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Vive la difference!
December is upon us, and with it comes Chanukah and that age-old debate… Christmas vs. Chanukah. The stores are full of Christmas displays, the radio plays Christmas carols, and there are Christmas parties, movies, TV specials and decorations everywhere. How can we possibly compete? Our humble little Chanukah celebrations with our dreidels and menorahs simply can’t match up. Some people try. Many of our Jewish friends try every year to make Chanukah more popular, flashier, more commercial, and more secular. This may work for some people, but it doesn’t really work for me.
I like to look at Chanukah as an opportunity to be different and to be proud of that difference. Chanukah is not the Jewish Christmas, and it never will be – no matter how hard Hallmark tries to make it so. It shouldn’t be. Trying to equate the two holidays does two things; first, it takes away from the importance of Christmas for our Christian friends and family members, and second, it takes away from our own Jewish uniqueness. While it is always important to recognize how similar we all are, it is also important to celebrate our differences. This is one of those times.
Celebrating distinctiveness
Chanukah is a celebration of light, a celebration of triumph over those who wished to destroy us. It is also a celebration of our distinctiveness, and how we have refused, time and time again, to assimilate. The Maccabees fought to keep their Jewish practices and identity. Today, we are the Maccabees. We need to have the strength to keep our traditions, celebrate our holidays, and maintain our identity – even in the face of unsettling and uncertain times.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating all of the holidays that happen at this time of year. In fact, there is a great deal of beauty and joy that comes with opening ourselves up to appreciating and enjoying the myriad celebrations and observances of the season. I only worry when we try to compete.
These holidays all commemorate very different events, and just because they fall at the same time of year doesn’t make them the same. So, I say let’s reclaim Chanukah as it was intended to be; a beautiful, low-key, light-filled, warm holiday that commemorates our victory, our strength, and God’s miracles.
A non-compete clause of our own
Let’s not compete for airtime or importance. Let’s not worry about making Chanukah more appealing for our kids, instead, let’s help them find the joy in the simple act of eating latkes together; in lighting candles every night for eight nights; and in family time. Let’s use this season as an opportunity to celebrate our multi-faith community – not by conflating Christmas and Chanukah into the same thing, but by giving time, space, and respect to each holiday. I think we could all use a little more joy, a little more warmth, and a little more light this season.
Light one Candle by Peter Yarrow
Light one candle for the Maccabee children
With thanks their light didn't die;
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied;
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand;
And light one candle for the wisdom to know
That the peacemaker's time is at hand!
Don't let the light go out,
It's lasted for so many years!
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears!
(Listen to the entire song here)
Chag Urim Sameach – Happy Festival of Lights!
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