How December holidays are unique but bind us together

ATLANTA — December is simply a period afloat of holidays, from spiritual to secular. Each is peculiar successful its ain way, but arsenic a full they archer america truthful overmuch astir wherefore we celebrate.

We talked to a assortment of strangers and experts astir the holidays we embrace:

CHRISTMAS: DECEMBER 25

When we walked up to Haylee Gould and Tim Martin to inquire for their thoughts connected the holidays they celebrate, we didn't recognize they were connected a archetypal date.

"I deliberation it's going beauteous well," Gould said. Then Martin added, "Definitely you showing up made it batch much interesting."

As befits 2 radical connected a archetypal date, their visions of Christmas had immoderate communal crushed but their ain chiseled flairs.

"Christmas is ever a blessed clip successful my household," Gould said. “We usually commencement decorating. We marque cookies to springiness to our neighbors. It's conscionable much astir walk clip with the household together.”

Martin said helium besides saw Christmas arsenic a household holiday, but it's 1 wherever helium chooses to look outward.

“Around Christmas time, I'll deliberation astir what I would similar for Christmas," helium said, "but past it gets maine thinking, 'What would different radical want? What would what bash radical request successful their life?' So, I'll commencement doing worldly similar that.”

Of course, the roots of Christmas are steeped successful faith. That religion was described by 2 different individuals we met: Karyn Newstead and David Huffman.

"It's the commencement of Jesus," Newstead said. "We consciousness that it’s a clip of renewal and that he’s travel to prevention us. We consciousness that Christmas is simply a clip to renew your faith, to observe the commencement of Jesus and to grant each other.”

Huffman echoed this. “Christmas is precise overmuch a solemnisation of the acquisition of Jesus to the satellite by God."

But helium besides added a peculiar consciousness of joyousness for this holiday: "We're celebrating beingness due to the fact that we conscionable had a caller granddaughter virtually a period agone and we're celebrating that beingness - and each the lives that we're capable to touch.”

As wide and meaningful arsenic Christmas is, that meaning tin alteration depending connected the person. Brittany Baker spoke of the timing of the holiday.

"It's clip to walk clip with your family," she said, "and instrumentality clip from work. We're truly a nine wherever you truly are grinding each the time. And truthful for everybody to instrumentality a pause, that's unique. And so, that's wherefore the holidays are important oregon peculiar to maine is that everybody takes a break.”

HANUKKAH: (dates alteration each year)

When we talk with Mackenzie Sherman and Rabbi Brian Glusman, Hanukkah is halfway over. It's aboriginal this year, wrapping up Monday, December 6th, astatine sundown.

But portion the 8 days of Hanukkah alteration from twelvemonth to year, the vacation ever arrives sometime successful precocious November oregon December, successful the play known for different holiday.

“With Hanukkah falling successful a play wherever Christmas is here," Sherman said, "you presume that Hanukkah is the Jewish Christmas, and it is not.”

Instead, Hanukkah is simply a humanities holiday. "It represents a infinitesimal successful Jewish history," Rabbi Glusman said. "A tiny set of Jews fought for spiritual liberty and spiritual freedom."

It's besides a celebratory holiday, featuring the lighting of a menorah, the passing of gifts, and the eating of a assortment of oil-based foods.

“This is the festival of light," Rabbi Glusman said, "and that airy represents the imaginable that each of america has of becoming a beauteous and important light. It means that we each person the accidental to bring airy and warmth and emotion to this sometimes acheronian and breached satellite we unrecorded in.”

Sherman spoke astir themes that popped up careless of holiday: household and time.

“it conscionable makes our truly convenient clip to beryllium and to person memories," Sherman said, "and to recap and program for adjacent year. No substance what you're celebrating and however you're celebrating it. It seems to beryllium a beauteous melodramatic throughline to beryllium with your household and beryllium with your community.”

KWANZAA: DECEMBER 26 to JANUARY 1

Like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa is simply a vacation that takes spot implicit an extended period: successful this case, 7 days.

Unlike Hanukkah - and dissimilar Christmas, Kwanzaa is simply a modern vacation hardly a half-century aged that celebrates not a religion but a persevering spirit.

“You don’t person to person a peculiar spiritual affiliation," said Yolanda Jack of Detroit's Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History. "You don’t person to person a peculiar nationality. You person to person a definite sensibility.”

Kwanzaa began successful the 60s arsenic the instauration of a teacher successful California. It celebrates Pan-African principles but, arsenic Jack said, "is afloat an American holiday." It has gained large momentum successful caller years arsenic an look of pridefulness and principles.

"I don’t attraction what inheritance you travel from," Jack said. "Every practice, each quality understands self-determination. We instrumentality the 7 days to observe these principles that person been astatine the crux oregon the optimism and hope.”

Jack continued: "There are 7 symbols of the Kwanzaa table. So if you’re going to observe Kwanzaa, 1 of the archetypal things you should bash is to person those 7 symbols. We bash springiness gifts, and the gifts are typical of acknowledgment of goals achieved, promises kept."

Ultimately, she said, "It’s a caller holiday, but this vacation is celebrating principles that are aged arsenic humanity.”

AND MANY MORE ...

December brings a assortment of holidays beyond the 3 that garner the astir attention. Bodhi Day, connected December 8th, is simply a Buddhist solemnisation of "the time of Buddha's enlightenment," according to nonmigratory clergyman Reirin Gumbell of the Milwaukee Zen Center. Pancha Ganapati is simply a five-day Hindu festival from the 21st to the 25th. The Winter Solstice is the origin and catalyst of galore holidays.

So, galore of these days get during the darkest days of the year. They tin beryllium astir family, celebration, religion, and reflection. But truthful often, they revolve astir light.

“The communal thread that brings each of the holidays unneurotic is the taxable of light," Rabbi Glusman said. "It's nary coincidence that each of our wintertime holidays instrumentality spot during these days erstwhile our days are astatine their darkest.”