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Community Corner

Ideas for a Happy Thanksgivukkah

 

By Idelle Kursman

 

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                This year marks an occurrence that has never happened before and will never happen again in our lifetime:  the holidays of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah occur on the same day, November 28th. To be more exact, the Jewish festival of Hanukkah begins on the evening of November 27th and is celebrated until December 5th.  This is happening because the Jewish calendar is drifting farther away from the solar calendar—in fact, at a rate of 4 days per every 1,000 years. That means the next time the Hanukkah will be celebrated on November 28th is in the year 2146! So this year American Jews can celebrate “Thanksgivukkah.”

                Creative minds are at work combining these two holidays and it is not surprising that the most  popular one comes from the imagination of a child: Asher Weintraub, a nine year-old boy from New York, has invented a turkey-shaped menorah called a “Menurkey.” It would be ideal as a centerpiece  for the Thanksgiving-Hanukkah table.  His already trademarked decoration can be bought by going on www.Menurkey.com.

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                Songs like “The Ballad of Thanksgivukkah” have been composed for this year. Here is a sampling of the lyrics: ”Imagine Judah Maccabee sitting down to roast turkey and passing the potatoes to Squanto.”

                But that’s not all. Dishes can be created celebrating both holidays. Kutsher’s Tribecca, a Jewish restaurant in New York City, has compiled a menu for its patrons on this special day, which includes challah-stuffed turkey and challah chestnut stuffing. Latkes, a Jewish potato pancake  customarily served on the Festival of Lights, will be made up of sweet potatoes and topped with cranberry apple sauce; sufganiyot, the Hanukkah donut, will be filled with cranberry sauce.

                These two holidays after all have a lot in common: freedom of religion and being thankful.  On Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims fled England so they could practice their own form of Christianity, and on Hanukkah, the Macabees led a Jewish army to defeat the Syrian-Greeks who took over ancient Israel and forbid the Jews to practice their religion. So Jewish people who celebrate both holidays can combine turkeys and pumpkin pies and menorahs and dreidels for a happy Thanksgivukkah!

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