Nov 26, 2013 4 min read

Although some folks object to the term, “happy holidays” might be the most concise way to express a five-day period jam-packed with religious and cultural significance.

Or, you could wish people, “Happy Hanukkah, happy Thanksgiving and/or a hopeful, peaceful, joyful and loving Advent.” (If there are any Black Friday greetings, they haven’t become commonplace and “Credit or debit?” doesn’t count.)

Hanukkah, an eight-day Jewish celebration, begins at sundown this evening and continues into Thanksgiving Day.

“It will be 79,043 years before it happens again,” said David Novitsky, rabbi of Beth Israel Synagogue in Washington.

Because Thanksgiving celebrations transcend both denominational and secular lines, they perhaps don’t require as much of an explanation. Let it be noted, however, that Thanksgiving Day in Canada occurred this year Oct. 14, which had its own convergence, with the American Columbus Day, eh?

Also during the Thanksgiving-Hanukkah long weekend, Christians will observe the beginning of Advent, the start of the liturgical year and the first of four Sundays before Christmas.

Unlike Western Christmas, which always falls on Dec. 25, Thanksgiving is a movable feast that occurs on the fourth Thursday of November anywhere between Nov. 22 and 28.

Western calendars show Hanukkah beginning Nov. 27, some with the notation, “Hanukkah begins at sundown.”

Novitsky explained, “The day begins at sundown in Judaism, so Wednesday evening we light the first Hanukkah candle (of the branched menorah) but the first day of Hanukkah is Nov. 28. The night is attached to the following day.”

Hanukkah, the festival of lights, commemorates a single day’s supply of oil that burned for eight days as observant Jews, led by Judah Maccabee, liberated the temple in Jerusalem from Greek invaders of old.

Hanukkah moves around, too, because, Novitsky said, “Judaism follows a lunar calendar.” There are 28 1/4 days in a lunar calendar, which means holidays keep coming earlier and earlier until a “leap month” kicks in and the calendar resets itself.

Novitsky waxed eloquent on the two holidays. “We’re blessed to live in one of the best countries in one of the best times and we have to be thankful for that,” he said.

A multidimensional holiday is nothing new for Marilyn Posner, president of Beth Israel, who said celebrating Thanksgiving and Hanukkah simultaneously has been a tradition for her family since the birth of her grandchildren, now 12, 10, 6 and 3. They have time off from school and preschool at Thanksgiving that lends itself to family get-togethers.

The Posner family’s Thanksgiving menu typically features turkey, latkes and challah. “This is not so unusual,” Posner said of this year’s calendar, which formalizes what her family has improvised.

“We intend to Skype Jennifer and light candles together,” she said of her daughter and her family. “We also get to see the boys open the gifts that we sent them.”

Because of the lateness in this year’s Thanksgiving holiday, the long weekend also happens to coincide with another candle-lighting ceremony, that of the Advent wreath that marks the beginning of the Christmas season.

A green, circular or stylized wreath symbolizing eternity bears four candles, the first one of which is lighted four Sundays before Christmas. The others follow in succession until Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when a fifth candle in the center, known as the Christ candle, is lit, recalling passages from the Biblical gospels that refer to Jesus Christ as “the light of the world.”

Faith United Presbyterian Church, East Beau Street, Washington, for the past few years displayed Advent banners to mark the season. In response to an email inquiry, pastor of the congregation, the Rev. Jason Hefner wrote, “Faith Church is observing Thanksgiving and Advent and is, of course, aware of the Hanukkah celebration by our Jewish siblings. We are not melding any of the holidays together, however.”

The church will be part of a joint Thanksgiving Eve service also involving Faith United Presbyterian Church, Church of the Covenant and First Presbyterian Church at 7 p.m. today at First, 100 E. Wheeling St., Washington. Faith will be observing Advent for the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, concluding with with two Christmas Eve Services.

And, speaking of Christmas, the Rev. Stephen Smith, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Washington, mentioned that he had seen an advertisement for three types of what he called “decorative little houses” that bore a message of Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa or Happy Holidays, but no Merry Christmas.

“It’s almost that Christmas has become politically incorrect,” Smith said, adding, “I enjoy honoring other people’s holidays, but I don’t want to beat people over the head with Merry Christmas, especially my atheist and agnostic friends, of which I have some.”