Celebration

Celebration of Kwanzaa Contextualized - Video -

As we taked about in the last article, the Kwanzaa is celebrated for seven days, starting the 26th of Devember. But very few people outside of the African-American community, know much about Kwanzaa, or understand the philosophy and symbolism of the celebration.

I hope that the following video helps to explain the origins of the celebration of Kwanzaa. This video presents some clarifications about what the first Kwanzaa celebrants had in mind, independent of the person of Ron Karenga, who was the driving force behind the celebration.

As always, feel free to leave any comments or ask questions.

 

Celebration of Kwanzaa

The African-American cultural holiday Kwanzaa, which means "first fruits," conceived and developed by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga started yesterday, the 26th of December. Kwanzaa seeks to enforce a connectedness to African cultural identity, and to focus on, and reflect upon the seven principles.

The modern celebration of Kwanzaa, which was first celebrated in the year 1966, is celebrated by Africans and African-Americans in America, from the 26th of December, to January 1st. Each day of the celebration focuses on one of the seven principles, and each of them are celebrated through singing, speaking, dancing and reciting from the traditional African heritage. And for every day of Kwanzaa, one candle is lit that represents each principle.

The seven principle of Kwanzaa are:

• unity
• self-determination
• collective work and responsibility
• cooperative economics
• purpose
• creativity
• faith

Kwanzaa is rooted in the first harvest celebrations developed from elements of the African heritage and seeks to enforce a connectedness to African cultural identity, provide a focal point for the gathering of African peoples, and to reflect upon the the seven principles, (Nguzo Saba.)  The four elements that made up the original African meaning of Kwanzaa were unity, awareness of ancestry and heritage, recommitment to traditional values, and reverence for creator and the creation.

The main focus of Kwanzaa where cultural expression is encouraged, is called Karamu, and is celebrated on the evening of  December 31st. The program for the Karamu generally involves a welcome, a remembrance of ancestry, a reassessment of situations, a recommitment to values, a rejoicing, a farewell statement, and a call for greater unity. This is a celebration that is practiced to bring all participants closer to their African roots.

The honoring traditions and the reaffirming of self worth through gift giving, is the focus of the last day of Kwanzaa. And because Kwanzaa emphasizes creativity, which is one of the seven principles, gifts are often made rather than bought.

Unlike Christmas or even Boxing day, the point of Kwanzaa is neith one of gift giving nor religious celebration, but a commemoration of heritage and togetherness. The original ideas behind the seven principles were to bring forth the harvest, and the guiding principles teach the values from African heritage. Kwanzaa serves to bring people together and remind them just how important they are to each other.

Celebration of Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day

Today, December 26th, Boxing Day is being celebrated in Australia, Britain, New Zealand, and Canada.

Boxing Day is a holiday that is usually spent with family and friends, enjoying good food, while sharing friendship and love. And much like some of our American holidays, the government buildings and small businesses are closed but the shopping centers remain open. Of course for many shoppers, it is a day to utilize the time to go out exchanging gifts or buying merchandise on sale, for their Christmas  celebration next year.

However, to  keep the tradition of Boxing Day alive, many families, businesses and organizations, will donate their money, time or services, to aid community projects like the Food Banks or they may provide gifts for the families or individuals who are less fortunate. Some of the families, organizations or businesses may choose to focus their support on an individual family that they are aware of, that is in need of financial assistance.

While it is rather clear how Boxing Day is celebrated, when it comes to the origins of Boxing Day and why it is celebrated, there seems to be a couple of different theories.

The first theory is that centuries ago, on the day after Christmas, members of the merchant class would give boxes containing food and fruit, clothing, and/or money to trades people and servants. The gifts were an expression of gratitude much like in today's society when people receive bonuses, from their employer, for a job well done. These gifts, given in boxes, gave the holiday it's name, "Boxing Day." The second theory is that Boxing Day comes from the tradition of the churches opening their alms boxes, which were used to collect money from wealthy church goers throughout the Christmas season. When opened, the money from the alms boxes was distributed to the poor, by the church clergy, the day after Christmas.

Sometime in the middle of the nineteenth century, under the reign of Queen Victoria, Boxing Day began. Thus Boxing Day, also known as St. Stephen's Day, became a way for the fortunate members of the upper class, to give gifts of goods or cash, to the less fortunate members of the lower class.

In my opinion, this is such a great extension, even if it is only one day, of the true meaning and spirit of Christmas. Why not celebrate Boxing Day with our own families, and make it a practice to celebrate a day when we give something back to help the less fortunate in our communities. Maybe you could identity a family in your church and volunteer to provide them with an offering of food or clothing. Or why not volunteer to buy a couple of toys for some children at a homeless shelter and deliver them the day after Christmas. The possibilities are endless.

