Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Articles written by Noam Zion


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  • How American Jews made Chanukah the holiday of religious freedom

    Noam Zion, JNS.org|Dec 19, 2014

    In the 21st century, Chanukah is celebrated by more Jews than any holiday other than Passover. Both are performed at least one night a year by almost 90 percent of American Jews, more than the number who observed Chanukah in the 1930s. The sociological reason is surely related to the competition with a commercialized, publicly observed Christmas and holiday season. Yet Jews could have also adopted a secularized Christmas, as many German Jews did in the 19th century and early 20th century. If social pressure and a desire to be like everyone...