One ancient coin connecting two great religions

I may be Jewish but I think I give the best Christmas present. I am a coin collector and I enjoy giving my Christian friends an ancient coin known as the widow’s mite. I will be doing it again this Christmas.

According to Mark 12:41-44 (King James):

“And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”

The takeaway of the widow’s mite story, of course, is to be charitable and give from the heart — important Christian values. As I see it, a widow’s mite Christmas present is a special gift because it provides my Christian friends an opportunity to hold and have a coin that, with the right mindset, can make that well-known bible story come alive. I know I own a number of ancient Jewish coins and just holding them can often be a goosebump experience. 

So what about these “mites” that the destitute widow parted with during the time of Jesus? They were actually low value and small size Jewish minted coins called prutahs. They were from the time of the Hasmonean Jewish King Alexander Jannaeus. It was his family that was originally responsible for the successful revolt against the Hellenist Greeks that would pave the way for the Jewish holiday called Hanukkah.

The King Alexander Jannaeus prutah coins were minted in great quantity.  They remained in circulation for many years, even into the Roman occupation of Judea and the life of Jesus. 

This past weekend we had our family over to my house for a Hanukkah party. We lit the menorah candles, and told the Hanukkah story that highlighted: the successful revolt of the Jews over the Hellenist Greeks; the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple; and the small jar of oil that burned for eight days. 

This Hanukkah I decided to add a little something extra to the moment. Standing before everyone, I pulled from my pocket a King Alexander Jannaeus coin (widow’s mite) and had everyone look at it and pass it around. 

I explained to my family: “This ancient coin was dug up from the ground of modern-day Israel. It was minted during the kingship of Alexander Jannaeus. He was the second Hasmonean King; a descendant of Mattathias and his five sons (the most famous of which was Judah Maccabee).  Back then, the Jews of Judea were ruled by the Hellenist King, Antiochus IV. He declared Jews could no longer practice their religion — on pain of death. Today, a new group of people, known as Hamas, have declared the same. Our Jewish forefathers in Judea had an answer for Antiochus. Today our brothers and sisters in Israel have the same answer for Hamas.”

I think my ancient coin was a success as I heard a couple of “wows” as the coin was passed around. As a matter of fact, I think I will be doing the same thing every Hanukah for now on; sort of a “new Grandpa tradition.” I think it will help make the history part of the Hanukkah story seem more real. God willing, there will be no reason to mention my Hamas commentary the next time around.

Image: Harold Witcov