Some are calling it a “once in a lifetime experience.” It has provoked unprecedented originality, especially new recipes, that challenge even the most experienced Jewish mothers. And if your company specializes in holiday treats, you would be a fool not to capitalize on the phenomenon gracing the holiday season this year. Forget Chrismukah –this year, it’s Thanksgivukah.
Most of us have “liked” the Facebook page and drooled over the Buzzfeed article trending about Thanksgivukah, but let’s get some facts straight. This year, the first night of Hanukah is on November 27th, and Thanksgiving is the following day. In other words, Thanksgiving and the first full day of Hanukah will collide for the first time since 1918. However, since some reporters and bloggers are not fully aware that a Jewish holiday begins at the night and not during the day, they have incorrectly interpreted this festival clash. For those of us waiting for our Thanksgiving dinner to be lit in chorus with the first Hanukah candle, we have another 77,000 years to go. And the last time that phenomenon occurred was all the way back in 1888. The Associated Press even dutifully recognized the occurrence with an article entitled, “Gobble Tov.”
The roots of Thanksgivukah can be traced back to a year ago. Dana Gitell, a professional marketing specialist from Massachusetts, claims to have coined “Thanksgivukah” in 2012 when she realized the incredible promotional opportunities available for the 2013 holiday season. Gitell quickly copyrighted the new term, and together with her sister created several clever Thanksgivukah products, the most popular being a t-shirt playing on the familiar Woodstock slogan. It reads, “8 Days of Light, Liberty, and Latkes.”
Gitell’s shirts are sold on ModernTribe.com along with some other festive products. But Thanksgivukah proves that you don’t need to be a marketing specialist to come up with innovative holiday merchandise. Enter the “menurkey,” a turkey shaped menorah invented and patented by nine-year-old New Yorker Asher Weintrub. Through Asher’s Kickstarter campaign and the help of his parents, he had already grossed $45,000 by the middle of October.
While decorations and clever slogans certainly add to a festive mood, they are only secondary to food. One would be remiss to even consider Thanksgiving, and especially any Jewish holiday, without constructing a delicious celebratory menu. Manischewitz, a brand commonly associated with its kosher-for-Passover goods that occupy shelves year round, has taken full advantage of Thanksgivukah. Both Hanukah and Thanksgiving are family-oriented holidays that would be incomplete without their traditional meals. Manischewitz’s website has been revamped for Thanksgivukah with a festive menurkey on the home page. The company is offering a new ready-to-serve Turkey broth this year, and there is even an online forum where Jewish-American foodies can swap recipes such as cranberry latkes and turkey pastrami matzah ball soup.
With all of the novelty surrounding Thanksgivukah, one might wonder why it didn’t experience this form of popularity back in 1888. Compared to the enthusiasm for the holiday clash this year, a simple headline of “Gobble Tov” is, quite frankly, pathetic. The Thanksgivukah buzz started with a Facebook group and continued with hashtags on Twitter leading up to its climax around October. While widespread editorials have attempted to cover the anticipation, social media is really what has elevated the holiday cheer to its maximum jubilance. The ability to create online communities for swapping recipes fosters excitement in families across the entire nation and is more influential than any newspaper article. Similarly, the creative opportunities available to entrepreneurs of all ages are only possible because of the electric speed of online markets.
This idea of a holiday mashup in America isn’t unheard of—people are inclined to combine Christmas and Hanukah (“Chrismukah”) no matter what the dates of the two celebrations may be. Many freely associate the two celebrations because Hanukah usually occurs in December and each festival includes gift exchanges and family gatherings. But in reality, how many Jews, except for those in religiously blended families, are actually celebrating both Hanukah and Christmas? Thanksgiving is a holiday more often celebrated by Christians and Jews alike because it is an American tradition. It unites our country in an expression of gratitude for our rights as Americans. Thanksgivukah, then, more readily depicts the position of a present day Jewish American than any other possible combination. As a Jew in America, one can be thankful that displaying a menurkey in the window on Thanksgiving is safe and accepted.