For the first time in nearly two decades, Christmas and the first day of Hanukkah will fall on the same day this year. In more than a century, the first day of Hanukkah has only coincided with Christmas four other times, in 1910, 1921, 1959 and 2005. The co-occurrence won’t happen again until 2035.
This year, one could say, is a true Chrismukkah. This pop-culture portmanteau describes the idea of celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah traditions. The concept was first conceived by German Jews in the 19th century, according to the Jewish Museum Berlin. Then it was called “Weihnukkah” (a combination of Weihnachten, the German word for Christmas, and Hanukkah). In 2003, the hit teen drama “The O.C.” popularized the term Chrismukkah when fictional character Seth Cohen, played by Adam Brody, celebrated the fun, fusion holiday.
For some Atlanta families and institutions, a true Chrismukkah is an occasion to celebrate.
Holly Firfer Arnold, a Jewish woman whose name you might recognize from her time as an anchor and correspondent for CNN, or from her time as a host on Dave-FM, has celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah ever since she married her husband, Shawn Arnold.
“I’m a Jew from Chicago that married a big old southern Baptist redneck from Middle Georgia,” she said with a laugh.
Shawn Arnold’s family hails mostly from the tiny town of Haddock, an unincorporated community in Jones County, north of Macon.
“I was the first Jewish person they ever met,” Firfer Arnold said of her in-laws.
When Firfer Arnold and Arnold were first married, there was a learning curve, trying to understand each other’s family traditions. The first year Firfer Arnold went to celebrate Christmas with her in-laws, she remembers her red-faced embarrassment when the family lit birthday candles on a cake in the kitchen, started singing, and she blurted out, “Whose birthday is it?”
“The whole room stopped singing, and Pam (Arnold’s cousin) looks at me and she says, ‘Jesus, silly’,” Firfer Arnold said. “Everybody was just staring at me and I was in a full sweat. … I look at my husband and go, ‘But who blows out the candles?’ And everybody was like, ‘Well we have some work to do with this one’.”
Arnold remembers asking a similar question about the fifth ceremonial glass of wine poured for the Prophet Elijah during a Jewish Passover seder dinner.
Credit: Courtesy of Holly Firfer Arnold
Credit: Courtesy of Holly Firfer Arnold
Like many non-Jews, Arnold didn’t know much about why Hanukkah is celebrated. Firfer Arnold had to explain how the tradition is “not a made-up holiday.” Rather it celebrates how the Jewish people, led by a group of Jewish rebel fighters called the Maccabees, overcame persecution from the ruling 2nd century empire which sought to suppress their religious practices.
“They were chased into a temple where they didn’t have enough oil for a night, yet it lasted until they were saved,” Firfer Arnold said. “I explained, ‘It’s kind of like if you had a cellphone and you’re down to 10 percent and you’re like, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t have a charger. I’m not going to be home for eight days.’ And somehow, you still have a charge when you get home.’”
To commemorate the miracle of the oil and the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, Jewish people light the menorah over eight nights, adding one candle each night and reciting blessings.
Credit: Courtesy of Holly Firfer Arnold
Credit: Courtesy of Holly Firfer Arnold
Around holiday season every year, Firfer Arnold and Arnold do their best to honor both of their traditions. On the first floor of their home, Firfer Arnold puts up a white tree with blue, white and silver ornaments, the traditional colors of Hanukkah. She sets out a “Merry Chrismukkah” sign, a blue nutcracker and menorah. Downstairs, in Arnold’s “man cave,” she puts up a traditional Christmas tree with colored ornaments. The couple hosts a celebration they call “Latkepalooza” for a group of their mixed-faith friends. A chef helps create fun recipes such as zucchini or sweet potato latkes.
“Latkes are just flowing all night, and people exchange gifts,” Firfer Arnold said.
For her and her husband, the holidays are less about religion and more about people.
“We’re celebrating people and celebrating the joy of being here at this moment in time,” she said. “We’ve really appreciated seeing the big picture and seeing just how it’s all about community. It’s about friendship. Whether you’re eating a latke or you’re eating a fruitcake, it’s a commonality and we can respect each other.”
Lyric Resmondo Garten from Marietta will also celebrate Chrismukkah this year. Several years after her first husband Alan Resmondo, an Episcopalian, died of cancer, she met then married Jay Garten, who is Jewish. Her two sons were brought up with secular Christmas traditions, but Garten and his three children grew up observing Jewish customs. While the five children were teenagers or adults by the time they merged families, Resmondo Garten still felt it important to honor both sets of traditions.
Following her first husband’s death, Resmondo Garten and her sons began a new Christmas tradition.
“When my [first] husband passed away, a lot of things became very, very painful for us,” she said. “I remember the first Christmas that we didn’t have him, we decided, or I decided, to do something that our family had never done because we almost couldn’t stand being in our own house … so I took the boys on a cruise.”
The tradition to take a vacation seemed a fitting thing to continue with her new blended family. They’ve taken trips to Colorado, Vermont, Panama, the Caribbean and Mexico. Preceding or after the vacation, however, the family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah, usually with their extended families. When they visit Resmondo Garten’s relatives for Christmas, she brings them a taste of Jewish foods. She prepares latkes and sufganiyah, a type of pillowy Israeli doughnut deep fried and filled with jam or custard.
Credit: Courtesy of Lyric Resmondo Garten
Credit: Courtesy of Lyric Resmondo Garten
Over time, both extended families began appreciating Christmas and Hanukkah traditions. She remembers well when she first really noticed. She watched her Christian uncle sing a song in Hebrew at a Jewish temple, then later watched her Jewish husband belt out Christmas carols as her mom played the piano.
“I think of those two things — my uncle singing in a language he doesn’t even understand … and of my husband singing the Christmas carols with my family … it helped me realize, you know what? It’s all part of tradition, and I love that.”
Some metro institutions are also embracing Chrismukkah this year. Daily Chew, a café located off Cheshire Bridge Road in northeast Atlanta, held its first ever Chrismukkah bar. For several weekends in December, customers could enjoy a mixed spread of food and drinks that fused holiday recipes. For example, the Mani Cranny Spritz, a creative take on an Aperol spritz made with Manischewitz wine.
Credit: Courtesy of Daily Chew
Credit: Courtesy of Daily Chew
Julia Kesler Imerman, the founder and owner of Daily Chew, was born Jewish in South Africa but was raised in Atlanta. Most of her Daily Chew staff come from a Christian or secular background. She wanted Daily Chew to celebrate both.
“I never really saw Chrismukkah around Atlanta,” she said. “You see tons of Christmas bars, holiday bars, but nothing that also folds in Hanukkah. So I really wanted to do that.”
While Daily Chew’s Chrismukkah bar held its final weekend Dec. 21-22, the café will host a Chrismukkah celebration on Dec. 25. Guests will mingle around a grazing table with latkes, a fusion of Jewish and Chinese food (for example, a matzo ball egg-drop soup), jelly doughnuts and takes on Jewish classics by guest Chef Jonah Jacobson. Seatings are available at 5 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 for entry and food. Drinks will be available at a cash bar.
Families that want to be social for Chrismukkah may also want to check out the Family Fun Day on Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in Zaban Park (5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody). The free event welcomes all faiths and will have a wide range of entertainment, including a bounce house, dodgeball games, gym games, two film screenings, a story time book reading, crafts, photo booth and a menorah lighting. For more information, visit atlantajcc.org.
“A lot of people choose one or the other [Christmas or Hanukkah],” Firfer Arnold said. “But we say, why not have it all?”
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