By Maria Palermino

Everyone is familiar with Christmas, Santa Claus and his sleigh filled with toys, right? The Jewish festival, Hanukkah, a time when the family unites, celebrates the history of the Jewish people and their religion, Judaism. Is this new for you?  Have you heard of Kwanzaa, the African-American holiday originating in Africa?  The family gets together to celebrate and give thanks. Let’s find out more about these, shall we?

Christmas – The True Meaning

In the Christian holy book, the Bible (Old Testament), a person can read this:

An angel of the Lord appeared to them…and said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord….This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2: 4-19, Source:  http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/Devotions/Noebel_MeaningofChristmas.aspx)

So, we can see that Christmas according to Christianity celebrates the birth of Jesus, the little infant pictured here.  Over the years, in churches across America on December 24, Christmas Eve, and December 25, Christmas day, many Christians attend mass (a church gathering where people pray to praise the birth of the son of god) to celebrate this day.

Hanukkah (Chanukkah)–The Festival of Lights

The celebration of Hanukkah is based on the Hebrew calendar and takes place in the autumn month known as Kislev.  This holiday usually lasts 8 days and celebrates an important military win of the Jewish people and “a miraculous supply of oil for the Temple.” Here you can see the Hanukkah menorah that has nine candles; each candle represents 1 of the eight nights, and the extra one is for lighting all the others.

Like other holidays in December, Hanukkah is a time for families to reunite, to eat special food, to give gifts, particularly to children, and to have fun playing the dreidel game, spinning a special top.  You can learn more online about the dreidel (www.wikihow.com/Play-Dreidel), and the history of Hanukkah (judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/hanukkah.htm).

Kwanzaa–The Celebration of the First Harvest

Beginning in Africa and celebrated in North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean, Kwanzaa is from December 26 to January 1. The name comes from Swahili, “matunda ya kwanza” or “first fruits”. The African people originally celebrated the first harvests during this time.

Seven major principles are celebrated at this time: unity, self-determination, work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Similar to the other holidays, Kwanzaa is a time to celebrate the family, the community, and religion.

In 1966 Maulana Karenga, an Africana Studies Professor at California State University, Long Beach, established this holiday here in the US.  He started it as a way to resurrect (to bring back) the African roots and culture of African-Americans.  To learn more about the origins of this holiday, just look at this link: www.holidays.net/kwanzaa/sitemap2.htm

And if you’d like to have more detailed information about these holidays and other types of Christmas celebrations around the world, you can read this very interesting article: www.unitedplanet.org/blog/2013/01/03/from-christmas-to-diwali-winter-holidays-around-the-world  (United Planet Blog)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!