Christmas

Christmas is a holiday that is celebrated around the world by many families. There are certain aspects of this holiday that make it memorable. One of these very popular holiday traditions is the Christmas tree. Similar to today, people would use pine, spruce, and fir trees to decorate their homes. However, this wasn’t just to make their homes more festive, it was actually to keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness. At least, that’s what they believed. The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who was supposed to wear the sun within his crown. They believed that when winter solstice came around, Ra was recovering from an “illness” because the day was short. At the solstice, the Egyptians would fill their homes with green palms and papyrus reeds, symbolizing the triumph of life over death. If we want to acknowledge our beloved tradition of these trees, German culture needs to be thanked. Christians bring decorated trees into their homes, and some build Christmas pyramids out of wood and use candles and evergreens to decorate them if the wood was scarce. And here we are today! It doesn’t matter if the tree is fake, or real- tall, or short. Trees are a tradition that people hold close to their hearts, and don’t ever plan on letting go. Another popular tradition that people have is Christmas stockings. According to legend, St. Nicholas, who was the inspiration for Santa Claus, once helped out a poor man because he couldn’t afford the dowries for his three daughters. Apparently, St. Nicholas tossed small bags of gold through the man’s window, and one of the bags landed in a stocking that was being hung by the fireplace to dry. From that night on, children started hanging stockings, hoping they’d receive a visit from St. Nick. 

Hanukkah

Similar to Christmas, in December, Hanukkah is also celebrated as a religious holiday. While Christmas is a well-known Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the recovery of the Temple in Jerusalem. The holiday, Hanukkah, was established in Israel thousands of years ago and is still celebrated. Back in 175 B.C., King Antiochus, the ruler of the Seleucid Empire, made it illegal for people who lived in his kingdom to practice Judaism. He believed that Jewish people should worship Greek gods. However, many Jews did not agree with him and refused to worship Greek gods. As a result, King Antiochus commanded his troops to destroy the Temple of Jerusalem, a place of worship for Jews. Judas Maccabeus, a Jewish leader, then led the Jews to revolt against King Antiochus and successfully defeated the Seleucid Empire. When Judas entered the Temple of Jerusalem after the courageous victory, he only found a jar of oil enough to burn the candles for one day. However, the oil miraculously burned for eight days. Ever since this event, Jews have celebrated Hanukkah on the 25th day of the Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, the Jewish calendar.