The month of December is significant for many, especially families, because of the holidays celebrated during it. It is a time where people come together to celebrate and embrace their traditions together.
Montgomery County is well-known for being diverse, and because everyone comes from different backgrounds, there are many holidays celebrated throughout this month within the county. There are two main holidays for which December is more accredited: Hanukkah and Christmas. They are both based on religious ideals, but are also used to connect people from all over the world.
“I usually spend Christmas with my family. I can’t remember one time I didn’t spend it with my family,” Walter Johnson High School sophomore Mateo Playuk said.
Even though Christmas is a religious holiday to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, it has become more popular among non-believers. Instead of commemorating the birth of Jesus, they use that time to reinforce social bonds and embrace their own traditions, such as exchanging presents or caroling.
“To me Christmas means mainly family and keeping our culinary traditions,” Walter Johnson High School Italian teacher Maria Cavallini said. “On Christmas Eve there is the Italian tradition of eating only fish so we have a big fish dinner and then sometimes we’ll exchange gifts and if we’re too tired or too full we’ll do it the next day.”
And even though both believers and non-believers celebrate this holiday, for Christians it is a pivotal time of the year since they honor Jesus and why they believe he came to this earth for. For Christians it often involves family prayers, praise and worship to God.
“Christmas is, for me as a Christian, the birth of Jesus and that is very important to me,” Playuk said.
Family dinners are one of the most common traditions, for believers and non-believers. Exchanging presents is also a widely-carried out practice. Some prefer to do so at midnight, while others might wait until actual Christmas day.
“I usually celebrate Christmas Eve with my family since I’m Hispanic, and what we usually do is: it’s a normal day until the night. At night the whole family gets together and we eat and we wait until midnight and at midnight we just open the presents,” Playuk said.
Hanukkah, on the other hand, is one of the most widely celebrated holidays on the Jewish calendar. Hanukkah comes from a word in Hebrew, which means “a dedication.” On Hanukkah, Jews celebrate the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BC. It is a substantial holiday in Jewish culture, however its religious background is of little importance to non-practicing Jews, since it is still part of their culture.
The one thing it does have in common with Christmas is that Hanukkah is also a very family-centered holiday.
“Hanukkah to me means family. Being connected through your religion,” Walter Johnson High School junior Thomas Scanlon said.
Similarly, high school junior Ellie Weinstein agrees that it is about family connection.
“We usually have dinner with our family. It’s eight days and nights. Every night we light the candles and say two or three prayers, but some families say more,” Weinstein said.
Of course, just like Christmas, those who celebrate Hanukkah carry out their own traditions.
“We’re not really good at traditions but for the past three years we’ve made latkes, so maybe that will become a tradition,” Weinstein said.
There are other non-religious holidays celebrated in December such as Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve. Overall, December could be considered a month of celebration and joy, since people from all different backgrounds come together to commemorate their beliefs and cultures.
Written by Sabrina Solares of Walter Johnson High School
Graphic by Grace Ziqing Chu of Walter Johnson High School