Christmas

In the fourth cen­tury, Pope Julius I rec­og­nized there was no hol­i­day to cel­e­brate the birth of Jesus. Since it is not stated when Jesus was born in the Bible, he declared Dec. 25 to be the day of the celebration.

Christmas was held at the same time as other win­ter sol­stice fes­ti­vals and church lead­ers hoped it would increase the pop­u­lar­ity of the hol­i­day. During these times, Christmas was cel­e­brated with a large party often resem­bling that of mod­ern times Mardi Gras.

When the Puritans came to America, they abol­ished the Christmas prac­tice and even fined peo­ple for cel­e­brat­ing. It was not until June 26, 1870 that Christmas became an offi­cial hol­i­day in the United States.

In the 19^th cen­tury Americans started to embrace the hol­i­day. They changed the cel­e­bra­tion into more of a peace­ful fam­ily day. Parents started to spoil their chil­dren and the tra­di­tions of tree dec­o­rat­ing, gift giv­ing and send­ing out hol­i­day cards ensued.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah is cel­e­brated on the 25^th of Kislev which falls in either November or December on the American cal­en­dar and is often called the Festival of Lights.

Around 168 B.C. Judea, or the Land of Israel, came under power of a mali­cious leader who demanded the prac­tice of the Jewish reli­gion be stopped. He invaded the land, killing thou­sands of peo­ple and ruin­ing the city’s holy Second Temple.

Juddah Maccabee led the rev­o­lu­tion and over­threw the Syrians. Maccabee ordered that the Second Temple be reestab­lished and the Menorah lit. The Menorah is a gold can­de­labrum, with seven branches that rep­re­sent knowl­edge and creation.

Those involved in the light­ing were believed to have wit­nessed a mir­a­cle. There was only enough untainted oil to keep the can­dles burn­ing for one day, but mirac­u­lously they burned for eight nights. This event inspired the eight day festival.

Today peo­ple cel­e­brate Hanukkah by adding another can­dle to the Menorah for eight nights while bless­ings are recited. Foods cooked in oil, play­ing with drei­dels and exchang­ing gifts have become part of the tra­di­tions as well.

Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa was cre­ated in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, pro­fes­sor and chair­man of black stud­ies at California State University, Long Beach. It takes place from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1.

Kwanzaa is based on African fruit har­vest cel­e­bra­tions. On each of the seven nights, the fam­ily gath­ers to light one of the can­dles on the Kinara and dis­cuss one of the seven principles.

The seven prin­ci­ples, called “Nguzo Saba,” rein­force com­mu­nity among African Americans and include unity, self-determination, col­lec­tive work and respon­si­bil­ity, coop­er­a­tive eco­nom­ics, pur­pose, cre­ativ­ity and faith. 

There are also seven sym­bols. The Mkeka, or place­mat, is the his­tor­i­cal foun­da­tion the cul­ture comes from. Nuts, fruits and veg­eta­bles are placed on the mat to sym­bol­ize work. An ear of corn rep­re­sents the hopes for a fam­ily, so an ear of corn for each mem­ber of the fam­ily is placed on the mat as well.

Each can­dle is rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the prin­ci­ple being dis­cussed that par­tic­u­lar evening, and the can­dle­holder rep­re­sents ances­try. Gifts are exchanged to encour­age each of the seven prin­ci­ples. A unity cup is used for the liba­tion process when ances­tors are honored.

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