It doesn't have to matter what county you live in on the planet. The simple principle of giving to others who are less fortunate than yourself can be put into practiced by us all.

Celebration of Chanukah (Part 2)

If you missed the first part of our introduction to Chanukah, which officially began on the evening of December 15, then you can quickly find part one through this link.

The Chanukah Menorah

Chanukah is a family feast that lasts eight days. The most important Chanukah tradition is the lighting of the menorah, known in Hebrew as the "hanukiya." A menorah is a candle-stand with nine branches. Eight candles, one for each day of Chanukah, are situated on each side of a taller candle in the middle. The taller candle, the shamash (“servant,”) is used to light the other candles.The menorah is lit after dusk, lighting the first candle on the right, then kindling an additional candle, moving from left to right each evening. As each candle is lit, special blessings are recited. Part of the Chanukah tradition also involves the giving small gifts each night of the festival.

The Dreidel

The Chanukah toy called a dreidel, has become a favorite toy of Jewish children. But throughout history, it used to have a very serious purpose. When the Syrians forbid the study of the Torah, the Jewish holy book, Jews who continued to study in secret, kept spinning tops called "sivivons," or dreidels. That way, if they were caught studying, they could quickly pretend that they had only been playing a game.

Outside of Israel, a dreidel has the Hebrew letters “nun,” “gimel,” “hay,” and “shin” on its four sides. These letters stand for “Nes gadol haya sham,” which means, “A great miracle happened there,” referring to Israel. An Israeli dreidel has the letter “pay” rather than “shin.” This stands for “poh,” meaning “here” .... “a great miracle happened here.”

The Hebrew letters also represent Yiddish words that tell how to play the dreidel game. Each player starts with the same amount of candies, chocolate coins called "gelt," (other tokens can be used,) and puts one token into a pot. Players take turns spinning the dreidel, waiting to see which letter lands face up.

Nun is for “nisht,” meaning, "nothing" ... "do nothing." Gimel is for “gants,” which means, "whole," .... "take the whole pot." Hay is for “halb,” which means, "half," .... "take half." Shin is for “shtel,” meaning, "to put in," .... "add to the pot." The game ends when a single player wins all the tokens.

Chanukah Foods

On of the most well-known of the Chanukah is the "latkes," or potato pancakes, that are cooked in oil. The serving of latkes during Chanukah is a custom that more than likely developed in Eastern Europe.  In Israel, the favorite Chanukah food is "sufganiya," a kind of jelly donut cooked in oil. In fact, many of the traditional foods served during Chanukah are cooked in oil, in remembrance of the oil that burned in the temple.

Another Chanukah tradition is the eating of dairy products, especially cheese delicacies. This custom signifies the remembrance of the Jewish heroine Judith, who according to legend, saved her village from Syrian attackers by feeding  wine and cheese to the Syrian general Holofernes. According to the story, when the general became drunk, she killed him, which caused his troops to flee.

To Learn More About the History, Customs and Traditions of Chanukah

Visit what is called the world's largest Chanukah website. This site has games, stories, recipes, Kabbalah Insights, and a lot more of interest. Visit the Chanukah site through this link. 

Celebration of Chanaukah Part 1)

The Celebration of Chanukah

Chanukah began at sundown yesterday, December 15, which is actually the 25th day of the Jewish calendar month of Kislev. Lasting for eight days and nights, it celebrates the triumphs, both religious and military, of the ancient Jewish heroes. The celebration of Chanukah includes games, festive foods and blessings, and tells a story of Jewish culture surviving in a non-Jewish world.

Chanukah, or Hanukah, (or even Hanukkah,) is known as the “Festival of Lights,” and is really a relatively minor holiday in the Jewish year. Over the years, it's proximity to Christmas, has brought greater attention to Chanukah, and the tradition of giving gifts, to the non-Jewish community.

The Story of Chanukah

About 2,200 years ago, (in 168 B.C.E.,) religious Jews, led by Mattathias the Hasmonean, and later his son Judah the Maccabee, took up arms against a Greek-Syrian ruler named Antiochus IV, who ruled Jerusalem.  Antiochus IV tried to force Greek culture and religion upon peoples in his territory and took over the great temple of Jerusalem, burned the holy books and condemned the scholars to death.

A rebellious group of men led by Judah the Maccabee, became known as the Maccabees. After three years of fighting, in the year 3597, or about 165 B.C.E., the Maccabees victoriously reclaimed the temple on Jerusalem's Mount Moriah.

