The Festival of Lights In a country dominated by Christmas culture, Jewish holidays don’t always receive the spotlight they deserve. CHLOE CREIGHTON, PAGE EDITOR
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his time of year, Christmas music begins to play at grocery stores, Christmas lights twinkle on lawns, Christmas toys fill shelves and Christmas movies play in theaters. Many Americans delight in this Christmas cheer. But what about the Americans who don’t celebrate Christmas? One group who may feel excluded from Christmas culture are Jews. Of course, not every Jew has the same attitude toward Christmas. Some Jews are raised with one Christian parent, some convert from Christianity, and some take part in Christmas festivities just for fun. In fact, a large number of the most popular Christmas songs were written by Jews. With that being said, many Jews feel alienated by America’s dominant Christmas culture. “[Christmas] is the holiday people associate with December, and it’s so prevalent everywhere. The Starbucks cups are Christmas centric, the decorations at the stores are Christmas centric, the music that people play in classrooms, it’s all just very Christmas all the time,” said Anna Streeto, a Jewish senior at CHS. While much of Christmas media is harmless, some promotes harmful messaging. Many movies equate the love of Christmas with inherent goodness. “Everybody who hates Christmas is always depicted as villainous in Christmas movies, then eventually they become heroes when they learn to love Christmas. There are people who don’t celebrate Christmas, there are people who don’t like Christmas, it doesn’t make them morally deficient,” said Streeto. Hallmark has attempted to make Hanukkah movies in the past, but instead of embracing Jewish traditions, they are really just Christmas movies with Jewish characters. They even use damaging anti-Semitic tropes, such as the untrustworthy Jew. The goal of these movies is to show that Hanukkah and Christmas aren’t so different after all—when in reality, they are. Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, is an eight-day celebration of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucids, who wanted to force the Jews to accept Greek culture. The Maccabeans drove away the Greeks and rededicated the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The Talmud says that when the Jews went to light the menorah in the temple, they only had enough oil for one day. Miraculously, the small supply of oil lasted
for eight days. Hanukkah celebrates the Jewish people’s resistance against assimilation. Religiously, Hanukkah is a minor Jewish holiday. The celebration has gained cultural significance for American Jews in large part because it takes place around the time of Christmas. Hanukkah starts on the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, which may be any time from late November to December. This year, Hanukkah began on the evening of November 28th. During Hanukkah, Jews light menorahs, adding one candle each night. They say prayers and sing songs. They eat traditional foods fried in oil, including potato pancakes called latkes and jelly doughnuts called sufganiyah. Children play the spinning top game dreidel and receive
“I feel like [Hanukkah] is only important as it relates to Christmas. People think it’s the Jewish Christmas. It’s not.” - Anna Streeto chocolate coins called gelt. In some families, one present is opened each of the eight nights. Despite these distinct traditions, Hanukkah is rarely seen in a separate light from Christmas. “I feel like [Hanukkah] is only important as it relates to Christmas. People think it’s the Jewish Christmas. It’s not. And it’s frustrating when people think of it like that, because it shows that they have no understanding or desire to understand what Hanukkah is about, or what Jewish traditions are. It makes you feel othered,” said Streeto. As a Jew, I have met people who find it sad that I don’t put up Christmas lights or make cookies for Santa, that I’m missing out on such an important part of American culture.
To celebrate Hanukkah, Jews light the menorah each night. Photo from Wikimedia Commons
What they don’t understand is, I love my own traditions. I love lighting the menorah, saying prayers and eating traditional food. I even love the Jewish Christmas Day tradition of seeing movies and ordering Chinese food. My love for Jewish holidays extends beyond just Hanukkah, and so does widespread ignorance. The most religiously significant holidays in Judaism are Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), but few non-Jews are familiar with either holiday. Classes are held, tests are scheduled, and Jewish students who skip school to go to services spend much of their high holidays making up work. “I would appreciate it more if, instead of focusing on the minor holidays that are adjacent to the Christian ones, we would try to focus on the major Jewish holidays in addition to the major Christian ones,” said Streeto. What many Jews want is not the end of Christmas, but a fuller understanding of Jewish traditions as a whole. Jewish holidays should be acknowledged and respected, regardless of their proximity to Christian holidays. By embracing diversity of traditions, we can brighten our community. in less fortunate school districts. They spend about $2,500 to schedule an author visit and to give each kid a free book at the schools they visit. You can donate on thenobleneighbor.org.
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