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Diwali
Written by Ananya Anand
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What is Diwali?
Diwali is a special holiday called "The Festival of Lights." It is celebrated by the Hindus (Indians). It is held from October to November. In 2021, it was held on November 4th.
Why And How is it celebrated?
Diwali is a celebration of the victory of good over evil and light over darkness, which is why Diwali is known as the Festival of Light. There are two main theories of why Diwali is celebrated. In some regions, it is celebrated as the day when Lord Rama; his wife, Sita; and brother, Lakshmana, returned to their homeland after 14 years in exile. The villagers lit a path for Rama, who had defeated the demon king Ravana. Another theory is that it is a day of celebrations marking the slaying of demon king Narakasura by Lord Krishna.
Diwali is celebrated every autumn around the new moon and between the Hindu months, Kartika and Asvina. Just like Thanksgiving, Diwali is celebrated on a different day every year. This happens because the Hindu calendar is a lunar calendar. Diwali, on the calendar, usually falls in October or November.
Indians celebrate it with fireworks, family, colorful/glittering clay lamps, bonfires, and flowers. Then they worship Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Some say she goes wandering house to house to see if she gets welcomed in. People light the lamps and open the door to welcome Lakshmi.
The five days of diwali
The first day of Diwali is celebrated by cleaning your home and going shopping. It is considered good luck if you purchase some gold and silver items and buy at least one or two kitchen utensils.
On the second day, people decorate their homes with colorful clay lamps. They keep them outside as well. Then they create rangoli. Rangoli are designs created by colorful powders. Some even use flower petals too in their designs! Rangoli is created on the pavement outside people's houses.
The third day of Diwali is celebrated when families gather around and do a Lakshmi Puja. Puja is a prayer to the goddess, Lakshmi. The Lakshmi Puja is followed by fireworks, mouth-watering feasts and music. A puja is actually a celebration of three deities: Lakshmi, goddess of wealth; Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of wisdom; and Kuber, the lord of wealth.
The fourth day is celebrated as the first day of the new moon/day. Friends and relatives visit each other with gifts and blessings.
The fifth day is the last day; it celebrates siblings and their love for each other. Brothers and sisters celebrate with food, parties and gifts.
Hanukkah
Written by Ananya Anand
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What is Hanukkah?
Hanukkah is a holiday celebrated by Jewish people. It is also known as The Feast of Dedication. It is celebrated for 8 days. Hanukkah reaffirms the ideals of Judaism by the lighting of candles on each day of the festival. Hanukkah has come to be widely celebrated and remains one of the most popular Jewish religious holidays!
Why is it celebrated?
Hanukkah is the celebration of the Jewish people reclaiming the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in the second century BC when Antiochus Epiphane was there. Antiiochus Epiphane outlawed the Jewish religion and ordered Jews to worship the Greek gods. His army desecrated the city's holiest temple, the Second Temple, by creating an altar to honor Zeus and sacrificing pigs within its holy walls. After a rebellion, the temple was purified and a menorah was lit. There was enough oil to keep the temple lit for only one day. By some miracle, the oil lasted for eight days. This miracle inspired Jews to create an eight day festival, and that is why Hanukkah lasts eight nights and nine days.
Hanukkah Traditions
Hanukkah includes a variety of religious and nonreligious traditions. Six Hanukkah traditions include: lighting the menorah, Hanukkah music, playing dreidel, giving gifts to family and friends, eating fried/boiled food, and Hanukkah gelt.
Throughout the eight days of Hanukkah, Jewish families celebrate by eating latkes (fried potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (fried jelly doughnuts). Notice a theme? Traditional Hanukkah foods are often fried because they're reminders of the oil in the legendary Hanukkah story!
christmas
& family traditions
Written by Charlotte Smith and Ray Torres
Christmas was originally a Christian festival that celebrated the birth of Jesus, yet in the early 20th century it became a family holiday that both Christians and some non-Christians celebrate. Santa Claus is a popular non-Christian element connected to the Christmas holiday.
Christmas is celebrated December 25. People celebrate Christmas by gifting each other presents and coming together as family and friends. Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve in most European countries, but in North America, Christmas morning is when gifts are exchanged.
Many people have specific traditions they participate in when it is Christmas time. Here are some of our families' traditions at Christmas:
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Charlotte's family traditions
1. My family has a big brunch
2. My parents have to go downstairs before my sibling and me
3. My grandparents have a big Christmas dinner at their house
4. When we decorate the tree, we always have on the movie A Christmas Story
5. We take a photo in matching pajamas in front of the tree
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Ray's family traditions
1. We decorate the tree with homemade decorations
2. We rewatch Polar Express on Christmas Eve
3. We bake cookies
4. On Christmas Eve, we go to our grandparents' house and open our presents from them
5. We rewatch Nightmare Before Christmas on Christmas Eve
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New year'S EVE
is coming back!
Written by Corrine Halloran
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All about TimeS Square
Times Square is a specific place in New York City where people go to visit for the day, a vacation or a business trip. It’s the world’s busiest pedestrian area. Also, it's the location for each year's New Year's Eve celebration!
where has the NYE TIMES SQUARE celebration GONE?
Coming from a global pandemic that we call COVID 19, we have been through a lot. We've experienced deaths, developed vaccines and are now helping people recover from the virus. Due to COVID, the amount of people that were coming to Times Square, to celebrate New Year's Eve, was lowered. Many cases had skyrocketed in 2021.
How it’s coming back
Vaccines have played a big role in helping to bring back the New Year's celebration at Times Square. Some don't believe in the effectiveness of the vaccine and choose not to get vaccinated. Unfortunately, anyone who is not vaccinated cannot come to Times Square to ring in New Years. On another note, I think you should just get your vaccine because it helps the world, and it helps you get back on your feet.
2022 is striving!!
After a long year of masks and many other things bugging us we are so excited for a new year 2022!!!! After all of this we are still wearing masks and we are still ready for the new year! Now when new years rolled around so many people attended but with a mask. When the ball dropped people went crazy! Proposing and confetti cannons like no other everybody was excited for the new year 2022!!!!!!!
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