What do Jews do in the Christmas Period?

S.G asked me to write about What Jews do in the Christmas Period. 

We have our own festival in December, which occurs according to the lunar calendar.  Chanukah (sometimes spelt as Hanukkah), the Feast of Dedication, lasts for 8 days, wth the 6th or 7th day occurring on the New Moon.  It is not a major festival, as it is post-Torah.  It marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, after it was defiled by the Greeks and Hellenists.  The lamps, which only had one day’s supply of oil, miraculously lasted for 8 days.  The celebration consists mainly of lighting candles on an 8-branch Menorah (candelabrum), starting with 1 candle on the first night, increasing to 8 on the last night.  A 9th candle is the servant, which lights the other candles.  Oily foods are eaten, particularly latkes (fried mixture of potatoes, onion, eggs and flour) and spherical doughnuts.  As writing is forbidden while the candles were alight, a game was developed, which involves spinning a special top, which has the initial letters for “a great miracle took place there” (in Israel, the last initial is replaced by the one for “here”).  Small presents are given to children.

In my student days, over 50 years ago, the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen organised voluntary help to enable the public to celebrate Christmas.  I helped at a London hospital, driving medical staff to the hospital, as there was little public transport, and moving things around.  I found that many patients had gone home, so the hospital was quiet.  While some staff refused to go in, other doctors and nurses preferred to celebrate Christmas with their colleagues than with their families.

When I was younger, most food in the shops was seasonal.  It made sense for Jewish people to eat the Kosher versions of Christmas food.  Kosher butchers sold turkeys, and my mother made Kosher, vegetarian, mince pies and Christmas Puddings.  As offices and schools were closed for the holidays, we visited family.  My birthday is in late December, so we pulled Christmas crackers at my birthday parties.

In recent years, the Jewish community has established the non-denominational Limmud festival, which is a cultural and educational festival lasting for a week over Christmas in a campus or hotel.  It is similar to the Oxford and Henley Literature festivals, but includes music, dancing, and the full range of religious services and discussions.  I joined it this year over Zoom.

M.D.