Cashiers at local supermarkets end transactions with the phrase, “Happy Holidays.” But what does that mean, “Happy Holidays?” Along with the Christian holiday of Christmas, which takes place on Dec. 25 every year, there are two other major holiday celebrations that take place around the same time.
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa are two celebrations, that are both strongly rooted in culture and tradition, though very different in origin.
Festival of Lights
Hanukkah is a Hebrew holiday that commemorates a miracle that occurred more than 2,000 years ago. When Greeks oppressed Jews and oil was scarce, a Jewish temple had enough oil to light the menorah for one night. Somehow it managed to burn for eight nights. The Jews won a victory over the Greeks, and their temple, which had been previously taken over, was rededicated to them. Thus the holiday is known as the Jewish Festival of Rededication or the Festival of Lights and begins on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. This year, it falls on Dec. 12.
“Hanukkah is about overcoming things that have oppressed you and belief in God and just being spiritual,” said Mordichai Klainberg, 36, of Southfield.
According to a 2005 study by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, “78,000 persons live in 30,000 Jewish households in [Metro] Detroit.” Detroit has the 21st largest Jewish community in the country.
This holiday is celebrated by the lighting of a menorah, a type of candelabrum, which holds nine candles, eight for each night of Hanukkah and one Shamash, or servant candle, at a different height. On the first night of the celebration, the Shamash candle is lit, prayers are said and the Shamash candle is used to light the first candle of the celebration.
Each day of the festival, another candle is lit to commemorate another day the oil burnt. These candles are lit from left to right, giving honor to the newer things first, but new candles are added from right to left as the Hebrew language is written.
Fried foods are traditional for this holiday as oil is the root of its origin. A popular dish is potato latkes, which are like pancakes. There are no traditional gift-giving customs, aside from that of giving gelt, or money coins — contemporarily used in the form of chocolate —, to children. (Gelt, from scripture, was given to those less fortunate so that they may buy candles for Hanukkah. It is written in the Talmud that everyone must light candles for Hanukkah, regardless of financial circumstances.)
According to Klainberg, “the Talmud is our laws and customs that we take and learn from the Torah.” The gift of gelt helps for those less fortunate to accumulate enough money in a less humiliating fashion, he said. But families do offer each other gelt in the form of gifts.
“I don’t need anything grand. I tell everybody to give me something practical, like socks or a belt, if they feel they must give me something. Last year, my parents gave me underwear on one of the Hanukkah nights,” Klainberg said.
For family, community and culture
According to the “Official Kwanzaa Web Site”, Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulan “Ron” Karenga to “introduce and reinforce seven basic values of African culture, which contribute to building and reinforcing family, community and culture among African-American people, as well as Africans throughout the world-African community.”
The festival begins on Dec. 26 and runs through Jan. 1. Each day celebrates one of seven principles. These values, called the Nguzo Saba are: Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), and Imani (Faith).
“It is a week-long celebration to focus on how you can bring these seven principles into your life, and commit to them,” said Karen Ellerbee Williams, 49, who has been celebrating the holiday for the last 28 years.
It is because of this commitment that Williams believes Kwanzaa is not as widely celebrated as she would like.
“It is very scarce because you have to give up the commercialism and be committed to something, and most people don’t want to make that commitment,” she said.
According to Lee D. Baker, Dean of Academic Affairs of Trintity College at Duke University, wrote in a 2000 compilation book that 12 million people celebrate the festival.
Kwanzaa is one of the few holidays that has absolutely no basis in religion or politics. It is simply a holiday for African-Americans to reacquaint themselves with their culture and values. In other words, there is nothing holding people back from celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah, as well.
The name “Kwanzaa” is derived from the African phrase “Kwanza” that means “first-fruits.” An extra “A” was added to the word so that each of the original seven children in the Organization US, a group founded by Karenga, with which he created the seven-day holiday, could represent a letter of Kwanzaa.
Like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, too, uses candles as a ritual. Similar in shape to the menorah, there are seven candles representing each value of Kwanzaa in the kinara. Three red and three green candles surround a central black candle on either side. Each day, alternating red and green candles are lit until they reach the center, which is first to be lit. The kinara represents the roots people have to Africa.
Unique to her, Williams said that she keeps a book to track her family’s goals to improve on each of the seven principles. The book is pulled out monthly throughout the year to check on the person’s progress and devotion to each principle.
“On each day of Kwanzaa, my children and I sit down, and we find something that we are going to do positive that focuses on the principle of the day,” Williams said. “At the end of the night we have dinner, light a candle, sing songs, write poetry or anything that has to do with the arts … because you can express yourself through the arts.”
Be the first to comment on this article!