Christmas is the big winter holiday for many, but there are many other holidays that people celebrate. Holidays range from more celebratory to more religious. Here are a couple of the holidays that people celebrate.
One of the holidays celebrated is Hannukah. Junior Lissie Grinstein celebrates Hanukkah, and she said, “It feels kind of weird because everybody observes Christmas, and our holiday break is based around Christmas whereas Hanukkah, it’s just not celebrated by many of my peers and it kind of gets swept under the rug.”
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that lasts eight days. The exact date changes from year to year, but this year it takes place from December 7 to December 15. It celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. Every night of Hanukkah, a candle on the menorah is lit. There are eight candles lit, and a ninth one that is used to light the others. This candle is called the shamash.
During Hanukkah, it’s traditional for fried foods to be eaten because they represent the small amount of oil that kept the menorah lit for eight days instead of one. A few customary foods at Hanukkah are latkes (potato pancakes), sufganiyot (fried jelly donuts), and kugel (egg noodle casserole).
Grinstein explained what she and her family do for the holiday, “During Hanukkah, we have a menorah, and we light a different candle each night until the last day when they’re all lit and I get a present each day of Hanukkah. On the last night of Hanukkah, we always go over to my grandma’s house.”
Another holiday is Ethiopian Christmas, also called Gena. It is celebrated two weeks after Christmas, on January 7th. Just like Christmas, it celebrates the birth of Jesus, however it is a more religious take on the holiday than is usually celebrated. It starts with a fasting season that begins on November 25 and lasts 43 days until Gena. During this time, people don’t eat any animal product.
Senior Aibe Misiker celebrates Gena and explained how it’s typically celebrated; “We celebrate it during the day by going to church. And then after all the ceremonies we eat a specific type of food called injera with doro wat and kifto because that celebrates that we’re finally able to eat animal product.”
Although Gena celebrates the same thing as Christmas, these practices and traditions are unique to Gena. “It’s literally just like if Christmas didn’t have gifts, you know, it’s a more religious look onto the holiday then the cheery, Christmassy vibe that Christmas usually is.” Said Misiker.
