Light is what makes the holidays a magical time of year. Whether it is the soft glow of the Hanukkah candles atop a menorah or the neon spark of Rudolph’s nose, this is the time of year when we are awed by light.

What happens when we cast a light on current celebration trends, only to see the traditions of holidays past are missing?

Assumption College Associate Professor of Anthropology Amy Gavin-Schwartz believes traditions are how a culture is passed down from one generation to the next.

“It gives people a connection to their past, as well as their future,” she said.

However, over the past half century, a strong trend of consumerism and materialism has been steadily shadowing this once family-centric time of year. Older traditions like watching a live holiday variety show have been replaced with more modern crazes like faux-silver Christmas trees.

Have we left the holiday spirit out of the holidays?

Yes, the smothering nature of consumerism has been a growing concern, said Gavin-Schwartz, but creating new traditions does not mean older ones must be ditched.

“Nothing stays the same; nothing is static. From generation to generation, or even year to year, people change what they do. They might modify their traditions, invent new ones or maintain old traditions. They might do all of those things, depending on what is meaningful to them,” she said.

“Lots of things people think are ancient traditions – like Christmas trees – were invented in the last centuries. Traditions change; they come, they go,” added Gavin-Schwartz.

In fact, in the world of anthropology, Gavin-Schwartz said this is the expected course of a society.

“I would consider [the loss or evolution of traditions] the natural ebb and flow. It is the nature of society and culture to have things change. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, but that is how cultures work,” she added.

But, can we have both the cherished traditions and the modern nuances we crave?

Holiday Decorations

Linda Luks and her husband, Richard, are the co-owners of Luks Christmas Tree Farm in Auburn. The pair opened their “pick-your-own” farm in 1960 and have supplied the surrounding community with Christmas trees and decorations ever since.

One of the things Linda loves most about owning a Christmas tree farm is seeing the families interact. Young and old, she loves to see so many smiling faces year after year.

“It’s nice to see the families walk around doing this together. It’s good to see them reunite when they’re all going their other directions during the day,” Luks said.

Cutting and decorating a Christmas tree is a family activity. For some, said Luks, this may be the only time during the year that they put down their separate responsibilities and come together as one.

“I like traditions, but everyone has their own life. Thanksgiving and Christmas bring people together in a family way. It’s such a warm experience.”

Kim Ben-Israel, owner of Shuki’s Judaica, also helps to create warm experiences during the holidays. Part of the Framingham community since 2000, Shuki’s Judaica is one of the largest importers of menorahs in the area.

Ben-Israel said her business during the holiday season is always good because people naturally look forward to Hanukkah.

“When you’re dealing with a niche market, you’re dealing with a community. It doesn’t matter who they are; for me, it’s a community of mixed-marriage Jewish people,” Ben Israel said. She said she needs to know the traditions and find ways to intrigue customers.

She puts a premium on her customers’ happiness and therefore brings in new merchandise as often as possible to keep her clientele interested. However, it can sometimes be difficult competing with the Christmas hype, admitted Ben-Israel.

“We live in a Christian country, but as a niche market selling non-Christian items, you do the best you can and make the customers happy, so that way they come back.”

This Hanukkah, Ben-Israel suggested purchasing a second menorah. If you have young children, once they are grown and out of the house, you can gift them one that they will remember using during their childhood.

In the spirit of making new family memories, take one afternoon to share in the fun of cutting your own Christmas tree. Take the camera and document the fun (or frustration!) of the event.

“A live Christmas tree, as long as you keep it watered, is less apt to catch fire. It gives you true smell rather than using chemicals,” Luks said.

Culinary Holiday Traditions

Jewish chef and cookbook author Paula Shoyer thinks baking is truly an act for others, especially during the holidays.

“You wouldn’t bake a batch of cupcakes then eat them all by yourself. You bake a batch of cupcakes if someone had a birthday or there was a death and you want to comfort someone. You bake for other people; that is our nature. On the holidays, having these food traditions makes the celebration all the more enjoyable and memorable,” she said.

For example, Shoyer always bakes latkes for her family on Hanukkah, so her children associate potato pancakes with the holiday.

“I want them to go through life thinking, ‘Oh Hanukkah, that’s when my mother made latkes. She might have experimented with the applesauce or flavoured the latkes, but there were always latkes,’” she said.

Shoyer’s newest cookbook The Holiday Kosher Baker presents a plethora of traditional holiday recipes with healthier ingredients substituted for less flavorful or less healthy ones. She suggests these alternatives with a two-fold message: Traditional Jewish baked goods can be made with healthier ingredients and still taste good.

“People always say, ‘My grandmother’s hamantashen recipe is so dry, but I make them every year.’ Why? Why don’t you just make good hamantashen?” she said.

Shoyer is not the first to alter an inherited recipe.

