This editorial is coming off the press and hitting your doorstep, email inbox or web browser on or about Dec. 18. There’s still one harried week to go to finish your shopping, perfect your stuffing recipe and try to stay sane in the process.
To give our carriers and the printing staff time off, we’ve bumped the delivery of our next edition to Thursday Dec. 26. It means this is our last chance, in print at least, to wish you a merry Christmas before the big day itself.
If Christmas isn’t your thing, either the religious one or the more commercial secular one, we understand this can all be a bit of a slog. The traditions we observe today are only the latest in an ever-evolving string of ones that differ across many cultures and millennia. But we may have more in common with each other than not.
This year, Hanukkah – the Jewish festival of lights – begins at sundown on Dec. 25. Many in the North Shore’s sizable Persian community are making plans for Yalda Night – the longest night of the year, on Dec. 20.
It seems, no matter where our traditions come from, they are bound by common universal values – togetherness, benevolence and bringing light in the darkest time of year. Our often-overlapping cultural calendars are clear: We are all entitled to some mirth and goodwill right now. If you know someone who is being left out, bring them in and share with them the generosity, peace and gratitude we all want to see in each other throughout the year.
And regardless of how you celebrate, may your days be merry and bright.
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