Cammie Wilks, Campus Carrier features editor

Bella Patton, Campus Carrier asst. features editor

As the winter months approach, Berry students and faculty look forward to ending the semester with winter break. After a long four months of classes, studying and balancing busy schedules, winter break is a way for the Berry community to unwind and prepare for the next semester. Students and faculty get to relax and spend time with their families and friends, enjoying time off from academics in preparation for the school year.

Berry’s campus is decorated for the holidays. Christmas trees and lights have been placed and strung around campus to get students in the holiday spirit. However, sometimes it can seem that Christmas is the sole focus during the holiday season, especially when there are other holidays during the winter season that often go unnoticed. From the candle lights of Hanukkah to the pagan celebration of the winter solstice, winter break is marked by diverse customs, rituals and observances.

One lesser-known winter holiday is Yule, which is typically associated with paganism. Yule celebrates the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year and the astronomical beginning of the season. This year, Yule will take place on Dec. 21st.

“I think the most important part about Yule is the time for reflection and welcoming the return of the sun,” junior Rowan Pollock, who does not identify with an organized religion but celebrates Yule, said in an email. “After Samhain [the end of the harvest season, welcoming winter around Halloween], winter has come. It is often a cold, dark and gloomy time, especially up in Northern Europe.”

According to Pollock, Yule is an opportunity to express gratitude for making it through the winter months and to prepare the heart and home for the return of warmth. Those that follow certain forms of paganism celebrate the tradition of burning the Yule log, which involves burning a large log, typically from the winter solstice, for good luck, warmth and fortune. Many pagans also arrange feasts, give gifts and decorate their homes with evergreens and candles. Others stay up throughout the night.

“The night is a quiet, meditative time where you stay up until you see the sunrise.,” Pollock said. “Sometimes pulling an all nighter is hard, but I enjoy it for Yule much more than for New Years.”

The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is also around winter break. This year, Hanukkah falls between Dec. 14 and Dec. 22. Hanukkah is a celebration of the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and features a tradition with oil that is unique to Judaism. Here, Jewish communities celebrate the miracle of the oil, in which a small amount of oil was found in the Temple. Despite there only being enough for one day, the oil burned for eight days.

“There is celebrating by eating foods that use oil because it’s related to the miracle,” Anne Lewinson, professor of anthropology and member of the Rodeph Sholom congregation in Rome, said. “So that’s why things like fried foods, such as donuts, donuts with jelly in the middle and fried potato pancakes are associated with the holiday.”

Hanukkah is also famous for the lighting of eight candles, or the Hanukkah menorah. The menorah has eight spots for candles, and throughout the eight days Hanukkah is celebrated, a candle is lit with the 9th candle each night each night. There is also an additional ninth spot for the shamash, or the helper candle, which is used to light the other candles. The candles are placed in the menorah from right to left, but are lit from left to right. This is known as the Festival of Lights.

“It’s more of a pure celebration than some of the holidays in the sense that there isn’t a dimension of regret or repentance or self-deprivation in one way or another,” Lewinson said. “It does emphasize giving gifts, including others in generosity and celebrating together, so that’s always a nice thing.”

While many have the idea that Hanukkah is similar to Christmas, the holiday has many differences.  Although both holidays share the feeling of gratitude and some Jewish families give gifts, Hanukkah is more about the celebration of the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees defeated the Greek-Syrian army. The holiday is also known as the Festival of Lights. Unlike Christmas, Hanukkah is also often considered a minor Jewish holiday. Other holidays such as Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, are seen as the most important.

“Hanukkah is, I think, in spirit, very different from Christmas because it’s about the restoration of a Jewish nation and it’s based on a military victory,” Lewinson said. “It’s much more about how we were enabled to live autonomously and independently, and the restoration of the faith as being commonly practiced among most folks.”