The Christmas season is widely anticipated as a joyous celebration, known to be a time for family togetherness, beautiful music and decorations such as nativity scenes, wreaths, mistletoe, and a Christmas tree, scrumptious foods, the singing of carols throughout the neighborhood, and of course Santa Claus and the exchanging of gifts among loved ones. But how did Christmas traditions, particularly gift-giving originate? Is it from the Bible? Yes and no.
The giving and receiving gifts at Christmas time is a tradition which is as old as Christmas itself. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, and that in itself is a great gift given to humankind by G-d close to 2,000 years ago, as it says in the Bible, "God loved the world so much, that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not be lost but have eternal life"" - John 3:16."
The gift giving itself is a tradition steeped in history. The gifts we exchange today are reminiscent of the gifts that baby Jesus received from the Wise Men (Magi) shortly after his birth. The gifts were Frankincense, Gold, and Myrrh. Frankincense was a type of incense used in Jewish religious worship at the time of the Temple (HaKetoret) and that symbolized that in the future people will worship Jesus. Gold is a symbol of kings, and Jesus is considered "King of Kings"" among his followers. Myrrh is a type of perfume used to make dead bodies smell good. This symbolized that Jesus would eventually die and his death will be important. Here's the story as it appears in the Bible:"
ﾑAfter Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'"
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ﾑIn Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, for this is what the prophet has written: "But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel."" Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, ﾑGo and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.'"
After they had heard the kind, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 2:1-12
Other historians claim that gift-giving originated from the ancient Roman holiday "Saturnalia"", which was a week-long celebration at the end of December to signify the winter solstice. Gift-giving from that holiday was simply carried over into Christmas after it was adopted as a national holiday. This is what an American newspaper writes on this subject:"
The reality is, taking a Roman pagan holiday and turning it into a meaningful, spiritual and joyous celebration is truly what Christmas spirit is all about.
Many children around the world believe in some magical being who distributes presents at Christmas time. Americans know him as Santa Claus, while for others it may be Grandfather Frost (Russia), Christkind (a little angel-like person - Germany), Papa Noel (Peru), Grandfather Christmas (Bulgaria, Lithuania), St. Nicholas (Poland, Ukraine), La Befana (the good witch - Italy), Le Pere Noel (France), Dun Che Lao Ren (China), Saint Basil (Greece), or the Wise Men (Italy).
Most historians believe that the American Santa Claus originated from the Dutch "Sinterklaas"", which stood for Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was a bishop who lived in the fourth century in Asia Minor, or modern day Turkey. He was known to be extremely rich and was known to distribute presents among the poor in secret. One legend tells a story of a poor man who couldn't afford to marry off his three daughters. At night, Nicholas dropped a bag of coins down a chimney into a stocking that was left hanging by the fireplace to dry. He did this again, for the second daughter. Finally, he got caught by the poor man who hid by the fireplace to find out the identity of his benefactor. Nicholas begged him not to reveal his secret, but ever since then, any time someone received a secret present, it was assumed to be from Nicholas, the secret gift giver. Due to his good deeds and generosity, Nicholas was later made into a Saint, and many centuries later, he was still regarded as the jolly old man who brings presents to children via a chimney on Christmas."
Traditions also vary as to where the presents are left. In many countries around the world gifts are left under a Christmas tree, to be discovered on Christmas morning. In the US, the UK and Italy, presents are left hanging in stockings over a fireplace. In Sweden, the gifts are simply well hidden around the house. French children put out their shoes by the fireplace instead of stockings the night before to collect their gifts. In Hungary, the children shine their shoes and place them near the door or a window sill.
It is interesting to note that not everyone around the world gives out presents on Christmas Day. For example, in the Netherlands, presents are distributed as early as December 5th, on St. Nicholas' Eve. On St. Nicholas' Day, December 6th, children in Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, France, Italy and a few other Eastern European countries open some of their presents. Come Catholic countries, such as Spain and Mexico, have the children open their presents on January 6th, the day of Epiphany, when Jesus is believed to have been baptized.
Members of the Orthodox church, particularly Greek, Serbian, Armenian and Russian (East European) churches celebrate Christmas on the eve of January 6th. That is because they follow the Julian calendar, created in the times of Julius Ceaser in 45 BC and have not adopted the Gregorian calendar, created in 1582 by Pope Gregory of Rome which is now followed by the rest of the world. For them, December 25th simply falls out on January 6th.
Secret Santa is another popular Western gift-giving tradition, which is usually done in at the workplace, club, school or a family gathering. Each member of a group is assigned one person (at random) to whom they will be giving a gift anonymously. Participation is voluntary, and sometimes participants may choose to include a short wish list of items that are desired. This way, everyone in the group is ensured a present from someone else and no individual has to buy presents for everyone. This is a great way to include everyone who may not otherwise get a present.
What do most people wish for on Christmas? Here's the breakdown according to National Retail Federation (NRF) October 2014 poll taken from 7,547 consumers:
For the eighth year in a row, most consumers would like to receive gift cards (62 percent), followed by clothing (52.5 percent); books, CDs, DVDs or video games (43.1 percent); and electronics (34.6 percent). One quarter of shoppers have placed jewelry on their holiday wish-lists, which is the highest percentage since 2006! "This year, people plan to spend a little less on themselves and a little more on others"", the National Retail Federation's Kathy Grannis said. Online shopping is certainly becoming more widespread this year as well. 56% of shoppers ï¾– the highest in the survey's 13 year history - intend to shop online compared with last year's 51.5%."
From all of us here at JFM we sincerely wish you and your families a most joyous holiday season! We hope you will be able to find our website easy to use and we encourage you to contact us if you need help finding that perfect gift for your special someone, or even for yourself! Happy shopping!
