Chrismukkah became popular in the early 2000s with the help of Seth Cohen from The OC, but this year, for the first time in 125 years, the first day of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving fall on the same day.
Thanksgivukkah, the term being used to describe the coinciding holidays, will not happen again for more than 70,000 years due to the Jewish calendar being a lunisolar calendar.
Celebrating this rare holiday is different for everyone, but both holidays are meant to be spent with family and friends, said Rabbi Danielle Leshaw.
“There are some Jewish families who are incredibly excited, and there are others like our family who are more primarily focused on Hanukkah,” she said.
Each year Danielle Fultz and her mother travel nine hours to her mother’s side of the family to celebrate Thanksgiving, and because they are Jewish, they have a mock Hanukkah at the same time without some of the traditions.
“This year, since Hanukkah and Thanksgiving are at the same time, we’ll get to have all of the Hanukkah festivities together which is really exciting because we never get to celebrate actual Hanukkah with my mom’s side,” said Fultz, a senior studying French.
Marika Bresler, a senior studying public relations, said she has mixed emotions about Thanksgivukkah because Hanukkah isn’t one of her favorite holidays.
“I really like Thanksgiving because of the family aspect, and that’s what I like about Hanukkah as well,” Bresler said. “I’m just not a big fan of Hanukkah itself because it’s not a major holiday and isn’t a priority.”
Because this convergence of holidays hasn’t happened in a while, people have been coming up with ways to merge the holidays together, Leshaw said.
“If you were to go online and do a search, you’d find a lot of recipes for cranberry applesauce or something like that, so there is a lot of culinary focus,” she said.
“That is definitely where you can find the most enthusiasm in finding new and creative ways to introduce the rituals to the traditions.”
Both Fultz and Bresler said their families are mixing Hanukkah and Thanksgiving recipes.
“Normally our Thanksgiving is with my mom’s side who are Christian, but she is making sweet potato latkes this year, which is a combo,” Bresler said. “I’m sure we’ll light candles, but it’ll be Thanksgiving with a little Hanukkah flair instead of the other way around.”
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