Upon reclaiming the temple, they began to prepare for the cleansing and rededication of the temple. (In Hebrew, the word Chanukah means "dedication.") To accomplish this task, they needed to reestablish the eternal light, and for that they needed consecrated oil. The problem was that in the temple they found only enough purified oil to kindle the temple light for a single day, and it would take eight days to make new oil. But miraculously, the light continued to burn for eight days with only the small amount of all that they used.

A Spiritual Look at the Meaning of Chanukah

Celebrating Freedom: Remembering Pearl Harbor

In the mist of our preparations for holiday celebration, it is important that all Americans stop to acknowledge this day and it's significance in the history of our country.

On a Sunday morning, December 7th, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Forces stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When it was over, a total of 2,403 were dead, including 68 civilians. Another 1,143 servicemen and 35 civilians were wounded.

When I remember this infamous day, I can only pause to celebrate the freedoms that so many have died to preserve. It is because of the sacrifice of the many who died on that day, and the many more who continued to sacrifice and die in battles fought so far away, that I can celebrate my freedom.

And to the thousands of men and women that were a part of the Greatest Generation of Americans, who served our nation in the wake of Pearl Harbor, including the members of my family, please accept my heartfelt thanks.

(Click on the photos below to see a larger image.)

The first photo, National Archives #80G32574, shows the USS Shaw in floating dry dock, after being hit during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

One of a series of four photographs showing the exact moments that magazine of the USS Shaw exploded. National Archives #80G32573

Planning A Christmas Party (Part 1)

If you've thought about hosting or arranging some sort of a Christmas party this year, then it's about that time to finalize some plans. And to help you get started, I'll give you some party ideas and planning tips to help make your life a little bit easier. We'll start today by talking about the Christmas decorations.

First, regardless of where you are in your party planning preparations, one of the first things you will need to think about is the decorations. Christmas decorations are an important part of the holiday season, but they are an even bigger part of a Christmas party. They help to set a festive tone.

Your choice of Christmas decorations will probably vary depending on whether you are decorating your home, self-owned business or decorating the office.

When decorating your home, your options are wide-open. Things like personal decorating preferences, color combinations, style or era of decorating, amount of decorations, and choice between hand-made or store-bought decorations, just to name a few, are totally up to you and other interested family members.

But if you are arranging a party for the office, then your choices may not be that many. When planning a Christmas party for a work setting, the amount and type of decorations will usually be at the discretion of the management. And because the work setting may be comprised of individuals from varied ethnic and religious backgrounds, it is usually the "Holiday party" rather than a Christmas party that you will volunteer, or be asked, to organize.

Keeping that in mind then, when planning decorations for an office setting,  it's best to decide on planning a seasonal holiday party, with seasonal themes and decorations. The first thing you will want to do is set up a holiday planning group, comprised of a diverse group of employees. Then as a group, decide on what decorations are appropriate for the office. That way, all decisions about the holiday party, including decorating, will be generic and less offensive to anyone. Employees can recognize the holidays in the month of December that are meaningful to them with a variety of decorations, including a Menorah and a Kwanzaa Kinara and a Christmas tree.

The same will generally hold true for a small business. The important thing is to follow the lead of your employees. Ask them for ideas about how they might want to celebrate the holidays at work.

And if all else fails, and you find youself responsible for the decorating, keep in mind that there are many non-Christmas decorations that are generally acceptable when decorating an office or small business site.

Instead of the traditional Christmas decorations, seasonal themed decorations, things like snowflakes and snowmen, reindeer, pinecones, decorative glass ornaments displayed in a bowl, red and green floral arrangements, and poinsettia plants, will add an air of celebration to any setting without screaming "Merry Christmas" to everyone present.

When shopping for your decorations, you should be able to find all your generic holiday decorations wherever Christmas decorations are sold. It's more about the individual decorating pieces you choose that will shift the theme from Christmas to the more generic holiday theme.

So there you have it. The first step in planning a Christmas party, deciding on the decorations. And I know that some of you are thinking ... "What about a guest list ... isn't that the first thing I need to do?"

Well absolutely you need a guest list (you do know who you're inviting don't you?) but here's my thinking.

If you are looking to find the largest selection of Christmas decorations or a particular type, you are advised to start your shopping early. And in reality, you should have started this in late October, as soon as the Christmas decorations hit the store shelves. But now ... it's early December. As Christmas approaches, you will find that many retail stores sell out of their Christmas decorations and very few replenish their stock. Therefore, if you are planning on decorating your home or place of business for your Christmas, or holiday party, you will want to get started now.

Next time, we'll look at some themes for your party.

