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‘Tis the season

As the winter holiday season comes to a close, WSS explores holiday traditions and celebrations at West.
WSS explores holiday traditions and celebrations at West.
WSS explores holiday traditions and celebrations at West.
Ahmed Ibrahim

Throughout the winter months, people across the globe gather to spend time with family and friends, celebrating holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah and Lunar New Year. Many students and staff at West High also observe these holidays and celebrations. With winter break from Dec. 21 to Jan. 5, many people recharge, spend time with family and celebrate family traditions. West and ICCSD hold some of the most diverse student populations in the state, with a wide variety of holidays throughout the school year. In recognition of the diverse communities, the ICCSD has begun adding more religious holidays to the district calendar in recent years. 

Christmas

Each year on Dec. 25, over two billion people gather with loved ones to celebrate Christmas, a holiday that recognizes Jesus Christ’s birth. Even though there are many denominations and branches of Christianity — including the major branches of Orthodox Christianity, Protestantism and Catholicism — Christmas is the common intersection among all Christians. 

Even so, many people who don’t practice Christianity or who are non-religious also celebrate Christmas, as it has intertwined itself with the cultures of many countries. While a 2011 Pew Research Center study indicates that only 158 countries have a Christian majority, 195 countries celebrate Christmas, according to World Population Review. 

Mary Danielle Gross ’25 and her family begin their Christmas celebrations by observing Advent, which marks the process of preparing for Christmas Day. Advent is the four weeks between the first Sunday in December and Christmas Eve. Gross’s family lights candles every Sunday to represent the journey and spiritual preparation for Christmas. On the first Sunday, they light the prophecy candle, a purple candle that represents hope. The next week, they light another purple candle, representing peace. The pink candle is lit next, representing joy. The following candle, lit the Sunday before Christmas, is another purple candle, and the final candle, a white one, is lit on Christmas. 

“It’s a time for remembering what’s important about Christmas. Each week, you’re reminded this is the time we will focus on peace [or] our love for our family,” Gross said. “This is the time we appreciate the journey Mary and Joseph went through to have Jesus. It’s a period of time where we make sure we’re practicing our values, having love and being good people in preparation for such a rejoiceful celebration.”

Although Gross enjoys the fun aspects of Christmas, she emphasizes her family’s belief in continuing a strong religious base for Christmas. 

“We always grew up doing Santa stuff, but my parents really wanted to emphasize that Christmas is not just about Santa bringing us presents. It’s about receiving gifts of love [and] being appreciative. Every time we had gifts, my parents would make sure we knew the weight of that and how fortunate and privileged that is,” Gross said. “I think recognizing that and valuing those qualities is what’s important.”

Emery Crawford ’25 echoes this and also attends church throughout the year, but he believes the Christmas service is the most special. Crawford, a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints, notes the special services his church has before Christmas.

“We’ll have worship services every Sunday throughout the whole year, but [on] the one before Christmas, we always have a special musical-like worship. Instead of having people give talks and lessons, [we have] people singing or playing music,” Crawford said.

While Gross enjoys the Christmas festivities and practicing her religion, she ultimately believes that Christmas is for showing appreciation to your loved ones.

“It is a time to rejoice, and it’s a time to not take that piece for granted. It is just a time to be with your family. [To say], ‘Thank you for this gift; thank you for this meal; thank you forever,’” Gross said.

Although Gross values the religious parts of Christmas, she notes her favorite parts are her family’s traditions and getting to spend time with them.

“It’s the one time we’re all in the same room. We’re just loving each other, [and] we’re also in a good mood. It’s quite literally the holiday spirit,” Gross said.

Hanukkah

Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday signifying the rededication of Jerusalem’s Second Temple, begins Dec. 25 and ends Jan. 2 this year. Each day of the festival, Jewish people gather for the lighting of the menorah, a nine-branched candelabrum representing the eternal light of God. 

Approximately 5% of all Americans celebrate Hanukkah, commemorating the oil miracle of the menorah, which burned for eight days in the Second Temple of Jerusalem. For Ella Haim ’27, Hanukkah begins with the lighting of the menorah. Before prayers, Haim uses the shamash, the additional ninth candle, as a helper candle to light the rest.

“Our menorah provides light and shows that God provides miracles, [which is] the significance of Hanukkah,” Haim said.

For Haim, the best part of Hanukkah is playing competitive games with her family, such as a traditional gambling game called Dreidel, which uses a four-sided spinning top containing Hebrew letters. 

“Dreidel involves [competing for prizes], which is always great. [I either win] real money or chocolate coins, whatever my parents feel. Everyone plays it differently, [but] we place bets on which letter [the dreidel] is going to land on, and if it lands on a specific letter, we get a certain amount of money. I’m really bad at it, but it’s a fun tradition I love doing with friends and family,” Haim said.

