The True Meaning of Thanksgivukkah

By Yaira Robinson of Texas Interfaith Power & Light In a rare convergence, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall at the same time this year. The Jewish calendar can fluctuate some over time, but estimates are that this holiday combo won’t happen again for another 70,000 years. So, people are making the most of it—mainly through creative menu planning. From Manischewitz-brined turkey to pecan pie rugelach to latkes with cranberry sauce, Thanksgivukkah promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime culinary delight.  As I prepare to celebrate this new mash-up of a holiday with my family, I wonder: what is Thanksgivukkah about, besides the food?Thanksgiving invites us to gather with friends and family in a spirit of gratitude. Hanukkah invites us to remember that hope can triumph, even when the most realistic forecast is bleak. Let’s explore both and see what happens.Thanksgiving & gratitude. This year, much has been made of the fact that increasing numbers of stores will be open for business on Thanksgiving Day. I don’t like it any more than many of the pundits do: it’s hard on the people who work in those stores and who won’t be able to enjoy a full day of Thanksgiving with their families; it erodes the day of thanks for all of us by turning it into yet another commercialized day when we’re supposed to go shopping; and even if we’re not shopping, it makes it difficult to focus on the things we have and are grateful for when we’re guided instead to focus on all the stuff the commercials tell us we need to go buy.More than that, though—the commercial pressure that we experience now from all sides thwarts the proper focus of our gratitude. The holiday shopping season trains our focus on stuff, when we should instead focus on gifts of another kind entirely—gifts of life, health, friends, family, community, and connection to God. These are “things” that can’t be bought in stores, the things that bring true richness and meaning to our lives.Hanukkah & hope. Sometimes, it can be difficult to be an advocate for social and environmental justice. Being an advocate requires staying open to what’s broken in the world, so that we can dedicate time and energy to fixing it. But the news is often bleak, and the world’s problems can seem insurmountable. Global warming is just one example. In the face of scientists’ forecasts for our planetary difficulties, it would be easy to give up.The miracle of the oil is one aspect of Hanukkah’s hopeful message—that from one day’s supply of oil, candles burned miraculously for eight days. But some Jewish teachers go further, noting that the true miracle of Hanukkah wasn’t that the oil lasted longer than was predicted; the true miracle was that, in the face of a realistic and bleak forecast, people dared to light a candle at all.Thanksgivukkah & gratihope. This brings me back to this year’s unique holiday mash-up. It’s not just Thanksgiving. It’s not just Hanukkah. It’s Thanksgivukkah. Could we transform both holidays and ourselves by opening ourselves to the full potential of this unique holiday? What happens when we mix genuine gratitude and hope together? (If Thanksgivukkah can be a word, how about “gratihope?” “Hope-itude?”)Like Thanksgivukkah menus, the possibilities are endless. Some questions for unique holiday consideration:• What gifts of life, health, friends, family, community, and connection to God are you thankful for? Think of these as your “oil.”• Do you have enough oil? (If not, don’t fill the void by going shopping!) Appreciate the gifts of life, health, friends, family, community, and connection to God you do have. Consider how you can work to increase these gifts going forward.• What realistically bleak forecasts do you find troubling? In facing those forecasts, what is the source of your oil, your fuel?• Dare you light your candle?This Thanksgivukkah, I am thankful for gifts of life, health, friends, family, community, and connection to God. In facing global warming and other seemingly overwhelming problems that have realistically bleak forecasts, my oil—my hope—is in those relationships for which I am grateful. When I light my candle, it burns on a fuel of gratihope—and I find gratihope to be a renewable energy source; every time I meet others who dare to light their candles, I find new supplies of oil for my own candle.To you, fellow advocates for social and environmental justice, I say thank you. Thank you for lighting your candles, even when your supplies of oil seem insufficient. Thank you for sharing your light with others, and with us here at the Interfaith Center. One thing about light and gratitude and hope: when shared, these gifts bring sparkling community and lasting meaning.Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Thanksgivukkah.Blessings,Yaira