The holidays are upon us. And for many Horned Frogs — pandemic or not — it’s the most wonderful time of the year. 

“The energy around winter religious holidays is palpable,” said Britt Luby, associate chaplain in the TCU Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, who supports the spiritual development of students from diverse faith backgrounds. “Multiple religious traditions have a holiday around this time of year. Beginning in October or November, we help our Hindu students celebrate Diwali. Sometimes, we are able to support our Jewish students with Hanukkah festivities before they leave for winter break. And TCU has a long list of traditions related to Christmas, including Carols by Candlelight, which is virtual this year. Having these bright moments in the middle of the cold, dark winter makes this season feel special.”

Luby suggests using the calendar reminders that may automatically pop up in your phone to your advantage and take a moment to greet your friends on their special holiday — even if you don’t celebrate the same holiday.

“I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco, and my Muslim friends still send me ‘happy Easter’ and ‘happy Thanksgiving’ messages,” she said. “It’s a small gesture that lets me know they were thinking of me — that they knew the day was special to me even if it was just an ordinary day to them. I often email or text students on holidays to pay that same kindness forward.”

Following are upcoming religious holidays and some of their traditions.

Dec. 10-18 Hanukkah/Chanukah (Judaism)

Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights.

“The story behind Hanukkah takes places back when the Greeks were taking over a lot of the world,” said Cosette Hidalgo-Murra, a junior nursing major from Fort Worth who serves as vice president of TCU Hillel, a Jewish student organization. “When they settled into a Jewish town, they started penalizing Jews for practicing their beliefs and wanted them to turn to Greek ways. A small family of Jewish warriors, called the Maccabees, rebelled against the Greeks and miraculously were successful in overthrowing them.

“After kicking the Greeks out, the Jewish people had to clean their city from the aftermath of the brutal battles. As they were cleaning the temple, they discovered that there was only enough purified oil to light the menorah — a special candleholder — for one day. It is Jewish tradition to have an eternal flame, or a light always burning in the temple, so the fact that there was no more oil was stressful. A trip to get some more of this special oil and come back to the city took about eight days total. The miracle happened when the lights stayed lit throughout the eight days, and this is the miracle of Hanukkah.”

While the holiday lasts for eight days, the first day is the most important. “On the first day, my whole family dresses up in blue and white, and we read the story of Hanukkah to remember why we celebrate and where we came from,” she says. “On Hanukkah, we are supposed to light an additional candle every night on our special candleholders, or Hanukkiahs, until all the candles are lit. We open gifts as well.” 

Special Hanukkah foods include latkes (potato pancakes or hash browns eaten with sour cream or applesauce), sufganiyot (jelly-filled donuts) and gelt (chocolate coins). Games include dreidel, a four-sided spinning top. “On each side of the dreidel, there is a Hebrew letter for an acronym that translates to ‘A Great Miracle Happened There,’” Hidalgo-Murra says. “Which side the dreidel lands on after spinning it tells the person how much gelt they get from — or have to put back in — the middle pot.”

Her favorite Hanukkah family traditions include decorating their house and eating tamales. “I also love taking pictures of the candles with my family because the lights look so beautiful shining bright together.” 

Dec. 25 Christmas (Christianity)

“Christmas celebrates Jesus’ birth, and Advent is the time we prepare for Jesus’ coming,” said Gabriella Campbell, a junior early education major from Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., who is president of TCU DOC (Disciples on Campus), the Disciples of Christ student group.

Christmas traditions include decorating Christmas trees, hanging up Christmas lights, singing Christmas carols and giving gifts to family and friends. Common greetings include Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas.

“Every year, my family watched Love, Actually on Christmas Eve,” Campbell said. “I could probably recite the entire movie if I really wanted to. My family also always makes cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning before reading the Christmas story from the Bible. When we were not in a pandemic, we always had lots of people over on Boxing Day on Dec. 26 with a kids table and adults table. I still sit at the kids table. Christmas is my favorite time of year because I get to spend so much time with my family.”

Dec. 26-Jan. 1 Kwanzaa (African American)

Kwanzaa recognizes African American humanity and existence during the holiday season.

“It was created and first practiced by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 as an alternative to the typically ‘white-washed’ Christmas holiday commercial campaign that almost exclusively features white Santa, white snow and white kids enjoying material largess,” said Frederick Gooding Jr., Ph.D., associate professor of African American Studies in the John V. Roach Honors College and chair of TCU’s Race & Reconciliation Initiative. “Even today, a cursory look at a typical Hallmark Christmas movie on cable TV will show white predominance at the exclusion of any other group of people who might also want to fall in love and receive gifts of joy during the holiday season. Kwanzaa was a counter to this historically exclusive narrative.”

Kwanzaa focuses on seven principles of African heritage — one per day — known as the Nguzo Saba: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. One might greet a friend with “Habari gani!” — meaning how are you or what’s the word — with the other responding with the principle of the day — such as “umoja” or unity, Dr. G notes.

“Kwanzaa was created as a counter to a historically exclusive annual event that was manipulated to exclude others,” he said. “It is fascinating and bizarre to consider how Santa would facilitate and operate a ‘Jim Crow’ Christmas, but in a country where even the dead were segregated in race-specific cemeteries, the impetus and genesis for this holiday perhaps becomes more clear. After all, why on Earth would God’s gift, or the ineffable Godfather of Soul James Brown, feel impelled to compose a track aimed directly at the North Pole titled ‘Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto?’”

Jan. 7 Feast of the Nativity (Orthodox Christian)

While Western Christian churches celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, Eastern Orthodox churches — which follow the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar — celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7. One of the most joyful days of the Orthodox Church, the Feast of the Nativity is also known as the “Incarnation of Christ,” meaning that Jesus became a man and came into the world to save humanity.

Some Feast Day observers cut a branch from a tree and bring it into their house to symbolize Jesus entering their home and hearts. Traditional greetings include “Christ is born!” with “Glorify Him!” as the response. Some also scatter straw at their table as a reminder of Jesus’ birth in the manger.

“My family always goes to church that day and then we eat all together — turkey and other traditional food,” said Kimon, a senior mathematics major from Thessaloniki, Greece (who prefers to just use his first name online). “Kids also go around the houses and sing traditional Christmas songs.”