Unlike many Jewish families on TV, my family doesn’t simply order a takeaway and ignore the existence of Christmas. Instead, we celebrate the holiday, sitting at the same table we gathered around months earlier for Rosh Hashanah. Only this time, we trade honey cake for Christmas pudding, and there’s always someone making a joke about disappointing our ancestors as they pass around the pigs in blankets.

We, of course, also celebrate Hanukkah. Throw in my birthday and, growing up, December truly was the most wonderful time of the year. But with two light-filled, present-giving celebrations at once, which deserves the crown as the ultimate December festival?

Food

Starting with the most important category; as any grandchild of a Jewish grandmother can attest, family gatherings come complete with more food than is humanly possible to consume. Unfortunately, I’m not a lover of oily foods – the very point of Hanukkah cuisine – and so, I fail to appreciate the abundant latkes and doughnuts. Thus, Christmas food must take the cake here. After all, roast potatoes are tough to beat.

“We’d fight over how many baubles were too many baubles as George Michael vowed not to get his heart broken again on the radio”

Traditions

Growing up, decorating the Christmas tree was my favourite tradition. Each year, my mum would instruct my dad not to get a big tree, and he would, without fail, return home with the biggest possible one he could find. Then, we’d fight over how many baubles were too many baubles as George Michael vowed not to get his heart broken again on the radio.

The Hanukkah traditions in my house are relatively straightforward: lighting the hanukkiah. We’ve had the same hanukkiah my whole life, featuring a string of children holding hands with a slightly creepy anthropomorphic pot of oil. Recently, we’ve even had to carry out some DIY repairs, including supergluing several children back to their bases, only to realise the mistake of using a highly flammable substance to repair a candle holder.

There’s something nostalgic in decorating the tree year after year. There’s also something profound in lighting candles just as previous generations have done. Considering the events of the last few days, part of me was conflicted about writing a fun Hanukkah article, but that may actually be the best representation of Hanukkah: the will to carry on celebrating against the odds.

Ultimately, this category is a draw – both traditions hold a lot of importance for me and tie me to different aspects of my identity.

“Nothing is fiercer than the rivalries forged over the dreidel”

Games

The winner here feels clear-cut: only one holiday has a game that is synonymous with it. I will admit that I have only ever played dreidel once, and that was during a R.E. lesson at school. Still, I cannot deny the power of that little spinning top to bring arguments to Jewish households each December. No matter how competitive your Christmas game of charades, nothing is fiercer than the rivalries forged over the dreidel.

Songs

Like the last category, this, too, has an obvious winner. Though it can feel like Mariah is on an endless loop during the festive period, there is a plethora of Christmas songs compared to the meagre offering of Hanukkah music – and there are only so many times you can listen to ‘Oh Dreidel’ (that number is once). Perhaps I need to broaden my repertoire – any recommendations would be welcome – but, until then, Christmas music comes out on top.

Presents

Eight days of presents sounds great. And it is, for a child, pretty great. For my parents, however, this was a pretty stressful ordeal.

On the other hand, storing Hanukkah presents was much easier for my parents. Unlike Christmas gifts, they didn’t need to stash them under their bed or dodge questions about why the presents were not in the North Pole. Hanukkah also did not keep me up at night like Christmas; not out of excitement, but out of fear of a strange man walking around our house in the middle of the night.

As with traditions, this category is a toss-up. Even as a kid, I was grateful I could experience the joy of unwrapping gifts for both occasions.

“Every Christmas cracker winner is congratulated with a ‘Mazel tov!’”

The best of both worlds?

Ultimately, with the two celebrations in such close succession, it’s difficult for them not to influence each other. Our Hanukkah presents always end up wrapped in Christmas paper. The hanukkiah sits proudly next to the Christmas tree (yet another questionable decision regarding fire safety). Christmas dinner typically begins with chicken soup (a hallmark of Ashkenazi Jewish culture), and every Christmas cracker winner is congratulated with a “Mazel tov!”

If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll have realised that Christmas has won by one point. Yet, in the festive spirit, I’m going to call it a tie. Both holidays are dear to me, and I look forward to many more years of celebrating. The more the merrier!

Happy Christmas and Hanukkah everyone!