Most of us are familiar with how the masses celebrate Christmas. Fewer are familiar with other holidays and observances that are celebrated during this busy season that runs from November through January. Let’s take a look at the origins and traditions of not only Christmas, but of Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year and Native American Heritage Month.
Christmas
Christmas is a Christian holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ. Literally, the word Christmas means the mass (celebration) of Christ (Christ is the Hebrew word for Messiah). Although Christmas has become highly commercialized, Christians still find meaning in many of the traditions of the season.
Gift giving at Christmas is a reminder of the gifts the wise men brought to Jesus at his birth. It is also a reminder of Christ’s gift to humanity, the gift of new life and salvation. Many not only give gifts to family and friends, but to the poor and those in need. Santa Claus, a merry Christmas icon whose generosity is demonstrated through giving presents, originated with Saint Nicholas, who, in fact, gave gifts to the poor.
The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree has become part of the celebration and has symbolic meaning related to the Christmas story. The Christmas tree is an evergreen, which symbolizes everlasting life. The star or angel placed at the top of the tree represents the star that led the wise men to Jesus at his birth or the angel that spoke to Mary about the birth of Jesus. The lights on the tree represent Christ as the light of the world.
During the Christmas season, people embellish their homes with elaborate light displays and all manner of holiday decorations, sing Christmas carols, send Christmas greetings, attend Christmas parties, watch Christmas parades, celebrate with family and friends, exchange gifts, recount the Christmas story, and attend church. For Christians, Christmas is a reminder of God’s goodness and His compassion and love for mankind.
Janet Davis-Castro of Fuquay-Varina has a unique blend of traditions around the Christmas holidays. Growing up in a large family in upstate New York, she remembers eating pierogies—half-moon shaped dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes or sauerkraut and smothered in onions and melted butter. Janet’s maternal grandparents emigrated from Ukraine where perogies are a staple, especially in peasant families. Janet recounts, “On Christmas Eve, I remember my mom rolling dough, boiling potatoes, chopping onions, and laying out pierogies on every available surface.” Other traditions were putting hay under the table to symbolize the manger of Jesus’ birth and attending midnight Mass—often in a snowstorm!
Janet’s husband is from El Salvador and there she discovered new traditions. Many people create Nativity scenes in their homes and attend Mass on Christmas Eve. Families gather for a late dinner of “gallo en chicha” (a complicated, delicious chicken stew), tamales and other favorites. At midnight, a toast is given and folks head outside to set off fireworks and meander up and down the street greeting friends and neighbors. On Christmas Day, families go to the beautiful beaches for relaxation, swimming, and fresh seafood. Most workers and students have several weeks of vacation so there are days of celebrations with outdoor concerts, serenades, dancing, soccer tournaments and community events. Impromptu get-togethers are common as the holiday is all about extended family and community.
Over time, Janet’s family came to mix it up with pierogies and midnight Mass on the 24th, followed by a Salvadoran meal on the 25th, and animated conversations in English and Spanish. When their kids were teenagers, they organized dance parties with a live band and a potluck dinner with Latino families. Today, it’s all about the joy of grandchildren and creating new traditions.
Hanukkah
Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday, often referred to as the “Festival of Lights.” Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days and nights, starting on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which this year falls on December 18-26 on the secular calendar.
The Hanukkah story is based on historical events that took place in 165 BCE in Jerusalem. After the Second Temple in Jerusalem was desecrated by Emperor Antiochus IV and his Syrian-Greek troops, the Jewish priest, Mattathias, and his five sons led a rebellion that eventually went on to defeat the Greeks and reclaim the Temple in Jerusalem. When they attempted to light the holy lamp (the menorah) for the rededication of the Temple, they found only enough holy oil for one night. Miraculously, the one-day supply of oil lasted for eight days.
Every year, families and communities commemorate these miracles. Although each community has unique Hanukkah traditions, there are some traditions that are universally practiced. For eight nights, in households and in synagogues, special blessings are sung or recited in Hebrew before lighting a candle on the menorah–a candelabra with eight branches plus a central candle, the shamash, which is used to light the other eight candles.
