“Chrismukkah,” meaning the overlap of the two holidays, has not occurred since 2005. Many see this as an opportunity for interfaith engagement.
HanukkahJudaism's festival of lights, which lasts eight days, It starts this year on Christmas Daysomething that This has only happened four times since 1900.
For certain rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays constitutes a favorable opportunity to interfaith engagement.
“It can be a great opportunity to learn, collaborate and be together,” the rabbi said. Josh Stantonvice president of the Jewish Federations of North America. Stanton oversees interfaith initiatives involving the 146 local and regional Jewish federations that his organization represents.
“The goal is not to proselytize, but to learn deeply from each other”he declared. “It’s about others seeing you as you see yourself.”
An example of a union: a party Chrismoukka organized Thursday evening by several Houston Jewish organizations, which brought together members of the city's Latino and Jewish communities for a “intercultural festive celebration”. The location: the Houston Holocaust Museum.
The food on offer was a mix of the two cultures: for example, a latke bar with guacamole, chili con queso and pico de gallo, as well as applesauce and sour cream. The donut-like pastries were sufganiot (a Hanukkah specialty) and fritters. And the mariachi band was encouraged to play the popular Jewish song “Hava Naguila.”
“What really unites us are our common values: our faith, our families, our heritage”said Erica Winsor, public affairs manager for the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston.
Rabbi Peter Tarlow, executive director of the Houston-based Center for Latino-Jewish Relations, said the first event Chrismoukka Twelve years ago it attracted 20 people, while this year the crowd was around 300 and could have been larger if attendance had not been limited. He said the partygoers were a roughly equal mix of Latinos — some of whom were Jews of Latin American descent — and “Anglo-Saxon” Jews.
“There is too much hatred, too much separation between Jews and Latinos”» said Tarlow. “It’s a way for us to come together and show that we support each other.”
While Hanukkah is intended as a joyful and festive holiday, the rabbis note that this year it is being celebrated against a backdrop of ongoing conflicts involving Israeli forces in the Middle East and fears over widespread anti-Semitic incidents.
Rabbi Moshe Hauer, executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, acknowledged that Many Jews may be anxious as Hanukkah approaches this yearbut expressed confidence that most would maintain the key tradition: lighting candles in menorah candelabras and displaying them in visible places, such as home windows and public spaces.
“Our community's position — no fanfare, just determination — is that the menorah should be in our windows, in a place where the public can see it,” Hauer said.
“It’s not so much for us, the Jewish community, as it is for the world,” he added. “We must share this light. “Placing the menorah in the window is our expression of our work to be a light among the nations. »
Hauer agreed with Stanton that the overlap of Hanukkah and Christmas this year It is “an exceptional opportunity to see and experience the diversity of America and the diversity of its religious communities.”
Rabbi Motti Seligson, public relations director for the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of a milestone in public menorah lighting. It was December 8, 1974, as part of an initiative spearheaded by Lubavitch leader Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, when a menorah was lit outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the found the Liberty Bell at that time.
“Hanukkah is a celebration of religious freedom, so it is not taken for granted”» said Seligson. “One way to do that is to celebrate it publicly.”
He said Chabad is organizing about 15,000 public menorah lightings this year through its many branches around the world.
“There’s definitely some apprehension,” Seligson said, referring to concerns about anti-Semitism and political friction. “Some wonder if Jews will celebrate as openly as in the past. »
“What I’m hearing is there’s no way we can’t do it,” he added. “The only way for us to get through these difficult times is to stay stronger, prouder and shine brighter than ever. »
Stanton agreed.
“Throughout our history we have gone through easy times and hard times,” he said. “For us, security is not achieved by hiding, but by moving forward. »
Why is Hanukkah celebrated so late this year? The answer is simple: the Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles and is not synchronized with the Gregorian calendar, which sets Christmas on December 25. Hanukkah always begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev, a date which falls between late November and late December on the Gregorian calendar.
The last time Hanukkah began on Christmas Day was in 2005, but the term “Chrismukkah”, which means the overlap of the two holidayshad already become popular before then. The term gained popularity in 2003, when Seth Cohen's character in the television series “The OC” adopted the merged holiday in homage to his Jewish father and Protestant mother.
This season, Hallmark Channel debuted a new Christmas movie called “Leah's Perfect Gift,” which features a young Jewish woman who has admired Christmas from afar and gets the chance to experience it up close when her boyfriend invites her for the holidays. his family. Spoiler alert: not everything goes well.
Although these stories suggest a fascination with Christmas among some Jews, Stanton says that Jewish Federations' research reveals an increase in the number of Jews seeking deeper connections to their own traditions and community, as well as an increase in the number of Jews who volunteer for charitable activities during the holidays.
“The opportunity is to share with others how we celebrate Hanukkah,” he said. “It’s a celebration of freedom, of hope, of pride in showing that we are Jewish. »
(With information from AP)
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