Find all posts in this 8-part Berkshire Chanukah series HERE.
The holiday season seems to start earlier and earlier every year. The red and green decorations come out right around Halloween and even before Thanksgiving we start to hear Christmas music. I grew up in a Jewish home right next to my best friend, Paul, who celebrates Christmas. Our families shared Christmas at their house for the first 40 years of my life. Part of the “ritual” he and I had as kids was the debate about which was better, eight nights of Chanukah presents, or one big day of Christmas presents.
We never really resolved that as kids, but when my husband Tom and I had our own children and made the conscious decision to raise them in a Jewish home, we felt strongly that we wanted to make Chanukah an opportunity to think differently. Over the years, rather than eight nights of presents, which can be challenging with four children, we fell into an idea. As a family, we collect change all year long, and together, we roll and count it, and then decide what to do with it as a family. Some years it’s an ice cream fund or going out to dinner together. One year it was a DVD player. Sometimes we saved it to add to the next, as we thought about a possible charity to donate to.
Being an interfaith family, Chanukah is also about bringing the prayers and rituals of Chanukah with us when the holidays overlap and we are traveling to see Grammy to help her celebrate Christmas. We bring our menorah, light the candles and recite the blessings, and sometimes bring a dreidel and play Chanukah games.
The most familiar story of Chanukah is about the miracle of oil that lasted eight nights. In today’s world, that miracle is also about taking the time to learn from and teach each other. Our traditions may be different, but they are still opportunities to be together and give thanks for the blessings in our lives. Whatever your traditions are for Chanukah or any other holiday this season, may you see the light in each other and the blessings that live in us all.
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Jodie Friedman is the Program Associate at Hevreh of Southern Berkshire in Great Barrington. Hevreh of Southern Berkshire is a destination for Jewish Life, Learning, and Community in the southern Berkshires. The Hebrew word "Hevreh" means friendship — a word that states Hevreh of Southern Berkshire's purpose — to be a community of friends in a Jewish context.
