CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — This year marks a rare convergence on the holiday calendar: the first night of Hanukkah falls on Christmas Day.
It’s an overlap that has only happened five times since 1900. Religious leaders say, together, the two holidays, often referred to as “Chrismukkah,” resonate with universal messages that feel especially significant in times of global division and uncertainty.
Hanukkah, Judaism’s Festival of Lights, celebrates two miracles: the victory of the Maccabees, a small Jewish army, over the far larger Greek forces, and the lasting of a small amount of oil for eight days in the menorah of the rededicated temple. While Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ…