Doing battle with season’s growing commercialism
By: Jennifer Potash
Around the holidays, local religious leaders face stiff competition with growing commercial pressures.
Adults become intent on finding that perfect gift and sending out reams of greeting cards.
And parents become all too familiar with the toy-store cry, "I want that!"
Religious leaders have developed various programs and advice to help families focus on the meaning of the holidays as a time for charity and kindness to others.
The Rev. Leslie Smith, rector of Trinity Church on Mercer Street, notes this is a familiar theme.
"I talk about it endlessly," he quipped.
In years past, the Rev. Smith has encouraged his congregation to "unplug the Christmas machine."
"I try and get them to focus on the issue of reaching out to others," he said.
Trinity Church has a "giving tree" on which hang angel-shaped ornaments. On each decoration is the name of a less-fortunate individual and a Christmas wish. Members of Trinity Church take ornaments off the tree and provide the gift for the individual
Ultimately, the Rev. Smith said he doesn’t have a problem with the gift-giving that characterizes Christmas because it symbolizes God’s gift of his son, Jesus Christ.
"Giving gifts to other people is not strictly a secular custom," he said.
The Rev. Dr. James Harris of the Princeton United Methodist Church on Nassau Street encourages his congregation to purchase toys and food items for the needy when shopping for their own Christmas gifts.
Also, instead of buying Christmas cards, members can post greetings at the church, which are also published in the church newsletter, he said.
Hanukkah is a relatively minor holiday on the Jewish calendar, and Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins of the Jewish Center of Princeton on Nassau Street in Princeton Borough advises his congregation not to compete "with our Christian neighbors" in the annual holiday gift purchasing.
Also, Rabbi Elkins said he tells parents that Hanukkah gifts "should not be a substitute to pacify their children because they’re a minority."
One suggestion for parents is to give their children a dollar with each gift so the child can donate the money to a charitable cause, Rabbi Elkins said.
Another way to teach children about the value of giving to those less fortunate is for the child to give away one of the gifts he or she cherishes most, the rabbi said.
"It shouldn’t be the one the child doesn’t like or has three or four of," Elkins said.
That act truly reflects on the meaning of Hanukkah as a holiday of light, he said.
"Light is a symbol of peace and knowledge and justice and is a very pervasive symbol in Judaism," said Rabbi Elkins, adding that candles are lighted in the Menorah during the eight days of Hanukkah.