A MOMENT WITH THE JOYOUS HOLIDAY SEASON

December is a month of illuminations, decorations, and relaxation. It is a wonderful time to decree wishes to come true. December provides the confidence, the humility, and the harmonization individuals need for a bright and new beginning in life.

The month of December contains numerous holidays, feasts, and endeavors. The Newton County Sheriff’s Office comprises, recognizes, respects, as well as serves a culturally and spiritually diverse population. Accordingly, I want to use this message to specifically highlight three primary holidays that are observed in the month of December: Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas.

Also known as the “Festival of Lights,” Hanukkah is an eight-day Jewish holiday celebrating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the Second Century B.C. Hanukkah is the Hebrew word for “dedication.”

Hanukkah is associated with the time when Israel was struggling for existence. After a successful revolt against a tyrannical monarch, the Jewish community was successful in locating only a small amount of pure olive oil (enough to last only one day) that had escaped contamination by the Greeks to light the Menorah. However, miraculously, the oil lasted only eight days; just enough time for new oil to be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

According to exhausted research conducted, the Holy Land was controlled by the Seleucids in the second century BCE, Syrian Greeks, a faction of people who attempted to coerce the people of Israel to accept Greek culture and beliefs, instead of mitzvah observance and belief in God.

Against all possibilities, a small group of faithful but inadequately armed Jews, led by Judas Maccabeus, aka, Judah Maccabee, defeated one of the most powerful armies on earth, forced the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God. Hannukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple.

The word Hanukkah means dedication. It is not just about lighting candles; It is about dedicating and rededicating oneself to a life by God’s Word. It is a Jewish thought that every human being is supposed to make of himself/herself, a temple, a sanctuary by learning the values of God’s Word. In this way, he/she spreads light into the world.

Jewish people light a candle on each of the eight evenings in remembrance of God’s provision. They also play games, exchange gifts, enjoy family dinners and attend dramas and concerts at synagogues and schools.

Kwanzaa is an annual holiday affirming African family and social values and is celebrated in the United States from December 26th to January 1st. The name Kwanzaa, as well as the celebration itself, were invented by Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana studies at California State University in Long Beach in 1966. He is also an important figure in Afrocentrism. Karenga borrowed the word kwanza, meaning “first,” from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, adding the seventh letter, an extra a, to ensure the word was long enough to accommodate one letter for each of the seven children present at an early celebration. The name Kwanzaa is not itself a Swahili word. The concept of Kwanzaa draws on Southern African firstfruits celebrations. Kwanzaa is a time of learning, family, and celebration. During the week of Kwanzaa, families and communities come together to share a feast, to honor the ancestors, affirm the bonds between them, and to celebrate African and African American culture.

Each day they light a candle to highlight the principle of that day and to breathe meaning into the principles with various activities, such as reciting the aphorisms or writings of great Black thinkers and writers, reciting original poetry, African drumming, and sharing a meal of African diaspora-inspired foods. The table used for such commemoration, is decorated with the essential symbols of Kwanzaa, such as the Kinara (Candle Holder), Mkeka (Mat), Muhindi (corn to represent the children), Mazao (fruit to represent the harvest), and Zawadi (gifts). One might also see the colors of the Pan-African flag, red (the struggle), black (the people), and green (the future), represented throughout the space and in the clothing worn by participants. The colors are claimed to be the colors for all the people of the African diaspora, led by Marcus Garvey. His most famous economic venture was a shipping company known as the Black Star Line, a counterpart to a white-owned company called the White Star Line. Garvey started the shipping company in 1919, to promote trade but also to transport passengers to Africa.

Christmas is both a sacred religious holiday and a worldwide cultural and commercial phenomenon. It is commemorated annually on December 25th. For two millennia, people around the world have been observing it with traditions and practices that are both religious and