Hanukkah fosters togetherness
■ The Festival of Lights is
not a ‘Jewish Christmas’ as
some would believe
By Yael Menahein
Oregon Daily Emerald
‘Tis the season.
While many Americans cele
brate Christmas as a symbol of the
birth of Christ, or for gift giving,
Jewish-Americans celebrate
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights.
Over the last few years,
Hanukkah has been recognized
and commercialized in American
society. Many people who cele
brate Christmas don’t know what
the celebration of Hanukkah
stands for, and some assume that
it’s a holiday that was designed to
compete with Christmas. Com
pete may be too strong of a word,
but Hanukkah is best understood
by non-Jewish people as a way for
Jewish children to feel like they
are part of the holiday.
Nothing is more inaccurate
than to refer to Hanukkah as the
“Jewish Christmas,” as Jessica
Elkan, student president of Hillel,
a campus Jewish religious organi
zation, has heard it described.
Jewish people didn’t choose to
have Hanukkah in December,
News brief
Residence hail fire alert
proclaimed false alarm
A fire scare in the Bean Com
plex Saturday night caused the
evacuation of the complex and put
the Eugene Fire Department on
alert for more than an hour.
rather, the holiday begins as it is
marked on the Jewish calendar,
not the Christian one. The fact that
Hanukkah falls during December
is coincidental.
Hanukkah is a celebration the
Jewish people who defended the
Old Temple in Jerusalem from the
Greeks by finding a small contain
er that had a drop of oil in it. That
single drop lit candles for eight
straight days, and helped them
win the battle.
As it is understood by many
Jewish people, the holiday is a his
* t o r i c a 1
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Reporter’s
NOTEBOOK
commemo
ration that
holds some
religious
value, but
it rarely in
volves any great gift giving. The
most a child can expect on
Hanukkah is a small sum of mon
ey, a significant gift, or chocolate
in the shape of gold coins, from
relatives or family friends.
Rarely is it the case that chil
dren should expect to receive
eight gifts for every day that
Hanukkah lasts. That is a recent
invention by parents who feel
pressured to buy into the gift-giv
ing spirit of the holidays.
Office of Public Safety Sgt.
Marte Martinez said a student liv
ing in Thornton called OPS after
smelling smoke behind an electri
cal outlet. The student was proba
bly smelling smoke seeping out of
cracks in Wilcox Hall’s fireplace
chimney, Martinez said.
David Coleman, district chief
for Eugene Fire and EMS, said
“The presents are not the impor
tant thing, and some parents refuse
to give presents for Hanukkah,
[but] a lot of parents feel pressure
to buy gifts,” Elkan said.
This pressure can be under
stood because we live in a culture
that thrives on the holiday econo
my that pushes people to spend,
spend, spend. Many parents don’t
want to make their children feel
like outsiders. They attend public
schools, and bring home Christ
mas decorations rather than
Hanukkah ones. They don’t learn
about the meaning of the holiday
outside of their home or temple, if
they attend one.
Elkan thinks that since we live
in a society that strives to be politi
cally correct and recognizes differ
ent religions, Hanukkah has re
ceived more recognition.
Now the first day of Hanukkah
is reported on in the news, or writ
ten about in the newspapers.
Christmas is a time that brings
families together, as is Hanukkah.
People interpret the holidays as it
fits their lives. Some attend
church, others go to temple, while
others get caught up in the gift-giv
ing spirit. Whatever you celebrate,
enjoy the holidays and celebrate
them as you wish.
eight units responded just before
6 p.m. to Bean and believed there
was a small electrical fire of un
known cause. He added that it was
contained behind an outlet in a
student’s room in Thornton Hall.
But after a full investigation,
OPS reported that a fire burning in
the Wilcox Hall fireplace may
have been the cause of the scare.
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