Chrismukah: a celebration not a compromise

For the first time in almost two decades, Christmas and Chanukah will fall on the same date.

This year, December 25 is not exclusively reserved for Santa and his reindeer – dreidels, ponchkes and latkes now have an appropriately-timed seat at the festive table.

It’s the first time these festivals have collided since 2005, when I was just eight years old, and it won’t happen again until 2035.

Sharing this date is a breath of fresh air for many Jewish Australians who intimately understand the invisibility of belonging to a minority culture in a Christian-dominated society. For those of us who live in both cultures, it offers an unusual need to have it all simultaneously.

It’s no wonder Chanukah feels the need to compete with the chaos of Christmas. From December – make that mid-November – we’re subjected to festive fever. Supermarkets blaring carols on repeat. Streets lined with panic-inducing strobe lights. Terrifying fake Santas in shopping centres. A myriad of old and new Christmas movies flooding our TVs.

Add to this the belief by many outside the community that Chanukah is simply “Jewish Christmas” – while in the crowded Jewish festival calendar, Chanukah is a relatively minor holiday.

Thankfully, iconic pop culture moments have helped shine a light on and address misconceptions over the years, powerfully inserting Chanukah into the dominant Christmas conversation.