Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Sankranti: how CMU celebrates religions, winter holidays

According to Engage Central, there are 18 faith-based student organizations on campus, which include the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions. Winter holidays give CMU students the chance to spend time with family, celebrate their faith and do good for the community. 

Sara Moslener, a religion faculty member, said the most common religion in the U.S. is Christianity.

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“Culturally, Christianity is an official religion,” Moslener said. "All of our calendars are built around Christian holidays in the United States." 

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." 

Moslener listed other religions that have been brought to the U.S. including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Yoruba traditions. The Pew Research Center website said other faiths represented in the U.S. include Unitarianism, Paganism and Native American religions.

Here is a look at some of the faiths represented at CMU and their holiday practices. 

Judaism – Hanukkah 

Judaism is an ethnic religion with a faith in one God and its prophets that has spread all over the world. The Hillel International website said 3% of undergraduate and 1% of graduate students at CMU are Jewish. 

Jamie Haisma, a CMU senior studying graphic design, is the president of Hillel at CMU – a student organization with 15 members that celebrates Jewish culture, arts, traditions and history. Members don't have to be Jewish, she said.

The group is supervised by the Hillel Campus Association of Michigan (HCAM), which also provides an opportunity for Jewish students to visit Israel and learn more about their culture. Haisma said she was in the program over the summer.

On Nov. 29, Hillel at CMU members had a Friendsgiving with Jewish recipes from home. 

Haisma said Mount Pleasant doesn’t have Jewish services or foods -- that’s why the RSO celebrates more of the cultural side of Judaism. Last year, Hillel had a group dinner in November for Hanukkah, a Jewish winter holiday. This year there will be no Hanukkah events on campus because the dates – Dec. 19 to 26 – are during winter break. 

Hanukkah is considered to be a holy miracle, Haisma said. The holiday comes from an ancient war when Jewish people had only enough oil left to burn their lanterns for one night. In the darkness, they would have been vulnerable to enemies, but the oil lasted eight nights. 

The tradition of Hanukkah is to light candles for each of the eight nights of the holiday. There are traditional Hanukkah prayers when lighting the candles. Jewish people celebrate and eat traditional foods with their families. 

“The holiday itself, at least in my experience when we get together, is more of an opportunity to be with family and friends,” Haisma said. “Food and family dinner are a big centerpiece to any Jewish holiday.” 

Traditional holiday foods, she said, include latkes, a fried potato pancake mixed with onions, vegetables and spices. 

“They’re really good. It’s like a glorified hashbrown,” Haisma said. 

Other food traditions are noodle casserole, corned beef, turkey and chicken dishes. Haisma’s favorite dish is knish – potato dumplings. A dessert that her mother makes is seven layer cake, which is just what it sounds like – seven layers of cake with chocolate. 

Haisma said there are no traditional Hanukkah decorations. She has a Hanukkah bush decorated with ornaments, like coins and dreidels. 

“Hanukkah is not as festive as Christmas, as far as decorations, activities and stuff,” Haisma said. “It is mostly about candles and the food.” 

Traditionally, parents give presents to their children each of the eight nights. Haisma said her parents would start with a small one and give the most meaningful gift on the last night. 

Haisma said Hanukkah is the most well-known holiday among non-Jewish people, but is actually not that major of a holiday compared to Passover, which will be in April. Passover tells the beginning story of the Jewish people and is considered the most important Jewish holiday, she said. 

Paganism/Wicca – Yule 

Paganism consists of religious traditions inspired by pre-Christian traditions from mostly Europe. 

Laurel Zwissler is a religion faculty member at CMU, and said Paganism is a category of religious traditions in nature, personal independence, celebrating women and “having fun of the world." For example, eating good food, not being ashamed of their sexuality and putting good into their community.

Wicca is a type of Paganism, Zwissler said. It takes its lineage from Great Britain and is inspired by resistance to the historical prosecution of witchcraft. Wiccans are also called witches. 

While Paganism is a broader term for many different beliefs that Pagans decide to follow, wiccans have a strict theology of two gods: a goddess – associated with the three phases of the moon, and a horned god – her consort. 

There is no active community of Pagans at CMU, but Zwissler said that Paganism does not require a community or a church, and many Pagans practice individually. 

“Pagans are unique and different from any other kinds of religions,” Zwissler said.

The upcoming Pagan winter holiday is the Winter Solstice, also known as Yule. It is the shortest day and the longest night of the year, which is Dec. 21 this year. 

Zwissler said on Yule, people mark the darkest day and celebrate the sun, reflecting on their year and making plans for the next one, as the light will soon come back.

“It’s a pretty joyful time of year,” Zwissler said. “It’s a soul-feeding holiday.” 

In Wiccan tradition, Yule is when the sun is born. It is one of the major holidays that are called sabbaths. There are eight sabbaths throughout the year – an annual cycle of festivals.

Traditionally people light candles for the Winter Solstice, make a bonfire or burn a Yule log. 

“(Pagans do) the kind of things that people as humans hunger for when it’s so dark,” Zwissler said. “You bring that light into the world.” 

People also get together with their friends and communities. They eat cakes, drink ale and exchange gifts. The Christmas tree that Christians adopted is known to Pagans as a Yule tree. 

“Many of the traditions that Western culture has around Christmas, Pagans would tell you ... actually come ... from Pagan practices,” Zwissler said. 

Pagans also value giving back to their communities. They may look to volunteering, donation drives and other things to help communities in a dark and difficult time of the year. 

Zwissler said individually, Pagans on campus can light a candle, reflecting on what the year meant for them and what they would like to see when light comes back into the world. 

“Just because we don’t see any public community event for Pagans in Mount Pleasant right now, that doesn’t mean the Solstice isn’t being celebrated by Pagans in Mount Pleasant,” Zwissler said. “One distinction that Paganism often makes between itself and other religions is that they don’t need to do a big public thing and claim all the space to authentically be marking the holiday.”

