The wider American celebration for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is nice, but the holiday actually happens to be relatively unimportant. I think that most people would attribute the awareness non-Jewish people have of Hanukkah to the comparison people draw to Christmas.
People see that Hanukkah is a winter holiday where we give gifts and call the holiday “Jewish Christmas,” but as someone who participates in Jewish Christmas, I do not find the two holidays to be alike.
Jewish holidays operate under requirements. There are traditions that people might partake in, like gift giving, but a religious person can observe the holiday without traditions. To observe Hanukkah, one must light the Hanukkiah (commonly misidentified as a Menorah), and add special additions to the daily prayers. Gift giving is a new tradition that was born out of the commercialization of Christmas. Presents are not a core principle of the holiday. Neither is winter. As a Jew from Florida, I never associated the holiday with winter. And the founders of the holiday in the ancient Mediterranean probably did not either. A parallel of holidays that I find to be way more convincing is Halloween and the Jewish holiday “Purim.”
Some of Purim’s core principles and requirements are identical to the celebration of Halloween. Two of the requirements on Purim are to have a party and give at least two people some sort of food. This has taken on the form of getting drunk and giving out (and so also receiving) candy. An influenced tradition, but one that comes from centuries ago and not last century, is costumes.
Basically, if you go to a Jewish community on Purim, you will see people of all ages in costume, partying, and giving out candy.
The two holidays do have their differences. Purim still has the feel of a religious celebration, as you are supposed to go to synagogue to hear the story that led to the holiday. Additionally, most of the festivities take place during the day, rather than at night.
But these differences are minute. Between the parties, candy, and costumes, I never felt that I missed out on Halloween because we had our own.
