In a world of Christmas trees, Santas, angels, Advent calendars and more, what is a traditionally Jewish person to do? In December, Christmas takes over the holiday season in the United States. Television networks marathon Christmas movies, and radio stations blast holiday music as early as November. What about the Americans who do not celebrate Christmas?

Senior  Jonathan Gober said, “Not a lot of my friends know about Judaism, so I have to explain a lot, people are very accepting of Jewish people.”

Hanukkah is not the main religious holiday in Judaism. The Jewish “high holy days” are Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Because Hanukkah falls so close to Christmas each year, it has been commercially made in to a bigger holiday.

Photography teacher Tracey Ellis-Guss said, “Hanukkah is a big deal in our family, but the most important holiday to us is Passover.”

Hanukkah is the Jewish “festival of lights”. Legend says that in the year 168 B.C.E. a rebellion against the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes was led by the Maccabees in attempt to take back the Temple, the holiest place for Jewish people at that time. When the Maccabees entered the temple and began to reclaim it, they immediately relit the ner tamid (eternal light). All that they could find was enough oil to last for one day, but the oil miraculously lasted for eight nights. Hanukkah is the celebration of this miracle.

When people who are not Jewish think about Hanukkah, they envision dreidels and the Adam Sandler SNL song. In reality, Jews have many traditions for the holiday.

Junior Emily Gorham said, “Every year my family and I go over to my aunt’s house for the first night of Hanukkah to have a traditional holiday meal. We light the menorah and then sit and talk to each other. We do not usually watch television or have any other distractions. We just socialize and hang out as a family.”

Ellis-Guss has similar family traditions, “Every year for one night of Hanukkah we have as many family members and friends over as we can for a latke feast. I make homemade applesauce, and we eat latkes and Hanukkah cookies until we can’t eat anymore. Every night we light the menorah and get presents and then we sing Hanukkah songs. My husband and son have choreographed an interpretive dance to ‘Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah’ that they perform every year.”

Although Mrs. Ellis-Guss was not raised Jewish, she has been learning about the religion for the over 20 years she has been with her husband. She said that she loves how involved the Jewish community of Frederick is. She says she still meets people who knew her mother-in-law because she was so involved in community activities in Frederick.

Many people in America who celebrate Hanukkah also celebrate Christmas. “My dad is Catholic so we celebrate both holidays,” said Gober.

Ellis-Guss does not celebrate both, but some years, when she has her family come, she participates in some of the Christmas holiday festivities. She said, “We will have stockings this year because my sister is coming to visit, but NO tree!”

The first night of Hanukkah is December 16th.