The thread about the history of Santa Claus starting me thinking, and rather than derail that one, I decided to start a new one.
Chanukah is a relatively minor holiday that was vaulted to prominence in the US by its proximity to Christmas. Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, celebrates an occasion on which the Temple in Jerusalem was sacked and all of the fittings and trappings - including the holy oil that was used in the Eternal Light - was either taken or destroyed. Only enough oil remained for 1 day - and it took 7 days to make more. That one-day supply of oil miraculously lasted the entire time it took to make more - thus, the miracle of Chanukah, and the reason the holiday's name translates as the Festival of Lights; Jews light a menorah every night for 8 nights, in commemoration of this miracle.
The myths about Chanukah abound as well; when one of my middle school students asked if I'd hung my Christmas lights yet, I said no, and explained that I was Jewish - once we got past the deer in the headlights looks (some of which never went away), I got a few questions:
- So that means you get presents every day for 8 days, right (from a very excited child)
Sorry, no. The child was very confused, as everyone knows that's true - even though it's not - but he was convinced, and didn't really want to take my word for it.
- You don't have any lights up? Not at all?
Nope... not even blue and white ones, although I know people who do that. But I think it's silly; Christmas lights, like Yule logs, come from pagan celebrations in religions that Christianity subsumed as it spread, religions that had nothing to do with Judaism - so why adopt their practices? At least that's the way I feel about it. I didn't try to explain this to the kids; I just said no and left it at that.
- What do you mean, you don't celebrate Christmas? Everyone celebrates the birth of Christ.
Well... try explaining to a bunch of 12 year-olds - all Christians of some denomination, in an area with few, if any, representatives of non-Christthat the difference between Jews and Christians is that Jews don't believe Jesus was the Messiah - the deer in the headlights look came back real fast, and I don't think it went away; luckily, the bell rang shortly thereafter, and they didn't bring it up again later - which is good; comparative religions is a topic I could (probably) get away with in Reading for a while, if we read the right things - but this was a Math class.
And my favorite:
- So you get a holiday and then you celebrate the real Christmas!
Again, sorry, no. My attempt to explain that one fell on deaf and unreasoning ears - especially as the questioner was a girl currently in her Communion class who just could not wrap her mind around the difference given above. That was when the bell did ring.
So what do you know about holidays practiced by other religions, or how holidays are practiced differently in other variations of your own religion? And then, if you are Christian, what about the sources of much of your practices? Do you know where the Yule log came from? Or Christmas tree lights? Or the trees themselves? Why the birth of Christ being so close to the winter solstice was such a problem when Christianity was just forming?
I'm not trying to start a who's right/who's wrong here - I'm truly, genuinely curious about what people know about their own, and others', religions and religious practices - so let's stick with information and leave the "you're wrong because I'm right" out of it, 'k?
Chanukah is a relatively minor holiday that was vaulted to prominence in the US by its proximity to Christmas. Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, celebrates an occasion on which the Temple in Jerusalem was sacked and all of the fittings and trappings - including the holy oil that was used in the Eternal Light - was either taken or destroyed. Only enough oil remained for 1 day - and it took 7 days to make more. That one-day supply of oil miraculously lasted the entire time it took to make more - thus, the miracle of Chanukah, and the reason the holiday's name translates as the Festival of Lights; Jews light a menorah every night for 8 nights, in commemoration of this miracle.
The myths about Chanukah abound as well; when one of my middle school students asked if I'd hung my Christmas lights yet, I said no, and explained that I was Jewish - once we got past the deer in the headlights looks (some of which never went away), I got a few questions:
- So that means you get presents every day for 8 days, right (from a very excited child)
Sorry, no. The child was very confused, as everyone knows that's true - even though it's not - but he was convinced, and didn't really want to take my word for it.
- You don't have any lights up? Not at all?
Nope... not even blue and white ones, although I know people who do that. But I think it's silly; Christmas lights, like Yule logs, come from pagan celebrations in religions that Christianity subsumed as it spread, religions that had nothing to do with Judaism - so why adopt their practices? At least that's the way I feel about it. I didn't try to explain this to the kids; I just said no and left it at that.
- What do you mean, you don't celebrate Christmas? Everyone celebrates the birth of Christ.
Well... try explaining to a bunch of 12 year-olds - all Christians of some denomination, in an area with few, if any, representatives of non-Christthat the difference between Jews and Christians is that Jews don't believe Jesus was the Messiah - the deer in the headlights look came back real fast, and I don't think it went away; luckily, the bell rang shortly thereafter, and they didn't bring it up again later - which is good; comparative religions is a topic I could (probably) get away with in Reading for a while, if we read the right things - but this was a Math class.
And my favorite:
- So you get a holiday and then you celebrate the real Christmas!
Again, sorry, no. My attempt to explain that one fell on deaf and unreasoning ears - especially as the questioner was a girl currently in her Communion class who just could not wrap her mind around the difference given above. That was when the bell did ring.
So what do you know about holidays practiced by other religions, or how holidays are practiced differently in other variations of your own religion? And then, if you are Christian, what about the sources of much of your practices? Do you know where the Yule log came from? Or Christmas tree lights? Or the trees themselves? Why the birth of Christ being so close to the winter solstice was such a problem when Christianity was just forming?
I'm not trying to start a who's right/who's wrong here - I'm truly, genuinely curious about what people know about their own, and others', religions and religious practices - so let's stick with information and leave the "you're wrong because I'm right" out of it, 'k?
