Each year, as fall fades into winter, store shelves begin to line with holiday decor. Trees, ornaments, and lights line aisle after aisle, yet found at the end cap of one of those many shelves you can find a small assortment of decorations catering to another prominent holiday that takes place in December: Hanukkah. The celebration, dating back to 162 BCE, consists of the kindling (lighting) of nine candles. Eight candles on the menorah are lit to represent the eight days of Hanukkah, and the ninth candle, also known as the shamash, is used to light the candles for each day. During the candle lighting, it is customary for a blessing to be recited, and the menorah to be displayed proudly to honor the miracle which inspired the holiday. Yet with the overabundance of commercialized holiday decorations catering to Christmas, very little is displayed or even promoted for Hanukkah. For these reasons, I reached out to someone who celebrates Hanukkah in order to get their opinion and view on the holiday season. Morgan Lewin, a college student and member of the Jewish faith, was willing to give a statement to the question at hand, “Is Christmas pushed upon people of other religions?” Lewin responded with the following, “I feel like Christmas is kinda one of those holidays that is pushed down everyone’s throats. I feel like Christmas gets earlier every year and it’s more so that Christmas has become a marketing holiday over anything else. There is no religious aspect that is necessarily being pushed, but rather the ‘deals’ and all of the gifts, and overall capitalistic ideologies of the holiday. I even feel the same toward Hanukkah. However, I do feel Christmas predominates over any other winter holiday and it is evident in how stores like Target have entire sections dedicated to Christmas, Christmas trees, stockings, or ornaments, but a single end cap for Hanukkah (If you’re lucky). In that aspect, along with the capitalist ideologies, Christmas is pushed, but the reality is that the majority of the population is either Christian or Catholic or similar denomination so the target would appeal to the masses.” The points acknowledged within this interview bring to light the situation at hand: 5.3 million Americans celebrate Hanukkah, and yet there is a severe lack of representation presented in media and corporations. The lack of diversity found within the holiday season takes away from the base fundamentals: celebrating a season of giving with family and those that you love and the traditions passed down through generations.The United States is home to an estimated 5.3 million Jewish people.
By Rachel Marshall