Time for the winter holidays! Winter is a season of sharing warm meals with loved ones, celebrating the delights of life and the joy of celebrating distinct cultures. It is fascinating to learn about how different cultures celebrate different winter holidays and see how they differ from one another!
The world’s most celebrated holiday is Christmas, the birthday of Jesus, celebrated by Christians annually on Dec. 25. Christmas is commonly celebrated by sending cards to friends and family, decorating their houses, decorating Christmas trees, baking desserts, exchanging presents and enjoying dinner with loved ones. Junior Darik Thomas on top of that celebrates Christmas with a religious meaning.
“To my religion, to the birth of Jesus Christ,” Thomas said.
For Thomas, exchanging gifts is a beautiful tradition made for sharing gratitude and love for one another—it is an opportunity to show that one cares. One of Thomas’ favorite Christmas gifts was his first iPad that his parents bought for him. Exchanging gifts during Christmas symbolizes a tribute to baby Jesus by the “Three Wise Men.” Thomas also takes time to appreciate the beauty of the winter holiday season to reflect on the blessings in his life, and even attends church services to pray for the safety of his family and friends.
Thomas specifically eats injera—made of a mixture of teff flour and water. It’s his favorite Ethiopian dish to eat on Christmas, and looks forward to eating it every year to relive the tangy taste and spongy texture, and the memories of working with his loved ones to create these delights. He savors every moment of these shared experiences and feels grateful for the chance to come together with his family on Christmas.
Celebrated in the beginning of Dec., from the 7 to 15, Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday marking the reaffirmation of Jewish beliefs by lighting candles every day of the holiday. People celebrate Hanukkah by playing dreidel—a four-sided spinning top— depending on which side the dreidel ends up on, the player either gives up a game piece or takes a game piece from the pot. Also by singing, eating oil-based and dairy foods, and lighting candles. Jewish Science teacher Elishava Bailey celebrates the holiday with her non-Jewish husband, honoring it culturally and historically.
“Hanukkah was the story of the people being persecuted and sent away to the desert,” Bailey said. “They had some oil but they didn’t know how long the oil was going to last. It turned out the oil lasted for eight days, that’s why Hanukkah is eight days.”
Bailey also loves the act of exchanging gifts, on each of the eight days of Hanukkah, Bailey’s daughters are treasured with gifts. Every year Bailey gives them the biggest present on the first night and on the last night they get a medium-sized present inside their Hanukkah stockings made by Bailey’s mother.
Bailey decorates her house with lights, hangs Hanukkah stockings and lights a Menorah—a seven-branched candelabrum. Bailey has always loved decorating and now she enjoys it more than ever before. She said her decorations can be “seen from space.” Growing up, her parents were not open to hanging lights or decorating a tree during the holidays. But now, Bailey loves to fill her home with all kinds of cheerful decorations as they bring her a sense of warmth and comfort that she cherishes.
Bailey also loves spending time with her family during the duration of Hanukkah. Her favorite memory is going to Sona Park with her family and dogs. Bailey cherishes time spent with family.
Celebrated just before Christmas from Dec. 16 to Dec. 24, Las Posadas is a Mexican holiday that celebrates Mary and Joseph’s journey in search of a birthplace for Jesus. It’s celebrated by Young children dressing up as angels, warm drinks being served and carolers singing around the neighborhood.
Senior Antonella Ortega-Benitez reflects on Las Posadas culturally. During the holiday season, She celebrates Las Posadas at church and her relatives’ houses, and goes around her neighborhood caroling with her family. She cherishes the time spent with her family as much as she enjoys the tamales, pozole and ponche navideño made during Las Posadas. Pozole is a traditional Mexican stew made with pork or chicken with a guajillo pepper-based broth topped with lettuce, avocados, onions and radishes. Ponche navideño, also known as Hot Mexican Christmas punch, is made of whole fruits, piloncillo and sugar cane juice.
Punjabi Holiday Lohri is celebrated every Jan. 13. The festival commemorates the harvesting of sugarcane crops, expressing gratitude towards the sun for a bountiful harvest, honoring Dulla Bhatti a freedom fighter and celebrating the prosperity and happiness of life. Harvested fields and front yards are lit up with bonfires that people sit around as they sing and dance while throwing puffed rice, sweets and popcorn into the flames. Sophomore Amrit Rana has been celebrating Lorhi with a cultural meaning inherited from her parents.
“[Lohri celebrates] everything that happened in this life and our previous life,” Rana said.
Lohri is celebrated with a huge bonfire that people dance around while singing Sundari Mundari. The song comes from the Punjabi folklore tale of Sundri and Mundri, two girls who were captured by Akbar’s army when a man named Dulla Bhatti rescued them, an act he was later lynched for. Sunadari Mundari is a song that honors Dulla Bhatti’s selfless act of heroism.
Winter holidays emphasize the importance of gratitude and appreciation for everything around. Each holiday has its unique way of expressing love and celebration, whether it is through religion, culture or the harvest. Each holiday has a different story and a unique way to celebrate it. Christmas and Las Posadas share a love for religion, Hanukkah shares a love for culture and Lohri honors and shares joy for life and harvest. Despite all these holidays sharing love for something they are also unique in their way. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, Los Posadas celebrates the journey of Joseph and Mary, Hanukkah celebrates miraculous oil, and Lohri celebrates harvest and life.
“There’s no better time to regroup, refresh, and reflect on the year than at the holidays when you have all of your family around you,” Bailey said.
