However You Spell it, Chanukah is Chanukah!
Several people have asked me why Chanukah is so early this year. As some of you have heard me say, my usual answer to this question is: “Chanukah is never early. It arrives right on time, Kislev 25, every single year.” That is, on the Hebrew calendar, Chanukah begins on the 25th day of the month of Kislev. Every year, this is a different date on our secular calendar.
That doesn’t solve the problem some people have, however, of what to do when Chanukah is long over well before Christmas begins. This is really only an issue, though, when attempting to compare and/or equalize the two holidays. To paraphrase RabbiKerry Olitzky: Hanukkah is Hanukkah and Christmas is Christmas. The holidays might share some similar folk-religion roots, such as increasing light during the darkest days of the year. But to rob the beauty of one celebration to pay tribute to another is not the answer to what some call “the December dilemma.”
I think this is a dilemma that all of us who live in two civilizations come up against at some point. Whether or not we have children, whether we are “in” married or “inter” married or not married at all—Christmas has a tendency to take over our culture at this time of year, and simply focusing on Chanukah doesn’t address this concern.
This answer to the dilemma is, I believe, to simply celebrate and appreciate Chanukah as its own sweet self, neither blowing it out of proportion nor playing it down. At the same time, it is possible to respect and enjoy the Christmas celebrations of non-Jewish members of our family and/or friends. If we make this distinction and speak of it aloud with our children, everyone will come to appreciate each holiday for what it is.
Ever since I was a child, I recall enjoying Chanukah as “my” holiday and getting pleasure out of Christmas as the holiday of friends and neighbors. I credit my parents, of blessed memory, of teaching us “early and often” that Christmas is a lovely holiday for Christians. When we wanted a Christmas tree, my parents gently told us that we were Jewish and didn’t do this, but we were invited to the home of friends to decorate their trees. When we wanted Christmas presents, they taught us that giving was more important than getting, and helped us make or acquire Christmas presents for Christian friends. This, combined with a deep and meaningful celebration of all Jewish holidays made us secure and happy in our Jewish identity, even though we weren’t particularly religious.
It is true that the actual Festival of Lights will have been over for two weeks by the time Christmas arrives this year. But, if we truly rededicate ourselves to what is important to us and our families during these days of Chanukah, that light will illumine our path in the weeks and months to come. We will know that it’s possible to enjoy the holidays of other faiths, without making them our own. At the same time, we can share our pride and joy in our own tradition with non-Jewish family and friends.
Rejoice!
