Thanksgivukkah 2013: Thanksgiving And Hanukkah Combine To Create Super Holiday

Is your favorite holiday Thanksgiving? Hanukkah? What about Thanksgivukkah?

Yes, that’s right. This is a very special year. The first day of Hanukkah will fall on Thanksgiving this year and you know what that means… Thanksgivukkah.

According to the NY Daily News, people are actually celebrating the holiday and they are pretty excited for it. Why? Well, it’s a pretty rare occurrence. The last time it happened was in 1888 and it won’t happen for a very long time.

Basically, this is your one and only time to celebrate Thanksgivukkah.

Jonathan Mizrahi, a quantum physicist at the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, said that it could be thousands of years until Hanukkah and Thanksgiving coincide again.

Mizrahi said: “It’s not going happen again, at least not for a very, very long time. This is more than once in lifetime. Actually, as far as we know, it’s once ever.”

Which brings us to this: How exactly do you celebrate Thanksgiving and Hanukkah at the same time?

Well, you could get a menurkey (a turkey in the shape of a menorah) or you could celebrate with some pumpkin latkes.

Rabbi David Paskin, who wrote “The Ballad Of Thanksgivukkah,” said: “It’s pretty amazing to me that in this country we can have rich secular and rich religious celebrations, and that those of us who live in both worlds can find moments when they meet and can really celebrate that convergence. There are a lot of places in the world where we would not be able to do that.”

Dana Gitell, a Boston based marketing specialist, has created a Twitter and Facebook page for the holiday.

Gitell said: “There are amazing similarities between the Pilgrims’ quest for religious freedom and what the Maccabees were fighting for…. This a great opportunity for Jewish Americans to celebrate this country and for everyone to acknowledge the greatness of our shared religious freedoms.”

Are you going to celebrate Thanksgivukkah? Keep an eye on this kickstarter campaign if you want to get a menurkey.