A video camera focuses on a long rectangular table with all the trappings of two holidays — a turkey and menorah, pumpkins and latkes.
It’s the opening scene of a parody marking the rare convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, or Thanksgivukkah — a coined word that is showing up everywhere from having its own Facebook page to online mash-ups of recipes such as potato latkes with cranberry sauce.
In the video, a handful of youngsters wear their synagogue best; others don Native American attire. And right on cue, the children act confused. The narrator explains what this unusual confluence of festivities means for children right here in Atlanta.
“This year, thousands of children will face the confounding perpleximent known as Thanksgiving Hanukkah Confusion Disorientation. Also known as … Thickhedah.”
Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 28 this year, coinciding with the start of the Jewish observance of Hanukkah, which is based on a lunar calendar. This dual celebration has given way to several unique ways to mark this once-in-many-lifetimes occurrence (according to some estimates, these two holidays won’t collide again for another 70,000 years). From Thansgivukkah greeting cards, T-shirts and aprons to, yes, even a turkey-shaped menorah, or menorkey, people across the U.S. are having fun with the convergence.
Ana Fuchs, the director of Jewish Kids Groups, a new school offering after-school and Sunday school programs in Virginia-Highland, seized on this year’s blending of holidays to make a fundraising video. With a professional crew (donating time and resources) and actor/narrator (who donated his time), dozens of students at the school played the role of actors one afternoon. The colorful classroom with arts and crafts was suddenly awash with bright camera lights, dreidels and plastic turkeys.
Outside the filming of the video (www.jewishkidsgroups.com), kids at the school have been thinking about gifts. Not the gifts they might receive on Hanukkah, but the tzedakah — charitable gifts — they'll be giving. In fact, children here have been pooling together their change every week to buy toys for Israeli children in need.
With just a few days before the dual holidays, the school had raised $8,236, falling short of its goal of $40,000.
Still, the aim of the two-minute video (which is cute, clever and funny) goes beyond raising money for school programs. Like other organizations turning to videos to raise awareness about their cause, Fuchs sees the thousands of clicks on the video as opportunities to spread the word about her unconventional school — designed to be more like summer camp and less structured than traditional Hebrew schools. Jewish Kids Groups is also unaffiliated with any synagogue.
“This is the coincidences of coincidences, and we have the privilege of celebrating our religious holiday that focuses on giving with celebrating our national holiday which celebrates giving thanks,” said Fuchs, who worked for several years at Emory University’s Institute for the Study of Modern Israel.
Meanwhile, families are looking forward to celebrating the blended holidays.
“It’s just fun and it’s different, and I say to the kids it’s an opportunity to be Jewish in a different way,” said Linda Brenner, whose two sons are in the video. “It’s all about family and taking time off from school and work.”
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