One of Haim’s favorite parts of Hanukkah is the special food, such as latkes (fried potato pancakes) and sufganiyot, which provides a sense of comfort and warmth within her household. 

“We make sufganiyot, which is essentially a jelly-filled donut. It’s one of my favorite things to eat on Hanukkah [and] gives me a lot of nostalgia because my mom has been making it ever since I can remember. It’s a really fun time of year knowing that I always have all my favorite foods waiting for me,” Haim said.

For Levi Greiner ’27, Hanukkah begins with preparing traditional dishes such as brisket and latkes. When preparing for Hanukkah, Greiner believes there is less emphasis on religion and feels the celebration of Hanukkah is more laid back compared to other significant Jewish holidays.

“It’s like Thanksgiving but a lot less stress for the preparation. We don’t have to prepare a turkey, but every year, we make a brisket. We get ready to bring family [and] friends over who are Jewish [and] non-Jewish to celebrate with us,” Greiner said.

When comparing Hanukkah to Christmas, Greiner notes that although some customs are similar, they differ in their religious significance. 

“Because Christians get gifts for Christmas, pretty recently, [Jewish] people started giving gifts for every night of Hanukkah. [Unlike Christmas,] I don’t think it has any real cultural significance,” Greiner said.

Growing up celebrating Hanukkah, it was strange for both Haim and Greiner to learn about certain customs regarding Christmas, which they weren’t familiar with. When Haim was younger, she recalls often feeling obligated to participate in common holiday festivities at school, which were strange for her. 

“Whenever we celebrated [Christmas] in school, I just had no clue what was going on,” Haim said.

Haim believes Hanukkah fosters unity among her family, as she embraces family members from all over the world who come together to celebrate the revival of the Jewish temple. 

“[When] I was 10, my grandparents came over [from Israel] for Hanukkah, which was really special because they’d never been to Iowa. The fact that Hanukkah united all of us to celebrate together meant a lot to me,” Haim said.

 

Lunar New Year

According to the lunar calendar, the new year will be celebrated on Jan. 29 this year, heralding in the Year of the Snake. For many families, this means feasts, galas and red envelopes until the night is over. This celebration signifies the beginning of the new year based on the cycles of the moon. The cultural holiday takes place around the same time every year and is most popularly celebrated in Eastern Asian countries where the lunar calendar is followed for holidays. While the holiday is celebrated in many different ways, food, family and good luck are widespread tenets. 

Emma Lai ’28 explains the significance of the holiday to her and her family. 

“It’s about getting together as a family. My family, the part of the family that lives in the U.S., we all live very spread out across the country. The holidays are a good time for us to get together and meet up again,” Lai said. 

Lai explains that her family didn’t celebrate Lunar New Year until her mother joined the family, but she looks forward to celebrating every year. 

“I like the food. Because it’s such a big celebration, everyone brings their own dish. It was just really nice to integrate all the different cultures together,” Lai said. 

Lai performs every year at the New Year’s Gala that her mother helps organize. The gala is put on by the Eastern Iowa Chapter of the Asian and Pacific Islander Americans Public Affairs Association. 

“In the gala, there’s a bunch of different cultural performances from Asian countries, like dancing, singing and playing musical instruments. Usually, I like to sing with my friends there,” Lai said. 

Abby Lee ’27 explains that food can be significant to some families and how they celebrate. 

“In Korea, not only does [the lunar new year] represent the passing of a new year, but it’s also a passing of new knowledge. So on Lunar New Year, you would dress in traditional clothing, bow to your elders and thank them for the knowledge they passed down,” Lee said. “Every time you eat rice cake soup, you are supposed to gain another year. Once you gain a year, you become more knowledgeable [and] more respected.”

Similar to Lai, Lee celebrates the holiday surrounded by friends, family and members of her church. 

“We have a Korean community because of our church, so we would celebrate there. It’s a get-together; we make a bunch of rice cakes and soups. Also, once you bow down, the elders are supposed to give you money,” Lee said.

Bowing, Lee explains, is another very important tradition to her and her family as it signifies respect. 

“Bowing is an essential part of Korean culture, even nowadays. There’s a lot of moments where you need to fully bow down, and you have to learn that. There are specific ways, and you usually learn that from your parents,” Lee said.

Both Lai and Lee expressed that it can be frustrating when people do not consider all cultures who celebrate Lunar New Year and stress the importance of the holiday as a way to feel united with their cultures. 

“When people think of the lunar year, they immediately think, ‘Chinese New Year,’ which is great, but I wish people would appreciate other cultures as well,” Lee said. 

Keeping these traditions alive by annually practicing makes Lee feel more connected to her culture and family.

“Being Korean-American and being born [in the U.S.], it’s important for me to know my culture so I can celebrate it too. This is the one time of the year where I can express myself as a true Korean, wearing traditional clothing and doing traditional [activities],” Lee said.

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