Hanukkah is not the Jewish Christmas. Articles and op-eds in newspapers remind readers of that fact every year, lamenting that the Jewish Festival of Lights has almost become an imitation of the Christian holiday. These pieces exist for a reason. Hanukkah is a minor festival in the Jewish liturgical year, whose major holidays come in the fall and spring — the High Holidays and Passover , respectively.
Because of its proximity to Christmas, however, Hanukkah has been culturally elevated into a major celebration. Even Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement , holds public menorah lightings that look remarkably like public Christmas tree lightings. Much of my Jewish studies and gender research focuses on interfaith families , for whom these issues can be especially tricky. I empathize with Jewish Americans worried about Hanukkah growing too similar to Christmas — but the history of both holidays is more complicated than these comparisons let on.
In B. He outlawed Jewish holidays , Shabbat observance and practices such as circumcision. His troops set up altars to the Greek gods in the Jewish temple, dedicating it to Zeus. The Maccabees, a Jewish resistance movement led by a priestly family, opposed both Antiochus and Jews who assimilated to the conquering Greek culture.
In the temple, the Jews kept an eternal flame burning — as synagogues do today. When the Maccabees reclaimed the temple, however, there was enough oil to last for only a day. Miraculously, the story says it lasted for a week: enough time to bring in more oil. Traditional holiday celebrations, therefore, include lighting the menorah each night for eight days and eating food cooked in oil. That said, the story of how Hanukkah came to have the commercial, kids-and-gifts focus that it has in the U.
When people worry that Hanukkah is simply a Jewish adaptation to the Christmas gift season, I think they are imagining that Christmas itself has always been as most Americans today know it — with the presents, the tree and the family togetherness.
