Menorah, Kinara, Christmas tree: A festive fusion

Posted 12/19/24

In a rare occurrence that has happened only five times since 1900, Christmas and Hanukkah overlap this year with the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights beginning on the evening of Christmas Day, Wednesday, Dec. 25.

The two holidays align infrequently because the Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and sun, while the Gregorian calendar used by most nations is based on the earth’s revolution around the sun. Since the early 1900s, the two holidays overlapped in 1910, 1918, 1921 and 1959 and 2005.

This year, a third December holiday has  jumped into the …

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Menorah, Kinara, Christmas tree: A festive fusion

Posted

In a rare occurrence that has happened only five times since 1900, Christmas and Hanukkah overlap this year with the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights beginning on the evening of Christmas Day, Wednesday, Dec. 25.

The two holidays align infrequently because the Jewish calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and sun, while the Gregorian calendar used by most nations is based on the earth’s revolution around the sun. Since the early 1900s, the two holidays overlapped in 1910, 1918, 1921 and 1959 and 2005.

This year, a third December holiday has  jumped into the celebration mosh pit. Kwanzaa, a seven-day holiday honoring African American and Pan African culture which begins annually on Dec. 26, also overlaps with the first day of Hanukkah this year. The two holidays share a tradition of lighting a candelabra (a Kinara for Kwanzaa and a Menorah for Hanukkah) during each night of the festivals.

Jewish residents around the Northwest will observe Hanukkah, which commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, by lighting the Menorah, playing games with a Dreidel spinning top, giving gifts and eating foods such as latkes.

Synagogues and local organizations will host events and neighborhoods including Manayunk and Lafayette Hill will gather for community Menorah lightings. Folkshul, a secular Humanistic Jewish organization which meets regularly in Chestnut Hill, hosted a Hanukkah party Sunday, Dec. 15, with more than 100 people attending the annual event.

For Kwanzaa, organizations have hosted events including an afternoon with Keepers of the Culture at the Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Regional Library in Germantown. On Dec. 14, the Philadelphia-based Afrocentric storytelling group shared stories that aim to inform, educate and enrich while celebrating the African American oral tradition. 

Kwanzaa, which comes from the Swahili phrase meaning first fruits, is based on traditional African harvest festivals and celebrates seven principles during each day of the weeklong festival: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.

Here are a few events scheduled to celebrate the holidays.

Light Up Lafayette Hill

Join Congregation Or Ami in Miles Park as the community lights a Menorah at 5:30 p.m. each night of Hanukkah. Miles Park is at 303 Germantown Pike. There will be a chocolate gelt (chocolate candy coin) and glow sticks for youngsters

Manayunk Candle Lighting

The community begins its nightly candle lighting at Canal View Park on Thursday, Dec. 26, at 5 p.m. Latkes will be served. The park is at 4418 Main Street.

Hanukkah Dinner

Tresini restaurant in Ambler will host a family style Hanukkah Dinner which the restaurants says is “Roman Jewish” inspired, Thursday, Dec. 26. $75. The restaurant is at 504 Bethlehem Pike.

Kwanzaa film premiere

Unitarian Universalists Church of Mt. Airy will host the congregation’s 3rd Annual Kwanzaa Premiere, 2 to 5 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 26.. This year the church will show the documentary “The Black Candle” by filmmaker MK Asante. The event will also include music, dancing, refreshments and free books for children. The event is free. The church is at 6900 Stenton Ave.