National Adoption Month - What We Can Do To Celebrate (Part 2)

As promised yesterday, today we'll look at a couple of more suggestions for actions we can take to help the foster care systems in our communities, with their adoption efforts.

The foster care system is usually the first step in the adoption process for many kids, and so many of them have been waiting to be adopted for a long time. National Adoption Month is an excellent time to think about some of the things that we can all do, no matter where we live, to ease the burden of the system and help make a difference to a child.

We've also published a growing list of adoption resources. Feel free to let us know if you have any additional adoption web sites you would like us to add to the list.

• The foster care system is always in need of families that can provide respite care to other foster families, or to do emergency foster care. Emergency placement can mean having a foster child in your home for a short period of time, anywhere from 24 hours to 30 days. Contact your local child and family services organization to learn how to obtain a foster care license.
• Become a Court-Appointed Special Advocate/CASA worker. CASA workers are volunteers that work with the court and the foster homes to see that the children are not lost in the system and that their needs and wants are heard. For more information check out the CASA website.
• If you are affiliated with a group or organization, why not pool your resources and buy Christmas presents for  children in the group homes in your area. Make the gifts personal for each child. Call the home and ask staff for specific recommendations for the kids.
• Some churches and religious groups, sponsor collection drives for various causes, both locally and abroad. Why not ask your religious leaders about ways to support foster care kids at various times throughout the year.
• Share what you have learned with others. Let them know that in the US alone, there are an estimated 523,000 children in foster care, and  more than 119,000 of them are waiting to be adopted.

As we celebrate with our families this holiday season, remember that there are thousands of children in foster homes awaiting adoption. If there is any one thing that each of us can do, then together we will begin to make a difference.

Remember, even the smallest action we make is better than no action at all.

National Adoption Month: Adoption Resources

There are many resources available to those considering adopting a child from foster care.

Listed here are just a few of them to help you get started. If you know of any additional resources that you would like to see listed here, please add them in the comment area, and we'll check them out.

1. North American Council for Adoptable Children - www.nacac.org
2. Children's Welfare League of America (CWLA) - www.cwla.org/programs/adoption
3. Adopt America Network - www.adoptamericanetwork.org
4. National Adoption Center - www.adopt.org
5. Adopt Us Kids - www.adoptuskids.org
6. Rainbow KidsChild - www.rainbowkids.com
7. Child Welfare Information Gateway - www.childwelfare.gov/
8. International Adoption - www.adoptassoc.com

National Adoption Month - What We Can Do To Celebrate

Believe it or not, we can all get behind the efforts of so many great agencies that are working very hard to get kids adopted. We can help to celebrate National Adoption Month, even if we, ourselves, are not in a position to adopt a child.

Here are a few suggestions to help us take some action:

• Volunteer at a local home for children. These homes are usually one of the first stops on the foster care journey for many kids. Staff at these group homes are usually over-whelmed and desperately looking for volunteers to spend some quality time with specific children, to help individualize them from the group setting. They are also in need of volunteers to do many other duties:
  • Sorting through donations
  • Reading to the children
  • Playing games
• Join the community's Big Brother/Big Sister program. Just a few hours a week could not only be a time to have some fun, but could also make a very big difference in the life of a child.
• Like to drive? Well many foster care agencies need folks to take children and staff to a variety of appointments such as to the doctor's or the dentist's office. Basically anywhere the kids need to go both within and outside of the community, they usually could use a ride.
• Donate some items of good quality and repair to the children's homes or local foster care agency. Did you know that many children go from home to home with their belongings in trash bags? The bottom line is that most of these kids have very little to their name. Some suggestions for donations are:
  • Suitcases or backpacks
  • Shoes and clothes
  • Outer wear, boots, hats, mittens or gloves
  • Toys
  • School supplies
  • Personal care items
  • Christmas presents

These are just a few suggestions for things we can all do in our communities to help celebrate National Adoption Month. But I know that if we think about it, we could probably think of more.

RainbowKids.com is a monthly on-line International Adoption magazine. They are the largest, and oldest, online website helping people to adopt from multiple countries. They are also the largest photolisting website for waiting children. They are not an adoption agency, nor do they directly place children into adoptive families. They are a voice of advocacy for the children waiting for families. They offer, free of charge, guides on special needs adoption, "How To Adopt," "Getting Started," "After You Adopt" and much more. They have an enormous and constantly updated database of adoption articles, as well as an extensive resource area.

Tomorrow we'll look at a couple of more suggestions for actions we can take to help the system in their adoption efforts, and I'll post a list of adoption resources.

Remember, even the smallest action we make is better than no action at all.