appreciate.
Congratulations to the winners! This question was open for only 24 hours – see the answers and winners list posted here:
And there are still 4 nights left to win prizes. Make sure to answer tonight’s question before 6 pm, when another question will be posted!