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25 December: what is celebrated today
25 December dawns as a bright pause in the calendar: the day when the whole world seems to breathe in unison. It is Christmas, the date when faith and tenderness go hand in hand, when streets fill with lights and homes with familiar voices. But alongside the Christian commemoration of Jesus’ birth, this day also hosts another celebration of light and hope: the beginning of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival recalling the miracle of a flame that did not go out. Two different traditions united by the same symbol: light overcoming darkness.
Christmas
Christmas is much more than a date on the calendar: it is a collective emotion, a state of the soul. For centuries, 25 December has symbolised the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, but also the possibility of a new beginning for each of us. It is the night when carols sound like joyful prayers, the day when embraces multiply and time becomes more humane.
Its origin, however, goes back to a wise cultural convergence. In the middle of the 4th century, Pope Julius I set this date to celebrate the Nativity, coinciding with ancient pagan festivities dedicated to the sun. The intention was clear: to transform a festival of fire into a festival of faith, of inner renewal. Thus, the coldest winter was filled with human warmth.
Today, each country gives Christmas its own accent. In Germany, children await the Christkind; in Mexico, the posadas resound; in Italy, the table becomes a poem of aromas; and in the Nordic countries, snow becomes the setting for everyday miracles. In Russia it arrives later, in January, beneath the austere gleam of Orthodox churches. Wherever it is celebrated, Christmas is always the same promise: that kindness can still save the world.
The tree, the carols, the lights, the gifts – each symbol contains the same message. Decorating a pine tree is a gesture of gratitude, singing is remembering that the soul has music, giving is acknowledging the other person. Christmas, in the end, is not about what we possess, but what we share.
Beginning of Hanukkah – Festival of Lights
On this same day, another ancient tradition lights its own flame. Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights, commemorates an event that took place more than two thousand years ago in Jerusalem: the purification of the Second Temple, desecrated by invaders, and the miracle of the oil which, although enough for a single night, kept the lamp burning for eight days.
That is why, every year, Jewish families light the hanukkiah, a nine-branched candelabrum, lighting a new candle each night until the cycle is complete. It is an act of remembrance, but also of spiritual resistance: keeping the light alive even in times of darkness.
During Hanukkah, homes fill with songs, laughter and the scent of fried food cooked in oil – a symbol of the original miracle. Children receive chocolate coins or small gifts, and adults remember that, even when the flame seems to be going out, there is always a reason to light it again.