As December rolls around, people throughout the nation quickly “get into the holiday spirit.” Neighbors are quick to jump on their ladders to hang up bright red and green lights along the trims of their houses. Stores all throughout the country have classic Christmas songs on repeat. Others travel near and far to spend time with family and friends. My favorite part of the holidays is always traveling to Seattle and ice skating at the big city‘s ice rink. As this is my holiday tradition, there are several ways that people choose to celebrate this season, and for different reasons.

December 25th is probably one of the kids’ favorite days in the year. It is a common Christmas tradition in America to leave out cookies and milk on Christmas Eve and wait for Old Saint Nick to drop off presents under the Christmas tree. Santa Claus is commonly seen as the “face” of Christmas, but let‘s look at how the famous holiday came to be. As many may know, Christmas is a Christian holiday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
According to History.com, Europeans gathered around and “celebrated light and birth in the darkest days of winter” centuries and centuries ago. Jesus’s birthday was not celebrated amongst the population until about the 4th century and even then it was still not considered to be a “legitimate” holiday. It wasn‘t until the 8th century when Christmas was spread and publicized throughout the country of Scandinavia. Fun fact, even though Christmas is celebrated on December 25th, it has never been recorded what day Jesus was actually born. A common question is how the legend of Santa Claus or Saint Nick was created; the answer is a wealthy monk, St. Nicholas, went around to give all of his money to the poor which associates with Santa giving gifts to children in modern-day Christmas.

The eight-day holiday of Hanukkah is celebrated according to the Hebrew calendar to determine when this festivity begins. This year, 2019, Hanukkah is from December 22 to December 30. The author of the article, “What is Hanukkah” summarizes, “Chanukah is the Jewish eight-day, wintertime ”festival of lights,“ celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers, and fried foods.” The history of this holiday dates all the way back to second century BCE when Syrian-Greeks ruled the Holy Land and attempted to force Isrealeans to convert to believe in Greek beliefs.

In the end, “a small band of faithful but poorly armed Jews, led by Judah the Maccabee, defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of (God).” During Hanukkah, a candle is lit every night until all eight shines with small orange flames to commemorate the eight days the menorah burned from second century BCE. Similar to Christmas, gifts of money are given to Jewish children as charity according to the Torah. A popular tradition during Chanukah includes playing dreidel, eating latkes, and simply enjoying the fun holiday with family and friends.

The holiday season has always been my favorite time of year as we participate in old traditions in the chilly weather. Aside from the history of Christmas and Hanukkah, people appreciate the time they spend with family and friends like playing games and eating dinners. Even after the December holidays are over, New Years is only a handful of days later.

<Dana Yang/ West RanchHS 10th Grade>