Holidays overshadowed by Christmas

Christmas may be getting all the ink and agita this time of year - especially with some complaining about the inherent blasphemy in the all-inclusive phrase, "Happy holidays." However, some Folsom and El Dorado Hills residents will be spending the next month celebrating holidays less familiar to the masses.Religious holidays like Hanukah and Eid ul-Adha and cultural fetes like Kwanzaa are all occurring within the same timeframe, offering their own unique significance, traditions and, yes, recipes, to the cultural landscape.Cal State Long Beach professor Maulana Karenga in the midst of the Civil Rights movement in 1966 created the newest of the three, Kwanzaa. It takes its cues from the African continental harvest celebrations that occur at the beginning and end of each year.Intended as a reaffirmation of African culture, the holiday is steeped in African traditions and has since reverberated on a national and international level as a secularly cultural holiday for more than 15 million people, according to about.com.Tulivu Jadi, assistant director of the African American Cultural Center in Los Angeles, said "one of the reasons (Kwanzaa) has been so embraced" is because that, as a non-religious holiday, Africans of all religious stripes are invited to celebrate it."Most of the celebrants are Christian," Jadi noted.Kwanzaa, which translates into "first fruits of the harvest" in Kiswabili, is celebrated from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, observing a guiding principle for each day. According to about.com, these seven principles include:n Umoja (OO-MO-JAH) Unity stresses the importance of togetherness for the family and the community, which is reflected in the African saying, "I am We," or "I am because We are." n Kujichagulia (KOO-GEE-CHA-GOO-LEE-YAH) Self-Determination requires that we define our common interests and make decisions that are in the best interest of our family and community. n Ujima (OO-GEE-MAH) Collective Work and Responsibility reminds us of our obligation to the past, present and future, and that we have a role to play in the community, society, and world. n Ujamaa (OO-JAH-MAH) Cooperative economics emphasizes our collective economic strength and encourages us to meet common needs through mutual support. n Nia (NEE-YAH) Purpose encourages us to look within ourselves and to set personal goals that are beneficial to the community. n Kuumba (KOO-OOM-BAH) Creativity makes use of our creative energies to build and maintain a strong and vibrant community. n Imani (EE-MAH-NEE) Faith focuses on honoring the best of our traditions, draws upon the best in ourselves, and helps us strive for a higher level of life for humankind, by affirming our self-worth and confidence in our ability to succeed and triumph in righteous struggle.There is no structured way of commemorating each principle, said Jadi. Each is left to the celebrants to be determined."The holiday speaks to a sense of transcendence," Jadi added.For more information about Kwanzaa, visit officialkwanzaawebsite.org.Hanukah is the festival of lights that commemorates the successful rebellion against Greek religious oppression during the reign of Antiochus IV as well as the rededication of the Jewish temple, which had been desecrated.Although somewhat of "a minor festival" relative to other Jewish holidays - Roshashanna, Yom Kippur and Passover being the major ones - Folsom Kiwanis Club member Bea Buder explained that Hanukah was the "first holiday celebrated for religious freedom."The holiday's major tradition involves the lighting of the candles on the menorah, which has its roots in a Hanukah miracle.About.com states: "According to tradition as recorded in the Talmud, at the time of the rededication, there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks. ... There was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight-day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle. Note that the holiday commemorates the miracle of the oil, not the military victory: Jews do not glorify war."Because Jews follow the lunar calendar, Hanukah falls on different days each year, but will be celebrated this year from Dec. 25 through Jan. 1.Nine candles are arranged on a menorah, with the ninth acting as the shammus, or keeper of the candles, said Buder. The other eight represent the number of days the oil lasted. Each day a new candle is lit and Hebrew blessings are recited.Other traditions include playing a dreidel game, in which children spin a top marked on four sides - taken together, the message reads "a great miracle occurred there" - in an effort to win modest prizes like nuts and candy."It's become a gift giving holiday," which is a relatively recent development due to the holiday's proximity to Christmas, added Buder.The Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Adha, or the festival of sacrifice, concerns God's decree to Ibrahim that he sacrifice his son Ismail, and his ability to resist the devil's temptations to disobey God. As Ibrahim prepared to sacrifice his son God intervened and had him sacrifice a sheep instead.This act of religious devotion - a story that is shared in both Christian and Jewish lore - is celebrated for four days beginning on the tenth day of the Islamic month Dhul Hijja, which this year falls on Jan. 21."This is the month in the year Muslims go to Pilgrimage (Hijja) to Mecca," Riaz Siddique wrote in an email.A four-day holiday, Muslims are asked to dress in their finest clothing on the first day, and those who can afford it are expected to sacrifice a domestic animal, typically a sheep, to commemorate Abraham's sacrifice."The meat is distributed amongst their neighbors, relatives, and the poor and hungry," according to wikipedia.org. "The charitable instincts of the Muslim community are demonstrated during Eid ul-Adha by the concerted effort to see that no impoverished Muslim is left without sacrificial food during this day."