Rarely do Christmas and Hanukkah start on the same day, a phenomenon colloquially known as Chrismukkah. For people in mixed-faith relationships, the blending of the two holidays this year is a blessing and a curse.
“It’s nice to get it all done the same day,” said Marin Christensen of Duluth, Minn., a 33-year-old insurance-industry professional who took up Judaism about four years ago.
Yet preparing for the dual revelry required some negotiating with her fiancé, who celebrates Christmas. He wanted to put the Christmas tree in the front window, next to where she traditionally places her menorah with its burning candles.
“I had to point out the obvious fire hazard,” Christensen said. The tree is now safely nestled in a corner of the dining room.
Christmas and Hanukkah seldom overlap. Though the holidays technically begin on the same date every year, the latter is aligned with the Hebrew calendar, which is lunar-based and so it shifts in relation to the more commonly used solar calendar. The last time Christmas Eve and the beginning of Hanukkah coincided was in 2016, and the last time the first night of Hanukkah fell on Christmas Day—as it will again this year—was back in 2005.
About 63% of U.S. adults identified as Christian in a 2021 survey from Pew Research. Jews made up 2.4% of the U.S. population, including children, according to a 2020 study also from Pew.
It’s likely that many U.S. households observe both holidays, as interfaith relationships are fairly common. Nearly two in 10 Americans who are either married or living with a partner say their spouse or partner has a different religious affiliation than they do, according to research released in May from the Public Religion Research Institute.
Still, blended celebrations can be confusing for onlookers who are unfamiliar with the concept of Chrismukkah.
Half the exterior of Courtney Harrison-Geese’s and Jann Geese’s home in Pleasant Ridge, Mich., is adorned with blue and gold lights to represent Hanukkah; the other half has red and green lights to represent Christmas.
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