Aleph Institute Invites Schools to Join Chanukah Gift Drive - Making the holiday brighter for kids with parents in the military or in prison

Call it the mitzvah-multiplier effect. Over the course of the past decade, the Florida-based, Chabad-affiliated Aleph Institute has sent thousands of Chanukah gifts to children whose parents were in the military or serving time in prison. Now, it is looking to get many others into the giving spirit as well. On Veterans Day, which fell on Nov. 11, Aleph officially launched an effort asking Jewish day schools and community organizations across the United States to collect Chanukah gifts for children of those serving in the U.S. military, and/or send menorahs, candles, dreidels and chocolate Chanukah gelt directly to military personnel. The toy drive also applies to children of incarcerated Jewish men and women throughout the United States. The project offers a timely occasion for educators to teach young people about the importance of remembering members of the Jewish community who are all too often forgotten.