The next Pagan holiday in winter will be in February, Imbolc, which welcomes the coming of spring, Zwissler said. 

Zwissler said the history of witchcraft, Wicca and magic is discussed in her classes, REL 302.

Hinduism – Sankranti 

Hinduism originated in India, and has diverse winter traditions. Each state in India has its own type of winter holiday celebrating the harvest and a sun god.

Sreeja Muskula is a graduate student studying information systems who is from Telangana, a south-central state in India. Muslula said her state celebrates Sankranti, a winter holiday that welcomes the second harvest of the year. Sankranti happens Jan. 14 to 16.

A variation of Sankranti, for example, in the south state of Tamil Nadu is Pongal, which, according to Britannica, is a celebration of winter solstice. 

Muskula said Sankranti is a three-day celebration. On the first day, people wake early in the morning and burn everything that's wooden and old enough to be burned in their house. Later, families get together to make rangoli, an Indian art they use to decorate their houses with. Muskula said making rangoli takes the most time over the holiday. 

On the second day, people cook traditional dishes and worship Surya, a god of the sun, thanking him for the harvest. On the final day, families and friends get together and spend time with each other.

Muskula said her favorite dish during Sankranti is rice and curry. 

People also decorate houses with flowers like marigolds and mango leaves. 

A big part of Sankranti celebration is a kite competition. People take part in a contest on who can fly a kite the highest.

“It’s a good time,” Muskula said. “We’ll wait every year for that.” 

Islam – Eid

Islam is a religion based on worshipping one God – Allah.  

Salma Abdelgawad, a CMU junior studying mechanical engineering, is a vice president of Muslim Student Association at CMU.

Abdelgawad said the five pillars of Islam are faith in one God and its prophet Muhammad, prayers, fasting at Ramadan, charity and pilgrimage to Makkah for whoever can afford it physically and financially.

Islam is also based on believing previous prophets like Adam, Noah, Moses and Jesus, Abdelgawad said. Muslims believe Jesus was a prophet of God; together with Mary and the angel Gabriel he is mentioned in the Qur’an, the book of Islam.

Two major holidays of Islam are Eid-ul-fitr and Eid-ul-adha. Abdelgawad said they may or may not happen in winter. Holidays follow the lunar calendar, which means Eid's dates can fall on any season. Eid-ul-fitr is celebrated on the first day of the Islamic calendar and Eid-ul-adha is on the tenth day of the twelfth month. This year, neither of the holidays happen in winter. 

Eid-ul-fitr marks the end of Ramadan, a 30-day month during which Muslim fast, read the Qur’an, pray and give charity. In the U.S. it will be on April 21 and end April 22, 2023. 

Eid-ul-adha is a celebration during pilgrimage, Abdelgawad said. It celebrates the memory of the prophet Ibrahim’s sacrifice he was willing to make for Allah, and will take place June 28 and 29, 2023. 

“Today we continue to celebrate Eid-ul-adha and make our own dedication to Allah and in remembrance of Ibrahim,” Abdelgawad said. 

In Muslim countries, Eids are national holidays. People celebrate them for around five days. 

“Eids are about friends and family celebrating and spending time together and with their local community,” Abdelgawad said.

People wake up early in the morning, put their best clothes on and attend special Eid prayers at mosques, Abdelgawad said. 

“Eid means a time for great feasts, sweet treats and Eid gifts shared between elders to their children,” Abdelgawad said.

A big part of Eids, Abdelgawad said, is charity, such as giving food to the poor. 

Another tradition is an animal sacrifice “to remember Ibrahim’s sacrifice and remind themselves of the need to submit the will of God,” Abdelgawad said. People share it with family, friends and the poor. 

Christianity – Christmas 

Christianity is based on a belief in Jesus Christ and includes Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy. Moslener said the differences of each have been established throughout history. 

In the 10th century, the Christian church split into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, with differences in theology, hierarchy and visuals icons and statues. 

Protestantism came 500 years later, when Europe faced a reformation to lessen the Church’s power.

Christmas, one of the main Christian holidays, is celebrated on Dec. 25, as it believed to be Jesus’ birthday. 

There are around a dozen Christian communities registered on Engage Central.

Jessy Stark is an associate campus minister of His House, a Christian student organization and a non-denominational church with 75 current members. The RSO has church staff from His House and CMU students, who run small group meetings and worship. 

His House meets every Thursday for a church service. Nov. 29 was dedicated to a Christmas celebration. Members got together, sang Christmas songs and did end-of-the-year testimonies. 

“For us (church members) it’s much more than (a) Christmas tree, Santa Claus and Jingle Bells,” Stark said. “We get to celebrate the birth of Jesus.” 

Cassie Isenberger, a CMU junior studying meteorology who took a part at the event, is one of the leaders of the Bible studies. 

“Christmas is a time to spend with family,” Isenberger said. “It’s a fun time to be with family and the time of giving.” 

Isenberger said her favorite Christmas tradition is cutting down the Christmas tree with her family. Her family also gets together for a soup night and to make lefse – a Norwegian pancake. 

CMU junior Kiah Bleicher and her friend Julianna Witting said Christmas, for them, is about spending time with family. Bleicher said her favorite tradition is brunch at her grandma’s house for Christmas. As a part of Christmas tradition, Bleicher’s family also goes to church on Christmas Eve. 

When she was a child, Bleicher loved nativity scenes. Her favorite part about them was when her grandma would let her and her siblings to hide figures of baby Jesus and then they would reveal them on Christmas. 

Witting, when sharing her family tradition, said she stays home, watches Christmas movies and hangs out with her family. Her favorite Christmas dish is lefse.