“Even bakers in the ’20s, ’30s, ’40s were looking for something new. Jewish people have been eating bad quality baked goods for so long, they want something tasty; they want something worth the calories.”

Shoyer is aware some people may be turned off by the mention of alternative flours or less sugar, which is why some sleight of hand goes into her cooking.

“I wasn’t advertising this as a healthy cake. I just happened to make it this way, and people like the taste. As long as it tastes good, they’re happy,” she said.

A traditionally-trained chef, Shoyer studied in Paris and believes people should resurrect old family recipes, honouring relatives and family traditions by doing so, but should not be reticent about improving upon what came before.

“One of my favorite things to do is take something like rugelach, a classic Jewish-American dessert served at Hanukkah, and substitute modern fillings like almond-pistachio or cranberry-chocolate” for the usual raspberry jam.

The owner and baker at Worcester’s Crown Bakery, Jon Lundstrom also incorporates his family’s ethnic heritage into his culinary masterpieces. One of three Swedish chefs at the bakery, Lundstrom’s Princess Torte and gingerbread cookies are among the bakery’s most popular items during the holiday season.

At Crown Bakery, the holidays kick into gear right after Thanksgiving. “We do the decorated gingerbread men like we used to in Sweden. Nobody else does it like us,” Lundstrom said.

Hundreds of decorated, marching cookies form a sugary army that stands tall among the infamous Swedish Christmas tortes with sponge cake centers and marzipan shells also on display at the 55-year-old bakery.

“Families get together during the holidays, and you have to have food to keep them happy, keep them smiling,” said Lundstrom.

On your next free weekend afternoon, gather your family together and host a gingerbread decorating party. See who can create the best look-alike of a family member, friend or even favorite Patriots player.

If you are a little more adventurous when it comes to baked goods, talk with some of the older members of your family and ask them what their favorite holiday treats were when they were young. Since food additives and fake sugars became prevalent only in recent decades, these will most likely be simpler recipes.

Or follow Paula Shoyer’s recipe for Green Tea Hamantashen (see sidebar).

Good Ol ‘ New England Yankee Swap

One of the most popular gift-giving traditions in New England is the Yankee Swap. At a Yankee Swap, everyone brings a wrapped gift. The first person picks a gift to open. The second person may either take the first person’s gift or pick a new gift to open. If the second person takes the first person’s gift, the first person chooses a second gift. If the second chooses a new gift to unwrap, then a third person would take the next turn, and so on.

A local Worcester shop rife with vintage gifts for your next Yankee Swap is Crompton Collective, which sells the handmade wares of 41 local artists and 34 artisans from across the country.

Just like traditions, the time, effort and meaning behind a gift is what truly matters, said Crompton Collective owner Amy Lynn Chase.

“Handmade gifts represent a much more intimate and meaningful process than going to a chain store to buy something. People are aware the maker spent time and love creating their product, and I think that translates, making it a lot more special,” said Chase. “You don’t need to spend a million dollars on someone to let them know you love them, and I think small businesses and local artisans are the perfect representation of that.”

However, Chase said the excitement and emotion behind gift-giving has slowly waned over the past decade.

“The art of gift-giving has transformed into something that lacks the sentimental value and attention to detail it once had. This is why opening Crompton was such an important thing for me. I wanted to share my family’s obsession with finding the perfect gift for someone and offer that [opportunity] to my community,” said Chase.

When you are four hours into a bout of online shopping, checking off items on your holiday list, take a deep breath, close your laptop and consider giving a vintage item a second life.
Chase also suggested the wonderfully generous tradition of buying small gifts for children in need through programs like Toys for Tots. This time of year is when we gather together with family and celebrate, but we often forget to lend a hand to those less fortunate.

Learn From Tradition, But Add Your Own Personality

Wesley Hall holds a unique and revered position at Worcester’s First Baptist Church. He is the organist.

Master of a centuries-old instrument, Hall knows all too well the importance of continuing the life of a tradition.

“When people think about the past, it’s important to have a sense of humility that defines your place in the human story. Do not think what you do [today] is better,” he said.

However, Hall also wants the congregation to grow in its musical understanding and therefore chooses from a diverse spectrum of music for each week’s sermon. In the course of one Sunday morning, Hall, along with the church choir, has performed 14th-century monastic chants, a choral anthem from 1910 and rounded out the sermon with contemporary African music.

For Hall, playing the organ is a privilege, but following in the footsteps of his musical ancestors is the true gift.

“It can be very valuable to remind ourselves that we’re not the first ones doing what we do. There is some value in participating in the type of music, the type of social engagement that humans have done for hundreds and hundreds of years,” he said.

Hall said participating in the continuous progression of cultural evolvement is humbling. “It helps us remember that what we do now will join that path.”

By Emily Gowdey-Backus