Watch List: Thanksgivukkah

The family gathers around the table, decorated with a cornucopia of gelt, and donned yarmulkes adorned with Pilgrim-inspired buckles. The starters include potato latkes with cranberry applesauce, while the main meal consists of Maneschewitz-brined roast turkey, sweet potato noodle kugel, challah-apple stuffing and horseradish-chive mashed potatoes. Pecan pie rugelach and rye pumpkin pie are featured as the desserts.

At least this is what BuzzFeed's Christine Byrne, a chef, imagines as the perfect Thanksgivukkah.

Nov. 28 will be both an American and Jewish holiday, as Thanksgiving falls on the first day of Hanukkah. Thanksgivukkah, the combination of the two holidays, will not happen again for over 70,000 years. In celebration of this rare occasion, Thanksgivukkah has its own social media accounts. Modern Tribe, an online Jewish gift shop, is selling festive T-shirts and posters and chefs like Byrne have created fusion menus. Duke Campus Rabbi Jeremy Yoskowitz noted that the itinerary of the annual alternative Thanksgiving break trip to Prague for juniors will be altered to incorporate the celebrations.

“[The holiday combination] is going to be awesome,” freshman Jess Nolan said. “Not only do I get to stuff my face with delicious food, but I also get presents and I get to spend Hanukkah with my family.”

Hanukkah, the eight-day Festival of Lights, celebrates the Maccabean revolt and the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem in 164 B.C. by lighting a menorah. In commemoration of the legendary cruse of oil lasting for eight days, it is traditional to eat foods that have been fried in oil, according to the Freeman Center for Jewish Life at Duke website. The Freeman Center hosts the annual Jewish Student Union's Hanukkah party, now known as Latkepalooza, in honor of the festival.

“Hanukkah foods are fatty,” according to the website for Jewish Life at Duke. “This is as a reminder of the oil that lasted so long in the Temple. As the saying goes, our bodies are temples. So why not get some oil in them?”

Discussion

Share and discuss “Watch List: Thanksgivukkah” on social media.