Many holidays fall in December ranging from New Year’s Eve to Kwanza. As many people know, Christmas is the huge holiday that is often associated with December, with the giving of gifts and food as a major part of this season. However, many people also celebrate Hanukkah during this time that celebrates different values, but have some similar activities. Although they are very different, both major holidays occur around the same time and there’s a big difference of these two important events.
Christmas is the celebration of Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s birth that was on December 25th, 4 B.C (Before Christ). However this date is often debated being that it’s so far in the past. Christmas often involves going to church to pray, giving gifts to one another, eating food, and spending time with family. Christmas is suppose to be a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but is also a day for Saint Nicolas Claus,or Santa Claus. As gifts are often associated with of Christmas, we talk about Santa Claus, a jolly plump man who gives gifts to children. In actuality, Nicolas Claus was a bishop of the Christian Church and a very wealthy man who inherited his money from his parents when they died. He was known for giving secret gifts to the homeless and people in poverty, so the idea of giving gifts for Christmas is associated with him. With this, the celebration of Christmas has been a national holiday in the U.S since 1870 and involves Douglas fir trees and eggnog as decorations and food. People cut down as many as 30 million “Christmas” trees during the holiday season, but plastic ones were invented in the late 1900’s, allowing us to celebrate Christmas without cutting down trees.