|
Students prepare for holidays
 Media Credit: Ryan Henry The Miller Center is showcasing "Celebrations of Light" to commemorate different holidays throughout the winter months. The display is set to run throughout December.
|
|
With such a diverse campus, many students celebrate the holidays in different ways. The Miller Center has set up an educational display to inform students about cultural celebrations that occur during the winter months.
"It's nice to have something like this up that represents different cultures," said sophomore Katie Lowe. "It's gives information and is something to stop by and look at when you go into the library."
Several holidays occurred in October and November, such as the Buddhist Festival of the Floating Leaf Cups called Loy Krathong and Diwali, a day in which Hindus outline their homes with oil lamps to welcome the goddess of wealth and prosperity. Ramadan, the Islamic fasting tradition that commemorates the month when Mohammed received the Qur'an from Allah, began in late October and into the middle of November. Students who walk by the display may not have known so many other holidays existed.
"People mostly just think of Christmas, with Santa and presents and all, but there is so much more going on besides that," Lowe said.
The Advent/Christmas season is the most popular in American culture, a celebration to honor the birth of Jesus Christ in the Christian community. The weeks leading up to Christmas Day are intended to be days of preparation and anticipation for the coming of Christ.
Many celebrations on display stem from a particular religion or from theological values. However, Interim Director of Jewish Studies, Professor Joseph Edelheit, pointed out that Hanukkah is not part of Jewish theology, as some parts of American culture would have people believe.
"It is a minor, completely non-biblical, military commemoration festival," Edelheit said.
During the year of 168 B.C.E., the Greeks began to demand the Judeans to take up Greek culture and bow down to Greek gods. While being persecuted, one family started a rebellion that lasted three years. The Greeks were eventually defeated and went back to their temple to rededicate it after years of war. Edelheit said Hanukkah actually means "to dedicate" or "rededicate" in Hebrew.
History turns into legend as the Judeans wanted to light the seven branch candelabra, but did not have hardly any consecrated oil. But the belief is that the candles remained lit for eight days.
"From that we get this festival of lighting eight nights so there is a special Menorah created for Hanukkah," Edelheit said.
Edelheit is quick to stop the comparison between Hanukkah and other religious holidays, such as Christmas. Hanukkah is not part of Jewish theology or even in the Jewish bible. Then how did Hanukkah become so popular and considered the Jewish version of Christmas?
Edelheit said it started after World War II when Jews were moving into mainstream culture, suburbs and into the same socioeconomic classes as the majority of Americans. Jewish communities felt that they needed a holiday to celebrate in December, as many Christians did with Christmas.
"They figured 'Hey, we're different. We don't have what everyone else has,'" Edelheit said. "So they used Hanukkah as an adaptive, assimilatory holiday."
Edelheit also pointed out that cultures celebrate holidays during the winter months because of the winter solstice that occurs. With Christianity, it is not theologically important to know when exactly Christ was born, but cultures still need to celebrate during the winter.
"You will find that all faith communities need a winter solstice festival because we all have solar, seasonal agricultural festivals," Edelheit said. "We need to have a religious answer to the secular problem of the winter solstice."
Though Hanukkah is a minor part of Jewish culture for him, Edelheit says he will still light a Menorah, gather with family and friends, play a game called dridel, eat potato latkes and exchange small gifts. For Edelheit, Hanukkah means a time to remember what it is like to be different and he is supportive of others learning about Hanukkah.
"Whatever anybody different does is important to understand," Edelheit said. "Do I want people to appreciate that Jews do not celebrate Christmas but have Hanukkah? Yes."
Several other celebrations are mentioned in the library's display. Yule is a Wiccan festival that occurs on the shortest day of the year, Dec. 21, to celebrate the return of the sun. Kwanzaa is an African American interfaith holiday based on African harvest celebrations and is celebrated for seven days after Christmas. Information is available on the later holidays of the Chinese New Year and Charhar Shanbeh Suri, a Persian celebration.
With all of the different holidays, sophomore Dan Curtis got more than he bargained for when he stopped to look at the display.
"There are a lot of holidays I haven't even heard of," Curtis said. "I thought it was just going to be about Christmas or something, but it's cool, there's more to read about. You almost have to stop and see what this is all about when you go in and out of the library."
The Miller Center display will be open through the rest of December.
|
|
|
|
Privacy Policy Network Advertising Article Syndication
|
|
