sdelmonte | Maybe You Don't Like Hybrid Holidays So Much

So today is Thanksgiving. A holiday I like and observe, a secular holiday that I embrace as an American and as a Jew. Despite its rather questionable origins, I feel it is a good day, a day that is about giving and being grateful.

And today is the first day of Hanukkah, a confluence that hasn't happened in a long while and won't happen again for a longer while. I like some aspects of Hanukkah, though I am not as comfortable with it as I once was. The idea of standing for our religious rights still works me, though. As does the idea of giving gratitude to God for our unexpected victories.

But mixing the two days? Conflating similar but very different messages seems like a bad idea. So no, I will not observe "Thanksgivukkah." I am not entirely sure how I am observing things today. The meal will be for both days, of course, as will the meals over the weekend. As Americans and as Jews, we like our food. But I think I will do my best to divide between the secular day of thanks and the religious days of celebration.

And for the love of God, I will not have a menurkey. Which was being sold at The Jewish Museum. And which sold out days ago. And which got a ton of news coverage. Good publicity for us, but I can't imagine buying a gift you can use just once. And is, well, silly. If sort of nice since it was created and designed by a nine year old with big ideas. Hooray for that. Meh to the rest.

Anyway, let me wish you all the best of holidays, whether you celebrate either, both, or neither. May we always show our gratitude and love to those in our lives the year round, and may we always find the way to balance the many faces we wear in this pluralistic day and age.