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Last update - 08:31 07/04/2009
Pesach gift-giving has robbed us of our freedom
By Avirama Golan
Tags: Avirama Golan, Pesach 

A little 3-year-old girl dragged after her exhausted mother on the third floor of the stylish Givatayim mall, whining that her new shoes were tight and she wanted gummy bears. "You promised me," she wailed.

The mother stopped at a stall. "What's your name?", the vendor, looking no less exhausted, asked the child coyly. But the little whiner shrugged, refusing to cooperate.

"Tell her what your name is," said her mother, embarrassed. "The nice lady wants to give you sweets."
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"My feet hurt," the girl wept with her mouth full of red gummy bears.

"In a minute," the mother said. "Let's say thank you to the nice lady and go buy a present for Aunt Debbie and Uncle Haim and Nava and Avi...."

The list sounded endless. She went up the escalator, carrying all her bags, then up again.

Who invented this crazy custom of giving personal gifts to every participant in the seder and when? Hanukkah can be understood, what with the influence of Christmas. But Passover? What does the Festival of Freedom or of spring and the harvest have to do with gifts and the inevitable headache involved?

What will entice children to find the afikoman if all their relatives have already spoiled them with gifts before the seder has even begun?

In our lean childhood, somewhere in the '50s, when a stern Dov Yosef (minister of rationing and supply) dictated how much margarine, eggs and milk powder each family would receive for the holiday, the biggest luxury was new shoes for the children. Preferably a size too big. And if the child's toes reached the inner edge in a couple of months, the parents would cut off the shoe tips to make room.

What a far cry from the dozens of parents who came with their children to the sports shoe stores at the mall, who tried on hundreds of trainers and runners of every brand name and left with large parcels in their arms. The humming music and loudspeaker announcements mingled with the children's shouts, the parents chatter and the clatter of trays, crockery and cutlery in the cafes. Parents and children filled the pastry shops, ice cream parlors and pizza and hamburger places.

The children asked to go to the movies and were scolded: "Not now, because we're buying presents." They rode on a colorful elephant and went up and down escalators.

The saleswoman at the bookstore said they did not feel the recession. "People will go without a piece of clothing but will buy a book. It's the easiest gift to choose, and if you get two more for a reduced price, you already have three gifts," she said.

The whining little girl didn't want a book. She wanted to go home. "Do you know what holiday it is?" the saleswoman asked her. The girl nodded. "We have a holiday from creche," she said.

Anyone who saw her harried mother, weighed down with packages, rushing to a stall selling discount wine from Chile or a flexible pan from Hong Kong or a drumming monkey from China, which nobody will ever use, was surely unconvinced, like me, this holiday can be called the Festival of Freedom. It's slavery. Pure slavery.

What a relief it was to leave the bustling mall for the intensely daisy-yellow field outside, not yet covered in concrete. Happy holiday to all!

Related articles:
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  • What will you drink on Pesach?
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    Obama: U.S. 'strongly supports' two-state solution, vows to continue peace process.
      1.   Let`s go back 07:31  |  Yurochka 07/04/09
      2.   Try A Religious Seder Instead 07:43  |  Yishai Kohen 07/04/09
      3.   Just say "No" ! 07:53  |  MIKE 07/04/09
      4.   #1 Try a secular sedar instead 08:01  |  SJ 07/04/09
      5.   I Agree and 08:52  |  Angela 07/04/09
      6.   #3: No Thanks: I`ll Stick With The Jewish Type Instead 09:08  |  Yishai Kohen 07/04/09
      7.   What are you talking about? 09:18  |  B 07/04/09
      8.   Give those kids some real knowledge, not food 10:23  |  Samuel 07/04/09
      9.   religious v secular seder 11:22  |  Melman 07/04/09
      10.   Pesach Gifts 11:27  |  Yaholomit 07/04/09
      11.   Buy them Easter Eggs 11:47  |  observer 07/04/09
      12.   SJ HAS A LONG WAY TO GO 12:05  |  A VOICE 07/04/09
      13.   Ridiculous - who gives all these gifts? 12:29  |  x-ray 07/04/09
      14.   B from Beersheva - it`s not one against the other 12:33  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 07/04/09
      15.   presents for passover? never heard of it 13:20  |  Rami 07/04/09
      16.   passover sucks!! 13:30  |  d 07/04/09
      17.   just guess who 14:10  |  amos 07/04/09
      18.   Ms Golan, I`m beginning to wonder if . . . 14:57  |  Zev Davis 07/04/09
      19.   never heard of such a practice 16:06  |  Susan 07/04/09
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