In the darkest days of the year, when the sun shows itself for only a few hours, many religions rely on light-filled celebrations to brighten the season.
By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
In the darkest days of the year, when the sun shows itself for only a few hours, many religions rely on light-filled celebrations to brighten the season.
Last week, Rider University students gathered to share their religions’ holiday traditions that aim to illuminate the darkness at the school’s annual Celebration of Lights.
Rider’s Celebration of Lights began about 25 years ago, said Anthony Campbell, the school’s associate vice president for student affairs. The event celebrates the various holiday traditions, many of which are based on symbols of light.
”It really is a vision of our campus to celebrate our differences,” Dr. Campbell said.
As he has done for many years, retired Professor William Guthrie set the stage for the event by sharing a folk tale — which, of course, involves light — with the students.
Mr. Guthrie told the students that long before the Vikings and Christopher Columbus discovered North America, the land was filled with Native Americans. In New Jersey, they called themselves Lenape Indians.
”The story I am about to tell comes from a Canadian Lenape story teller,” Mr. Guthrie said, as he launched into the tale about the Creator, his helper and the fire of peace.
The Creator would send a helper to the Lenape whenever they needed help, he said. At this point, there was much disagreement and constant arguments among the Lenape over trivial issues, such as who would keep sacred objects.
The Creator sent Nanapush, a well-known helper, to the Lenape, Mr. Guthrie said. When he arrived, Nanapush built a huge fire on top of a hill and called all the Lenape together. He taught them to build a fire of peace, using only cedar wood.
Whenever they would do this, Nanapush told them, they could send their thoughts and prayers up with the smoke to the Creator. They would experience new understanding, and their hearts would be filled with peace, Mr. Guthrie said.
”Using cedar from the homeland and embers from a previous fire, I will build such a fire so that we may experience the rising smoke and the peace that it brings,” Mr. Guthrie said. “Perhaps this is a very fitting way to being our festival of light — connecting what we do here with the people who lived here long ago.”
Then, the first candle of peace — one of several candles set on a table in the middle of the Student Recreation Center — was lighted. After each student group made its presentation, someone from that group lighted a candle.
Muhammad Sarwar of Rider’s Muslim Student Association, explained some of his religion’s holiday traditions. He told the students that there are two Eids — Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan and the month of fasting, and Eid-ul-Adha, which commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son to God.
Muslims eat a sweet breakfast before going to prayers on both holidays, he said. The holiday of Eid-ul-Adha calls for sacrificing an animal and sharing the meat with the poor, family and friends. Eid-ul-Fitr requires Muslims to pay money to the poor and needy.
Then, it was Sandi Weerasinghe’s turn to explain the holiday of Diwali, which is celebrated by Hindus and Sikhs. It translates into “festival of lights,” said Sandi, who belongs to the Asian Students At Rider student group.
The day before Diwali, families clean their houses to make their gods or goddesses feel welcome, Sandi said. The family offers sweets to everyone who sets foot in the house, as a peace offering and as a way to signify the start of a new and prosperous time.
Lamps made out of clay are lighted around the house to bring light and keep the house bright, she said. The lighting of the lamp signifies the triumph of good over evil. Firecrackers and fireworks are used to ward off evil.
The story of the eight-day-long holiday of Chanukah, which is celebrated by Jews, was related by Lori Nissim, Jason Zoblin, Erin Layton and Adele Hyman of Hillel, which is the Jewish students’ organization.
During Chanukah, Jewish people light a menorah, which holds nine candles — one for each night, and a ninth candle that is used to light the others, the students said. Oily foods, such as latkes (potato pancakes) and doughnuts are eaten. It signifies the oil that lasted eight days in the menorah in the Temple, although there was only enough to last for one day.
The Jews reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem, after defeating the Greeks. The true miracle of Chanukah is not the oil in the menorah lasting for eight days, but the unexpected war victory, the students said. The reason that the war victory is not celebrated is because Jews never celebrate war. Chanukah is an event in history that represents hope and peace, they said.
A student who belongs to the Catholic Campus Ministries explained the origin of the Christmas candy cane. The candy cane, which is bent into the shape of a shepherd’s crook or a “J,” signifies Jesus Christ, who watches over his children, like little lambs.
The white of the candy cane represents the purity of Jesus and his virgin birth, and the red stripe represents God’s love, she said. Regardless, the candy cane is a symbol of Christmas and a reminder of the meaning of the holiday.
Malissa Hanson and Katina Theophile of the Rider Organization of Caribbean Affiliated Students spoke of Boxing Day, which is celebrated in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Hong Kong, among other countries. For some, it is another day to shop, they said. For others, it is a time when the employer gives a gift to the employee.
Then, students from the Black Student Union — Kyle Bivens, Terik Miller Jr., Theresa Hughes and Rakiye George — told students about Kwanzaa, which begins Dec. 26. The seven-day-long holiday brings blacks closer to their African roots, the students said. It is important to decorate the table with an African motif that uses a black, red and green color scheme.
Red stands for the blood that was shed, and black stands for the people. Green stands for the land. A candle is lighted each day the represents each Kwanzaa principle — unit, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith.
Finally, the Latin American Students Association’s representative, Victoria Lau, explained Three Kings Day. It is celebrated on Jan. 6, which is 12 days after Christmas. Many people gather at home to celebrate the baby Jesus and to exchange small gifts, like they do on Christmas, she said.
The Bible relates that the three kings found the baby Jesus by following the North Star across the desert for 12 days. The kings, who represented Europe, Arabia and Africa, presented the baby Jesus with three symbolic gifts — gold, frankincense and myrrh, Victoria said.
Gold represented Jesus’ symbolic royal standing as the king of the Jews, and frankincense represented the divine nature of his existence because he is not an earthly king, but the son of God. Myrrh, which was often used to embalm corpses, represented Jesus’ mortality.

