Classic Rant #1,073 (October 29, 2013): Thanksgiving, Hanukkah ... and What Else?

This year, for the first time in recent memory, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fall on the same day on the calendar.

Actually, Thanksgiving and the first full day of Hanukkah fall on the same day this year.

Jewish holidays begin at sundown, so Hanukkah, actually, starts the night before Thanskgiving.

Now, I know that a large majority of the populace is not Jewish, so this really is of little or no concern to them.

But I am Jewish, so it is a major concern to me.

How do we light up the bird and the menorah at the same time?

And my family has an extra added attraction to all of this.

My father celebrates his 82nd birthday just two days later, so since we have the whole family here, we will actually be celebrating three occasions on that day.

When I think about it, all this might actually play into our hands as something better than we thought it would be.

We can now celebrate three things at once, not one thing at a time, so it might be beneficial to us.

But when you celebrate three things at once, it kind of dilutes each one, so maybe it isn't as beneficial as I thought it was.

The reason for the convergence of the two holidays this year?

It has to do with the Jewish calendar, which is very much unlike the calendar that we use.

The Jewish calendar has leap months--not days--and that is why Jewish holidays are never on the same day year to year, or at least one of the reasons. There are other reasons, but I won't go into them here.

Suffice it to say, the Jewish calendar is a pretty wild one year to year.

And I haven't even spoken about the gifts ...

This year, Jews have to buy their gifts very early to meet the holiday.

My wife and I have already started buying gifts, and in doing so, I also have an extra added attraction to this "month of holidays."

My wife's birthday is November 10, a little more than two weeks before Thanksgiving.

So I really have to get a move on with my gift buying.

I have purchased several things online at this point, and I will probably be buying things up to and including the big holiday.

But there is a silver lining in all of this, too.

By Black Friday, when people run around like chickens (or turkeys) without their heads buying presents for the holidays, I will be done--DONE--with my gift buying.

Let them run around, I won't have to bother this year!

Hooray!

The negative, as I have already explained, is that I have to start my present buying early, earlier than most people.

Oy vey!