Many families serve special holiday foods. It is a custom to eat foods fried in olive oil to commemorate the miracle of the small flask of oil keeping the Temple menorah lit for eight days. They sing songs, play games, and exchange gifts. Some Hasidic and Sephardi Jews recite Psalms.
The following are recollections of Fuquay-Varina resident Jason Wunsch:
I was born in Miami Beach, Florida, to Jewish parents and there are many generations of orthodox rabbis in my family. The majority of my classmates in elementary school were Jewish. We had that close, special bond together. When I entered the 4th grade, I was enrolled with my classmates in Hebrew School. This was the beginning of an after-school, bi-weekly, three-year, intense preparation for my Bar Mitzvah. I also went to Saturday school with these same children, sang in the youth choir with them, and worshiped the High Holy Days and the Jewish festivals with them throughout the year. I was a Jewish child, constantly surrounded by other Jewish children, and I didn’t know anything different.
Hanukkah was by far my favorite Jewish festival as a child. It meant big family gatherings, games with the dreidel, special food, lighting the menorah, singing familiar Jewish songs and getting eight nights of wrapped presents. I remember going to school and my classmates comparing each morning what we received the previous night from our families. My parents
always made sure that I had something to open, no matter how big or small the gift, for each night of the festival. We didn’t celebrate or acknowledge Christmas, but I don’t remember feeling sad about it, because I was very active in our synagogue and kept busy with these weekly activities.
When I was thirteen years old, that all suddenly changed. My family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and for the first time in my life, I was not surrounded by other Jewish children. Hanukkah and other Jewish festivals looked very different during my teenage years. Gone were the large family celebrations, conversations in school about the festivals and daily life revolving around a synagogue. I had one local Jewish friend that I hung out with, and that was it. Hanukkah and its traditions would now be cherished and celebrated in our small mountain home with just my parents and younger siblings.
Christmas was a much bigger deal when I moved to Asheville. I remember feeling very alone when extended families would get together, help decorate each other’s homes, go to church, exchange gifts and celebrate this joyous holiday. I knew nothing about Christmas, why it was celebrated, but I knew that I didn’t take part in it and felt excluded. In my junior year of high school, I couldn’t take the feeling of an uneventful December 25th anymore, so I went to Roses and bought gifts for my family with the money that I had saved from working at Food Lion. I remember how excited my siblings were to get gifts on this day, when everyone else was with their families celebrating.
When I went to Mars Hill College, I felt it was very important to share my religion with my fellow students. I did a presentation in my dormitory about Hanukkah and felt happy that my classmates were genuinely interested in it. I also made a point while in college to not try to hide my religion, but rather embrace it and teach about it. I later served as the first Jewish student
body president of the college and the first Jewish commissioner for the Town of Fuquay-Varina. Later, I would have the fun opportunity to share Hanukkah and its customs with my own children.
Hanukkah may not look the same as it did in my early childhood, but it isn’t such a lonely eight days anymore.
Kwanzaa
Although Kwanzaa takes place during religious holidays, Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday, rather, a cultural holiday that honors and celebrates African heritage and African traditions. The holiday begins on December 26 and ends January 1. Kwanzaa is a relatively new holiday, created in America in 1966 by activist/scholar Maulana Karenga. After it was initially created in California, the holiday spread outside of the United States and is recognized and celebrated by people in Africa, Canada, England and the Caribbean. Any race can join in the celebration.
People who celebrate Kwanzaa avoid the chaos of holiday-season shopping, rejecting the consumer culture of other major December holidays. Instead, modest gifts are given, gifts which are often homemade, never expensive, and reflect the seven principles of the holiday. The Nguzo Saba, or the seven principles of African Heritage, are the focus, and each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the principles. These principles are: Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), Ujamaa (cooperative economics), Nia (purpose), Kuumba (creativity) and Imani (faith).
Seven symbols are associated with the holiday: fruits and nuts, placemats, ears of corn, candles, candle holders, communal cups and gifts. These symbols are arranged on a table on the first day of Kwanzaa. Each day of Kwanzaa, celebrants in the household gather around the ceremonial symbols and discuss the seven principles of the holiday. After this, poetry, music or dance is often enjoyed by those celebrating.
