Hanukkah Gelt: The History Behind The Popular Jewish Festival Tradition

Gelts are essentially chocolate coins that are traditionally given to children during the festival of Hanukkah. The chocolates are wrapped in gold foil, thus resembling gold coins. But did you know how it all started and how the tradition we all know today came into existence?

The Jewish festival Hanukkah is the festival of lights. The flickering candles, menorah lighting, special prayers, and delicious foods describe Hanukkah. Hanukkah gets its name from a Hebrew word, Chanukah, which translates to "dedication."

This year, Hanukkah starts from sundown on December 7 to sundown on December 15. The festival lasts for a total of eight days, and during the festival, Jews gather with friends and family to celebrate and reflect on their long and rich history.

One of the most intriguing and fascinating parts of Hanukkah is the gelts or chocolate gelts. Hanukkah gels are chocolate coins that are given to children during the festival. They are wrapped in gold foil, giving them a look that resembles gold coins but is edible. There is a long history behind this tradition that goes back many years.

The History Behind The Hanukkah Gelts

Back in the 16th century, the word gelt (Yiddish for money; also Dutch and German for gold) linked Hanukkah and money. Jewish teachers used to travel to distant areas to teach underprivileged and illiterate Jews; they refused remuneration since teaching Judaism is considered a value in and of itself.

However, during Hanukkah, the instructors accepted gelt/coins. Those coins represented grateful, however modest, recompense for dedication to Jewish education (a play on the Hebrew words for education and holiday). Chocolate as a drink also came to Europe from the Western Hemisphere about this time.

Eating chocolate came later, as did chocolate coins. According to food writer Tina Wasserman, the first chocolate gelt was created by European Jewish chocolate producers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In The Wonders of America, Jenna Joselit mentions the growing purchasing power of American Jews in the 1920s, which encouraged them to make chocolate coins for Hanukkah.

By the end of the 1800s, the renowned author Sholem Aleichem was writing about gelt as a well-established tradition. In fact, he depicts a pair of brothers going from house to house collecting Hanukkah gelt in a manner similar to how modern American youngsters collect candy on Halloween.

The Jewish Philosophy

Most families nowadays offer their children chocolate gelt; however, some still give actual monetary gelt as part of their Hanukkah celebrations. Children are generally counseled to donate this money to a charity as an act of tzedakah (charity) to teach them the value of giving to those in need. It is a great practice and something that everyone should try to follow.

Unlike other types of gifts, such as toys, Hanukkah gelt (the non-edible variety) is a resource that can be spent any way the owner sees fit. Jewish principles strongly advise that gelt recipients provide tzedakah, or charity, with at least some of their gelt.