‘A beautiful coming together’: Mixed-faith families celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah on same day

There's a fluke of the calendar that comes about rarely, and it's sure to make Dec. 25 even more celebratory than usual for some suburban families.

Those who celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas will be combining the favorite foods, festive decor and gift-giving traditions of both holidays come Dec. 25, when the first night of Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day.

Religious leaders say the scheduling coincidence serves as a reminder of what both holidays celebrate at their core — light.

“It’s the darkest time of the year. What a beautiful message to bring light into the world, to bring light into darkness,” said Rabbi Richard Prass, rabbi educator at Congregation Beth Am in Buffalo Grove. “When you have two of the three monotheistic religions both bringing out light at the same time, that’s a beautiful quirk.”

Hanukkah is an eight-day holiday known as the festival of lights, and it celebrates the reclaiming of a sacred temple in ancient Jerusalem. Jews at the time rededicated their temple, and although they only had enough oil to burn for a day, the light miraculously lasted for eight days.

Christmas, meanwhile, brings light into the world slightly more figuratively — through the birth of Christians’ lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

“It's no accident that all of this comes at the darkest time of the year, when we’re craving light,” said the Rev. Gabriel Baltes, pastor at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Lisle. “I think it's a beautiful coming together.”

Whether because of interfaith marriages, customs spanning heritages or a desire to enjoy the celebrations of the broader American culture, religious leaders say it's not uncommon for families to celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. And this year, these celebrations even can occur on the same day.

“If our calendar can model coming back together, that’s a wonderful model that we need more of,” Prass said. “To come back together around celebrations of joy and of light.”

Here’s how some suburban families with both Jewish and Christian traditions are celebrating these coinciding holidays this year.

Hatchwell-McCune family of Buffalo Grove

Leora Hatchwell is Jewish and says her family is “enamored by Christmas.” Her husband, Tom McCune, was raised Presbyterian and gives the family its connection to celebrate with Santa and stockings and presents galore. So all throughout their daughter Callie’s childhood (she’s now in her 30s and living in Indianapolis), the family celebrated with both Jewish and Christian traditions.

“We will light Hanukkah candles in front of the Christmas tree,” said Hatchwell, 72, a member of Kol Haddash Humanistic Congregation — a Deerfield temple that instills Jewish traditions through a secular approach.

When Callie was younger, the family would throw a “Christmukkah” party for relatives and friends. Even since she's moved out, family traditions incorporate decorations and symbolism from each holiday, including menorahs and a peace sign with outdoor Christmas lights. Togetherness is always at the core.

“The commitment to doing things Jewish is very much there, but it’s all surrounding family,” Hatchwell said. “And it’s the same thing with Hanukkah and Christmas.”

Miller family of Bolingbrook

Though Jewish, George Miller celebrated Christmas along with Hanukkah as a child — even hiding his family's Christmas tree in the basement when his orthodox Jewish grandfather would visit. He's continued to enjoy both holidays throughout his adult life, especially because his wife of 41 years, Norma Miller, was brought up in the Lutheran tradition.

The holiday festivities the Miller family passed on as they raised their two daughters were not about miracles of long-lasting light or the birth of newborn saviors, but about the love of a family shining through the years.

“Neither holiday is deeply religious. They're winter holidays,” he said. “It’s just that your family made you feel good about being together.”

Miller, now 65, gets to pass along those warm feelings to his four grandchildren, whether they’re opening presents around the tree and watching “It’s a Wonderful Life,” or eating latkes and lighting candles for “more modest” Hanukkah celebrations.

“Both of the holidays are a time for getting the family together,” he said.

Kohn-Fry family of Northbrook

Shira Kohn’s traditions were solely Jewish until she met her husband, Lance Fry, who was raised “Christian but not super-religious,” she said. Now, the couple travels every year with their 3-year-old daughter to Kansas to celebrate Christmas with Fry’s family.

So this year, on the first night of Hanukkah, Kohn, 33, will be with her in-laws, enjoying “food and family and presents” as part of their family-focused, yet largely secular, Christmas celebrations. Then, a few days later, she'll be with her parents back in Northbrook lighting Hanukkah candles, playing dreidel and listening to Jewish music.

Kohn, who teaches Sunday school at Congregation B’nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim in Deerfield, said she’ll focus both on the deeper meaning and the simple joy of Hanukkah when it begins on Christmas Day.

“Hanukkah celebrates light,” she said, “and it celebrates hope.”