Kwanzaa has three symbolic holiday colors: Red, representing the struggles of the African people; green, hope and future; black, Earth and African people. The traditional Kwanzaa candle holder (the kinara) has three red and three green candles with a black candle in the center. A new candle is lit each of the seven days of the Kwanzaa holiday. These colors—red, green, and black—are also used in the traditional African garb during the season.
Chinese New Year
The year 2023 is The Year of the Water Rabbit. According to the Chinese Zodiac, The Year of the Rabbit comes once every 12 years and “it is a year that encourages long-term relationships in which emotional troubles are not common. It is a great year to strengthen and rebuild your relationships.”
The date of Chinese New Year is decided by the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is based on cycles of the moon and sun. Although the date changes every year, it always falls between January 21 and February 20. This year, Chinese New Year’s Eve falls on January 21, 2023, and the Lantern Festival, which marks the end of New Year’s celebration, is on February 5, 2023.
Traditionally, for Chinese people, Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival, lasts sixteen days and means family reunion, visiting relatives and honoring ancestors along with a host of traditions that include shopping for the Spring Festival, spring cleaning, writing and pasting spring couplets, setting off firecrackers, gathering for reunion dinners, staying up on New Year’s Eve, giving lucky money and going to the temple fair. People in China are given time off from work for a whole week to enjoy these traditions. However, in America, the celebration is condensed into one night of festivities.
Traditions vary among families, but the holiday remains important for many Chinese locals and immigrants in America. The Chinese New Year is an opportunity to pause busy lives and make time for loved ones, for family reunions and visiting relatives. This is the time for family members to get together over a meal, to play traditional Chinese games and to welcome in the new year together. For younger generations, it is a means of learning the traditions of their elders. In America, many Chinese elders play mahjong while waiting for the new year to begin. At midnight, people turn on their TVs and watch live broadcasts of firework displays.
The Chinese New Year symbolizes renewal and hope for a prosperous new year ahead. Perhaps most importantly, the holiday is an ideal time for Chinese American citizens to remember their Chinese culture and ancestry.
Local restaurant owner David Chang shares how he celebrates Chinese New Year. He tells me that wherever you live, this is a time to return to your hometown to gather with family and celebrate. It is a time to eat chicken or duck and lots of goodies. It is time to wear your new clothes. The elders give “lucky money” in an envelope to the younger generation, which is thought to bring them good luck for the year. Most businesses close for a week, except for Chinese restaurants. Fresh flowers are given and received, representing good wishes for the new year
Native American Heritage Month
On October 29, 2021, in honor of National American Indian Heritage Month (initiated by George H. W. Bush in 1990), Governor Roy Cooper proclaimed November as American Indian Heritage Month in North Carolina. Our state is home to the largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River. With more than 130,000 American Indians living in N.C., this represents the seventh largest population in the nation (2020 U.S. Census). North Carolina’s eight recognized tribes are the Coharie, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Sappony, and Waccamaw-Siouan.
In North Carolina, honoring Native American heritage is a month-long celebration lasting throughout November.
Michelle Hunt, of Lumbee and Cherokee descent, tells us how and why she celebrates:
For me, a small-town woman from Pembroke, N.C., home of the Lumbee Tribe, celebration or tradition means the homecoming of loved ones, the gathering of friends and family. The cooking, the smells of home! It means fellowship, singing, dancing, togetherness, sharing old stories of way-back-when and hopes for future generations.
My grandfather, my mother’s father, Mr. Fred Godwin, was a full-blooded Cherokee Indian. He served in World War II and passed away almost two years after I was born. So, from him, I, my older brother and older sister had Cherokee in our bloodline too, as well as Lumbee, I honored that with honoring him! Celebrations have changed over the years since my grandmother, Fred Godwin’s wife, passed away in 1999. Like most families, the older generation was the “glue” that held the family together. Our basic Sunday dinners stopped; time pretty much divided everyone out to move on with living.
One day when I start my own little family, I will teach my children how important it is to know where you come from, to always help your neighbor, and to be a voice for your heritage.
A common thread runs through each of these holidays and celebrations. It is a time to pause, to reflect, to re-center, to honor and reaffirm our history, tradition and faith. This is the season that encourages us to gather with family and friends, enjoy a meal together and celebrate.
