Meaningful Jewish Jewelry Symbols and the Best Hanukkah Gift Ideas for 2025

Hanukkah is a time of light, joy, and tradition, and it is also one of the most meaningful times of year to give a gift that reflects Jewish heritage. Jewish jewelry has been cherished for centuries not only for its beauty but also for the symbolism behind each piece.

If you are searching for Hanukkah gift ideas that are thoughtful, spiritual, and timeless, this guide highlights both the meaning behind classic Jewish symbols and the best Judaica jewelry gifts to give this Hanukkah.

After much thought and reflection, I've come up with a few guidelines that I hope will help create a fun and meaningful holiday, while staying true to the Jewish values that matter most. I hope that one or more of these ideas resonate with you, and that they bring more intention to your own celebration.

As we approach the anniversary of October 7th and prepare to usher in a sweet New Year filled with a complex mix of anxiety, fear, gratitude, sadness, and above all, hope, wearing a Star of David (or even a Hamsa or Chai) sends an unspoken message: we are in this together.

On Shavuot we celebrate the monumental event in Jewish history when G-D gave the Jewish people the Torah, seven weeks after the Israelites left Egypt. According to the Torah, G-D descended down to Mount Sinai and spoke the first Ten Commandments to the Jewish people. We refer to this miraculous event as “the revelation at Sinai.”

What is Lag Ba’omer?

Starting tonight, Jews around the world celebrate Lag Ba’omer, a holiday that occurs on the 33rd day of the Omer, — the 49-day period between Passover and Shavuot. During this one-day holiday, the Jewish people cease their mourning practices adopted during the Omer period and celebrate, typically with bonfires and music.

 

As we celebrate the rituals of the holiday, gather with family to read the Haggadah, and enjoy our macaroons and matzah ball soup, it is important for us to also contemplate: what is the deeper meaning of Passover?

What is Tu B'Shevat?

Tu B'shevat literally translates to the 13th day of the month of Shevat. It is known as the birthday for the trees or the new year for the trees. It dates back to the Talmud in reference to the laws of Orlah, that the fruits of a fruit bearing tree cannot be eaten for the first 3 years.

In modern days, Tu B'Shevat is an ecological celebration. Its customary to plant trees have a Tu B'Shevat seder full of wine, dried fruits and fresh fruits. 

Since we post so many pictures of dreidels... here is a little background!

A dreidel is a 4 sided top, each side has a Hebrew letter on it. In Israel, the letters are an anagram for A great miracle happened here (Nun, Gimel, Hay, Pay). Outside of Israel you find the letters Nun, Gimel, Hay, Shin - for a Great miracle happened there. The word dreidel is in Yiddish. In Hebrew its called a Sevivon, which means turn around. 

Here are the quick instructions for how to play dreidel!

In our mission to help promote positive Jewish identity, we want to flood the internet with pictures of people proudly wearing their Jewish Jewelry! So please send us photos that we can share or tag us @jewelryjudaica and we will repost them!

The best of 2020 is in this hanukkah gift guide. Need inspiration for your gifts? Look no further. We have hanukkah themed gifts, jewish jewelry under $50, judaica jewelry for women and for men! Time to check everyone off your list.  Happy shopping!

When I planned out my blog post schedule for the year a few months ago, I never could have imagined the topic for my Passover post would be the Corona Virus. In fact, only a few short weeks ago I had never heard the phrases “social distancing” or “safer at home” and now they are ubiquitous.  We live in a crazy time yet it feels like we are living in biblical times and enduring one of the 10 plagues. My daughter’s preschool teacher told me that she she is confident quarantine will be over on April 19^th, as initially discussed, because that marks the end of Pesach and we will be led to freedom like the Jews leaving Egypt.  I really hope she is right, not just because I CANT WAIT for my 2 young children to be back to school, but because that will mean there is an end in sight to this terrible virus that is plaguing the whole world.

The big Jewish question during quarantine is what do we do for Pesach? If we have all been in quarantine for 2 weeks can we come together? Can we break our social distancing just to be with our closest family in a small group for the Seder? Do we risk our parents’ health and bring their grandkids over? Or do we let grandma make the food, each eat it at our own house while we have a zoom Seder? How to we navigate this? It’s one of the most important holidays of the year and we are instructed to invite others into our home to retell the story of the Jews being let to freedom, it seems unfathomable that a single person will be left to have a Seder at home on their own. This is so hard!

The rabbis in Israel came out with a declaration that you can have Zoom on during your Seder as long as you set it up and connect before the holiday begins (read more). Its not often that the ultra-orthodox bend the rules but in this case, it is Pikuach Nefesh, or saving a soul, which states that preservation of human life overrides virtually any religious rule. This comes after telling people not to kiss the mezuzah, stop visiting the mikvah and attending synagogue.  So, I guess the rabbis are encouraging Zoom.  (As a side note, who had heard of Zoom before a few weeks ago?)

One thing is sure, the show must go on and one way or another we will have a Seder. With a heavy heart I’m leaning towards a zoom Seder myself, but I’m curious what you are all doing. Please feel free to comment below, we would love to get this conversation going and maybe figure this out together.

We hope you all stay safe and healthy and wish you a Chag Pesach Sameach! Wash your hands, stay home and lets pray we can put this behind us sooner than later.

We curated our favorite items under $50 for this holiday season. This gift guide has suggestions for hostess gifts as well as gifts for women, men, girls, boys, grandmas and grandpas! Hanukkah gifts for the entire family and every party you are invited to, all under $50. Check it out now!