Just as Christmas has its own traditions and symbols, other holidays have theirs that symbolize the holiday and its meaning.

Our world has become increasingly diverse very connected at the same time. All around us are people who are of different religions and nationalities.

The Jewish community celebrates the festival of Hanukkah during the holiday season.

Dr. Jeffrey Chadwick, Jerusalem Center professor of Archaeology and Near Eastern Studies, said the origin of the holiday goes as far in the past as 164 B.C. Prior to that time, Judea, now the modern state of Israel, was under the rule of the Syrians. The Syrians wanted the Jews to worship their gods and so the emperor outlawed Judaism. It became illegal to own sacred scrolls, perform a circumcision and to refuse to work on the Sabbath day. The penalty for breaking the law was extremely severe, Chadwick said. For example, the Book of Maccabees, the Jewish historic book that recorded these events, talks about an instance when Syrian soldiers killed a young child and his mother because they found out the child was circumcised.

The Syrians occupied the temple in Jerusalem and converted it into a pagan temple. As a result of this religious intolerance and suppression of the Jews, a rebellion broke out to free the country of Syrian rule, he said.

The Jews eventually gained the upper hand and practically freed Jerusalem.

"When they liberated the Temple Mount they decided immediately that they would have to cleanse the temple and rededicate it to the worship of the God of Israel-Jehovah," Chadwick said.

The rededication ceremony, Hanukkah, would take eight days. According to the Jewish legend, that can be found in the Talmud, a miracle happened during the rededication of the temple. To light the temple menorah, a large lamp in the temple, they needed consecrated oil olive, because only consecrated oil could be used in the temple's menorah, Chadwick said. There was no oil in the temple, because it wasn't used for some period of time. They were able t find one jar of oil that was over looked by the Syrians. One jar would normally be enough for only one day, he said.

They could produce more oil, because they had olive from a previous harvest, but it would take about ten days to produce and consecrate the oil. They decided to proceed with the rededication despite the lack of oil. The menorah cups were filled with oil, kindled and the rededication started.

"The Jewish legend says that the oil which was only enough to burn for one day burned for eight days," Chadwick said. "All eight days of the rededication."

It was seen as a miracle and a sign from God. It was a symbol of God's support to Jews in their revolt against the Syrians and their efforts to save Judaism and the heritage of the people of Israel, he said.

From that time forward, every winter, Jewish people re-celebrate the eight-day dedication ceremony and have lit small menorahs for eight days in a row.

Hanukkah menorahs have nine arms, Chadwick said. Eight arms symbolize the eight days of miraculous oil burning during the rededication and the ninth, situated higher than the others, is a symbol of the eternal light, the light of God.

"From the ninth, elevated candle the other are kindled," he said. "One candle successively over night."

People play games and give gifts to each other during Hanukkah. They also eat a lot of oil-fried food in celebration of the miraculous burning of oil.

Another holiday that is similar to Hanukkah and widely celebrated by the African- American communities is Kwanzaa.

Rebecca de Schweinitz, an assistant professor in the BYU history department, said the rise of Kwanzaa happened in the context of the 1960 Civil Rights movement.

"As the civil rights movement focuses on racial pride and black power," de Schweinitz said. "This [Kwanzaa] is one expression of that, by trying to open America to different cultural traditions and have pride in African heritage."

According to the official Kwanzaa Web site the celebration continues for seven days. Each day one of seven principles is celebrated. The seven principles are umoja (unity), kujichagulia (self-determination), ujima (collective work and responsibility), ujamaa (collective economics), nia (purpose), kuumba (creativity) and imani (faith) as outlined by Dr. Maulana Karenga. Gifts are given mostly to children and always must include a book and a heritage symbol. The colors of Kwanzaa are black, red and green and can be utilized in decorations for Kwanzaa. Decorations should also include traditional African items, like African baskets, cloth patterns, art objects and harvest symbols.

The last day of Kwanzaa is the first day of the new year, the first of January. Historically, this has been a time of sober assessment of things done and things to do, of self-reflection and reflection on the life and future of the people and of recommitment to their highest cultural values. They ask themselves three Kawaida questions: Who am I? Am I really who I say I am? And am I all I ought to be? wrote Karenga in his book "Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture."

Copyright Brigham Young University 10 Dec 2008