What do you get when Thanksgiving falls late and the Jewish calendar is in a leap year? The result is a collaboration of two major holidays known as Thanksgivukkah.
Hanukkah officially began at sunset on Wednesday, and this the first time since the late 19th century that Hanukkah and Thanksgiving overlapped. Experts say it’s something that won’t happen again for about 70,000 years.
The Jewish calendar runs on the lunar-solar calendar and the U.S. calendar runs on the Georgian calendar, said Sam Appel, program associate of MSU Hillel.
With this year’s Jewish calendar being a leap year, an entire extra month is added to the calendar moving most major Jewish holidays up by nearly a month, creating what is now known as Thanksgivukkah.
“You get a lot of bang for your buck,” Appel said. “You’re getting turkey, stuffing, latkes, playing dreidel — it’s the event of the century.”
On Monday, MSU’s Hillel ?celebrated Thanksgivukkah with students before they separated ways for the two holidays.
At the party, students decorated menorahs and ate homemade latkes with applesauce and participated in traditional Hanukkah activities, said Miki Levran, president of the Jewish Student Union at MSU. But as a way to mix things up and include Thanksgiving, the food was turkey-themed, and the applesauce was cranberry flavored.
With both holidays being family-themed, Jewish Americans will be getting the best of both, Appel said.
“Hanukkah is all about family as well, so it’s even more so with the two being together,” he said. “We’re just doing what we can to enjoy the two wonderful holidays.”
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