Christmas

By Laura Ruiz and Silvia Arranz

    Today it's a Christian and a family festivity though with a pagan extraction.
     Long time ago there was a festival called Yule, to commemorate the winter solstice, and on that day the three goddesses: Astarte from Canea, Istar from Mesopotamia and Mirra from Greece gave birth to the Sun.
After them the Celts and the Romans celebrated the winter solstice with the Roman Saturnalia. The Christians assimilated it and this gave place to our Christmas holidays.
   In Spain we still have remains of very old celebrations, previous to Christianity. In towns such as Granada and Ja閚, people cross bonfires, in the belief that this will protect them against Istar illness.

Istar
In Spain the typical tradition is the crib, though it's an Italian one, coming from Naples. It represents the
Istar Nativity scene, a crib with the typical figure and animals (The Infant Jesus, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the cow and the mule).
Nativity plays are well-known in Catalonia where there are crib performances acted out by the local town people. Street are crowded with markets, full of typical fruit: oranges from Valencia, pomegranates from Granada, chestnuts and walnuts from Galicia. Other markets offer handmade articles, candles, flowers, etc. On the 24th of December -Christmas Eve- Spanish families join together to have a big dinner. The house is decorated with candles and garlands.
For dinner people from Madrid like having sea bream and special sweets such as almond soup, marzipan and nougat. At the dessert "cava" (a kind of sparkling wine, similar to the French champagne) is drunk. On Christmas Eve, the Midnight Mass is held, so called because it ends at midnight when, as the Holy Scriptures reflect, it was believed the cock crowed for the first time.
Among the most famous ones we have those of Catalonia, in Monserrat.

Nativity

       There's one that says like this: "Tonight is Christmas Eve, so it's a sleepless night". We don't have presents on that day but on January 5th: the Three Wise Men, but some firms give the Christmas hamper to their employees, that is a real wicker basket, full of bottles of wine, cured hams nougat, etc, all kinds of delicatessen.
     Due to foreign influence, Spanish people celebrate Santa Claus and decorate the Christmas tree, but this isn't a Spanish tradition. Spanish children open their presents on 6th of January. They believe in the Tree Wise Men, known such as Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar, the ones than bring the presents for them. It's the Epiphany, the Day of the Three kings. On the eve of the 6th of January there is a procession of the Three Wise Men. Young Spanish children leave food (hay or similar) for the Three Wise Men's camels and three glasses of wine for the kings, together with their shoes that must be well polished.
     Before their journey back to Bethlehem, the Three Wise Men visit orphanages and hospitals distributing toys and sweets among the children.

Christmas at home: by Maria de O馻te and Carmen Ariza

         Similar to the old Jewish celebration of light and the searching for a solution to the pagan celebrations of the Winter solstice, the Church took advantage of the situation to commemorate Christmas. This festivity takes place on the 25th of December, trough in Spain it is also celebrated on the 24th. It is called "Nochebuena" (Christmas Eve).
       People decorate their houses, and families join together to have dinner. We have a Spanish typical decoration, the Nativity Scene or the crib. It is a memory of the celebration of Crist磗 birth. We represent it the figures of the Infant Jesus, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, the mule, the row and the tree wise Men, surrounded by the shepherds.
      A very well known crib is the one situated in Madrid. The first crib seen in Spain is the one situated in one of the main streets of Barcelona (Las Ramblas Avenue) and made by Capuchin Monks.
    Another characteristics of Spain is the Christmas box, that consist of children begin for the Christmas box, going house to house with their tambourines and singing carols, traditional Christmas songs that tell the life of the Infant Jesus.
     Every house has its manners and customs on these days. At home before dinner, all the neighbours come to wish everybody their best wishes and a Merry Christmas; children spend their time playing and adults talking. When they leave, we always go to my aunt's house where everything is ready for the big dinner and her house decorated with the crib.
       We wear our best clothes and everybody takes a present: sparkling wine to toast, a different wine for the dinner, and nougat and marzipan to have dishes.
      First we have special snacks, then a good selection of Spanish cured ham and cheese, different salads as well as seafood and caviar. After this we have the main dish - roast lamb or turkey. We sometimes have fish.

Eva磗 Nativity

HANUKKAH by Marcos Rocha Abramovich

     Hanukkah, "The Festival of Lights", is a Jewish holiday.
     The origin of the hebrew word Hanukkah means "dedication." According to tradition, it all goes back to the 2nd century BC, when the the Syrian-Greek regime of Antiochus wanted to pull Jews away from Judaism and into Hellenism - the Greek culture. Antiochus forbid aspects of Jewish religious practice, including the study of Torah. During this period, many of the Jews started joining the Greek culture, taking on Greek names and marrying non-Jews.
     In response, a band of Jewish settlers went to the hills of Judea to fight against this threat to Jewish life. Led by Matitiyahu, and later his son Judah the Maccabee (which means "The Hammer"), this small band of Jews led guerrilla warfare against the Syrian army.
     Antiochus sent thousands of well-armed troops to fight against the band of Jews, but the Maccabees succeeded and drove the foreigners from their land.
     Jewish fighters entered Jerusalem in December of 164 BC. The Holy Temple was in disorder, dirty and had been completely disrespected by foreign soldiers. So the Jewish soldiers cleaned the Temple and re-dedicated it on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. When it came time to re-light the Menorah, they searched the entire Temple, but only one small jar of oil could be found. Miraculously, the small jar of oil burned for eight days, until a new supply of oil could be brought.
    From then on, Jews have observed the holiday of Hanukkah for eight days in honor of this historic victory and the miracle of the oil.
    Today, we observe Hanukkah in the month of December. The date fluctuates as all Jewish holidays go by the Jewish Calendar.

We light special Hanukkah candles on a Menorah (a candlestand) with eight branches (plus a helper candle) and saying a special prayer each night. We light one candle, the first night, two the second, and so on. The Menorah has become the symbol for Hanukkah. Other customs include playing a game with a dreidel (a top with Hebrew letters on the sides), eating "oily" foods like potato latkes, and receiving Hanukkah gelt (money) or gifts each night.

I enjoy celebrating Hannukah and living up to a tradition handed down from generation to generation. It's interesting, fun, and part of my culture.

Happy Hanukkah !!