"There are so many different holidays celebrated by different people, lets take a look at a few."-- Aj kirk, 6th grade
There are so many cool and different things people do as traditions or for the holidays.
For example Maya Mastropasqua, a Lit Arts 7th grader, celebrates Christmas, but she and her family also celebrate “La Befana,” which is an Italian Christmas-like tradition celebrated 12 days after Christmas. La Befana, which normally falls on January 6th, is a kindly witch that brings goods and things to children when they put their shoes out. She puts the goods and things in their shoes, much like the stockings and Santa.
Though Mastropasqua’s family puts out socks, 8th grader Holly Young puts shoes out. Mastropasqua doesn't really have a favorite part of the holiday but Young does. Hers is the candy and chocolate she gets in her shoes. She celebrates La Befana and likes the anticipation of the holiday. Both Mastropasqua and Young, as well as their families, find chocolate in their footwear. Though Young says in the stories people were given little toys and things. Young also says the story of La Befana is where “...She was supposed to be a wood cutter in the countryside and when the three wise men were going off to visit baby Jesus, she saw them and was like ‘hey can I come with you?’”
“And they were like ‘sure but be really quick,’” Young continues. “And so she went back to the cottage and she was like ‘wait I can’t leave my wood here or someone else will steal it.’ So then she took a really long time making sure everything was packed away, and then they left, and then she decided to make the journey by herself all the way to visit baby Jesus. And she brought all these toys that she had made and I think when she got there it was like she did not get the chance to actually meet him or something or like the entire journey taught her that like, you know maybe these toys aren't for the baby, [and instead] she passed out all the toys to children along the country.”
Mastropasqua reads the story on the holiday sometimes but, “...Honestly I don't know that much about it, because it's something more for my dad's side of the family, and since we don’t live there it's not like I really know a lot about it.”
“I did more when I was little because I would hear the stories and stuff,” Mastropasqua adds. “It's a fun thing to do, but I don’t look forward to it as much as Christamas or New Years.” Mastropasqua also says she knows the story of La Befana from a song.
OSA 6th graders Miriam Issacs and Lilla Lukacs both celebrate Hanukkah, but Lukacs celebrates Christmas as well. Issacs sometimes celebrates Christmas but only, “when absolutely necessary.” When inquiring about their experience with their holiday traditions, Issacs replied that, “Hanukkah shifts aground every year it can go--it basically ranges from November to December, sometimes it actually overlaps Thanksgiving.” Lukacs added that on, “The first night, [of Hanukkah] we always have latkes, which are the best food EVER. Sometimes we visit relatives, but that's about it. There's not really one tradition we do.”
Lukacs and Issacs say they never really travel anywhere for Hanukkah, though they call their relatives because it's polite. Issacs gets presents every night for Haunukkah but Lukacs only gets them every other night. “Since I celebrate Christmas, I usually just get them every other night, which is sad.” Lukacs added that she usually celebrates Hanukkah, “When the sun goes down, you're technically supposed to do it then. But usually it ends up either really late in the evening, or at the right time.”
Isaac's favorite part of Huannakka is the food. “The food is delicious, actually last year we made Sufganiyot which is jelly donuts, for the first time. That was- that was delicious. I can’t begin to explain how good they are. And also latkes. Latkes are delicious, but you can get them everywhere. And last on the scale of food comes gelt, and it's just chocolate and there's way better chocolate in the world than just the store bought gold coins.”
Decoration is something Issacs' family normally doesn’t do, but this year Issacs is getting into decorating her home this year. “We usually don’t, But this year I decided I wanted to be annoying to all my Christian neighbors, so I decided to put a six-foot tall menorah on the side of our house. And a lot of string lights.”
This year the Lukacs family has two minoras because, “...last year we forgot the ancient menorah that has been at our house forever, so we had to get a last minute menorah.” When Isaacs was asked to give a brief history on Hanukkah, she responded,“Basically there's this guy, Antiochus and I can tell you how to spell that later, and he and he had and he was invading everyone so the Israelites have this temple, and they light there caldanabra every year and Antiochus was like ‘Yeah No way we're not gonna let you keep that.’”
“So they trashed the entire temple and the only thing left in there was the candelabra and a tiny little jar of oil so they put the oil in it. They put the oil in each of the candles and it lasted somehow, probably didn’t happen, but it burned for eight nights. And that's the legend.”
