You can help make the holidays special — whatever your faith
Star’s 110th Santa Fund campaign aims to raise $1.7M for needy kids
The launch of the Santa Claus Fund is usually accompanied by a Star columnist’s personal story about Christmas. I don’t have a Christmas story. I’m Jewish, and every Christmas since I was a kid my family did what many Jewish families do on Christ’s birthday: we went for dim sum. (For the anti-Semite there may be no place more calamitous, besides Israel, than Chinatown on Christmas morning.)
But in the spirit of the campaign’s commitment to religious diversity — the fund will deliver 45,000 holiday gift boxes to kids of all faiths before Christmas Eve — let me tell you what makes my holiday season special.
According to legendary comedian Lenny Bruce, one of the chief differences between Jews and gentiles is in fact holidays. Gentiles, Bruce said, “celebrate” holidays; Jews on the other hand, “observe” them. In other words, gentile kids have Santa Claus, we have the Angel of Death.
But Lenny Bruce clearly did not know my Auntie Susan, who, as a child of any persuasion would have to agree, could more than give Santa a run for his money.
Every Hanukkah our large extended family gathers at my Auntie Susan and Uncle Ed’s house in North Toronto to celebrate in a manner fit for the Queen. The house is decorated like a Jewish discotheque: Blue metallic Magen Davids (Jewish stars) and “Happy Hanukkah” banners adorn the walls; Auntie Susan hands out Hanukkah crackers — a Jewish turn on Christmas crackers — which upon explosion, jettison all kinds of wonderfully random knick-knacks, from nail clippers to paper crowns, to dreidels. We sing the prayers, light the menorah and eat potato latkes and sugar cookies fashioned by my cousin Rachel into the shape of miniature ancient Maccabees (the Jewish warriors central to the holiday’s mythology).
But the pinnacle of the evening is by far the unveiling of Auntie Susan’s famous loot bags: big blue bags filled to the brim with Hanukkah gelt (coins, both official and chocolate) and small gifts curated specifically for every man, woman and child in our rapidly expanding brood. Auntie Susan and my cousin Rachel scour the city in search of these personalized items.
What makes their effort so touching isn’t just the quantity of gifts or even the beautiful way in which they’re presented, but the infinite thoughtfulness required to learn and remember not only the obvious interests of their loved ones, but the tinier ones. Reflected in the loot bags are quirky passions you may have mentioned to Auntie Susan only once, and hobbies you forgot you ever had.
My favourite items have included pencils that double as drum sticks, a Harry Potter Sorting Hat Kit, an ashtray engraved with a Margaret Thatcher quote (“In politics if you want anything said ask a man; if you want anything done ask a woman”) and a tiny wooden sarcophagus, in honour of my childhood obsession with the ancient Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut. The loot bags are nothing less than a pure labour of love, and I am eternally grateful to be an annual recipient of one.
But not all children are lucky enough to have an Auntie Susan, nor do they all wake up Christmas morning to a tree surrounded by new toys.
For many the holidays are not an opportunity to thank the higher powers for what they have, but a stark reminder of what they need. And what child does not need, at least once a year, a bag of gifts selected for them with love?
“Many parents, especially those who are raising children on their own or who work in low-paid jobs have little money left over after paying rent and buying food and clothing,” says Star publisher John Cruickshank.
“It’s hard for them to explain to their kids that Santa might have to forget them this year.”
GOAL: $1.7 million To donate: For secure online donations, please go to thestar.com/santaclausfund Visa, Amex, Discover and MasterCard: Dial 416-869-4847. Cheques: Please send to The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, 1 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5E 1E6. The Star does not allow anyone to solicit on its behalf. Tax receipts will be issued.