April has been called the “cruelest month”, but for many people, December - with its holidays – is more deserving of the name. Although the two major holidays are based on the premise of the celebration of a religious event, they could more accurately be described as a gift buying orgy and the more the merrier. To compete with Christmas, which has become larger than life, Jews have elevated Chanukah to greater heights by bestowing presents on their children for seven nights. We’re number two but we try harder, they seem to be saying. After all, there maybe more buzz about Christmas, but with us there’s tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow ad infinitum.

Yesterday, there were scenes on TV of shoppers literally pushing and tearing at one another to be the first to get into stores. A woman was knocked to the ground in one store, and unconscious, had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. Frightening pictures, more so when one realizes that this was not some third world country with people fighting to obtain food, but a Walmart or Toys are Us and the combatants were frenzied shoppers embroiled in the usual December madness.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch – oops, sorry, there is no ranch for the approximately 950,000 homeless kids - that number according to a year 2000 report by the Department of Education, based on an article in the NY Times. For those kids, the greatest present of all would be a place to call home but it’s probably not going to happen. Many programs for the impoverished were eliminated in the 1990’s but federal laws require school districts to locate children who are homeless and enroll them in school. That’s a gift for many because they get a free hot meal at lunchtime and also for many, that’s the only real meal they have. What they probably don’t consider a gift, are the free immunizations and tuberculosis tests. For some youngsters, enrollment in school provides other gifts, like being able to bathe in the school’s washroom or being the recipient of donated clothing, perhaps a coat to get them through the winter. Because many of these children live in shelters, the school provides them with the gift of transportation to school. Almost enough gifts for seven nights or lumped together, enough for one splendid day.
The parents of these children are not shiftless ne’er do wells who don’t want to work. Many of them are members of the middle class who have lost their housing as prices rise. Because of layoffs, such as the aircraft companies, and the depressed economy making jobs very difficult to come by, their circumstances have changed. When unemployment benefits run out, they are forced to move into a shelter. Ironically, the statistics show the unemployment rate dropping but that’s because when benefits run out, people leave the unemployment rolls. Another example of how statistics can be used in manipulative ways by governments.

How is it possible that so many children are homeless – and the figure is probably a lot lower than the actual count- in this country? How can we in good conscience try to rebuild another country when our own citizens are in such trouble right here, and through no fault of their own? There is a perceived fear of terrorism in this country but the fear of homelessness and grinding poverty is not a perception. It is very real and only those who are at the top of the pyramid with amassed wealth can consider themselves immune. The fine line between the haves and the have-nots is not a double line and can be crossed over with ease.

Far be it from me to rain on anyone’s parade, but don’t we have a responsibility to our own children to teach them that their life is the greatest gift of all and that the holidays have a meaning other than can you top this when it comes to gift giving? It’s never too early to teach that each voice combined with all other voices have a power that can make for change. If we don’t like the way our fellow citizens are being treated, if we are pained by the thought of children without homes and adequate shelter, we can do something about it. When that curtain closes behind us in the voting booth, we must make changes and choices to ensure that children everywhere in this country are living the childhood that is their entitlement.