We as humans have developed many different holidays that many different people, even within our own student body, celebrate each year! The Winter Holidays are important to many of us, even for reasons that are different from our own.
For example Maya Mastropasqua, a Lit Arts 7th grader, celebrates Christmas, but she and her family also celebrate “La Befana,” which is an Italian Christmas-like tradition celebrated 12 days after Christmas. La Befana, which normally falls on January 6th, is a kindly witch that brings goods and things to children when they put their shoes out. She puts the goods and things in their shoes, much like the stockings and Santa.
Though Mastropasqua’s family puts out socks, 8th grader Holly Young puts shoes out. Mastropasqua doesn't really have a favorite part of the holiday but Young does. Hers is the candy and chocolate she gets in her shoes. She celebrates La Befana and likes the anticipation of the holiday. Both Mastropasqua and Young, as well as their families, find chocolate in their footwear. Though Young says in the stories people were given little toys and things. Young also says the story of La Befana is where “...She was supposed to be a wood cutter in the countryside and when the three wise men were going off to visit baby Jesus, she saw them and was like ‘hey can I come with you?’”
“And they were like ‘sure but be really quick,’” Young continues. “And so she went back to the cottage and she was like ‘wait I can’t leave my wood here or someone else will steal it.’ So then she took a really long time making sure everything was packed away, and then they left, and then she decided to make the journey by herself all the way to visit baby Jesus. And she brought all these toys that she had made and I think when she got there it was like she did not get the chance to actually meet him or something or like the entire journey taught her that like, you know maybe these toys aren't for the baby, [and instead] she passed out all the toys to children along the country.”
Mastropasqua reads the story on the holiday sometimes but, “...Honestly I don't know that much about it, because it's something more for my dad's side of the family, and since we don’t live there it's not like I really know a lot about it.”
“I did more when I was little because I would hear the stories and stuff,” Mastropasqua adds. “It's a fun thing to do, but I don’t look forward to it as much as Christamas or New Years.” Mastropasqua also says she knows the story of La Befana from a song.
OSA 6th graders Miriam Issacs and Lilla Lukacs both celebrate Hanukkah, but Lukacs celebrates Christmas as well. Issacs sometimes celebrates Christmas but only, “when absolutely necessary.” When inquiring about their experience with their holiday traditions, Issacs replied that, “Hanukkah shifts aground every year it can go--it basically ranges from November to December, sometimes it actually overlaps Thanksgiving.” Lukacs added that on, “The first night, [of Hanukkah] we always have latkes, which are the best food EVER. Sometimes we visit relatives, but that's about it. There's not really one tradition we do.”
Lukacs and Issacs say they never really travel anywhere for Hanukkah, though they call their relatives because it's polite. Issacs gets presents every night for Haunukkah but Lukacs only gets them every other night. “Since I celebrate Christmas, I usually just get them every other night, which is sad.” Lukacs added that she usually celebrates Hanukkah, “When the sun goes down, you're technically supposed to do it then. But usually it ends up either really late in the evening, or at the right time.”
Isaac's favorite part of Huannakka is the food. “The food is delicious, actually last year we made Sufganiyot which is jelly donuts, for the first time. That was- that was delicious. I can’t begin to explain how good they are. And also latkes. Latkes are delicious, but you can get them everywhere. And last on the scale of food comes gelt, and it's just chocolate and there's way better chocolate in the world than just the store bought gold coins.”
Decoration is something Issacs' family normally doesn’t do, but this year Issacs is getting into decorating her home this year. “We usually don’t, But this year I decided I wanted to be annoying to all my Christian neighbors, so I decided to put a six-foot tall menorah on the side of our house. And a lot of string lights.”
This year the Lukacs family has two minoras because, “...last year we forgot the ancient menorah that has been at our house forever, so we had to get a last minute menorah.” When Isaacs was asked to give a brief history on Hanukkah, she responded,“Basically there's this guy, Antiochus and I can tell you how to spell that later, and he and he had and he was invading everyone so the Israelites have this temple, and they light there caldanabra every year and Antiochus was like ‘Yeah No way we're not gonna let you keep that.’”
“So they trashed the entire temple and the only thing left in there was the candelabra and a tiny little jar of oil so they put the oil in it. They put the oil in each of the candles and it lasted somehow, probably didn’t happen, but it burned for eight nights. And that's the legend.”
We as humans have developed many different holidays that many different people, even within our own student body, celebrate each year! The Winter Holidays are important to many of us, even for reasons that are different from our own.
