Is Hanukkah Responsive to Christmas?

Abstract

We use individual-level survey and county-level expenditure data to examine the extent to which Hanukkah celebrations among US Jews are driven by the presence of Christmas. We document that Jews with young children are more likely to celebrate Hanukkah, that this effect is greater for reform Jews and for strongly-identified Jews, and that Jewish-related expenditure on Hanukkah is higher in counties with lower shares of Jews. All these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that celebration of religious holidays is designed not only for worship and enjoyment but also to provide a counterbalance for children against competing cultural influences.Is religious activity responsive to the presence and activity of other religions? How do religious minorities persist and keep their children from converting? We investigate these questions by examining the extent to which the celebration of Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday that is celebrated in December, is driven by the presence of Christmas. Hanukkah celebration in the US is especially suited to address these questions; US Jews are a minority who account for less than 2% of the population, and conversion and intermarriage, which is estimated at over 40% (United Jewish Communities, 2000), are key concerns among American Jews.A key observation that motivated this work is that Hanukkah is a minor holiday in Judaism in general and in Israel in particular but it is one of the most celebrated Jewish holidays in the US. Hanukkah is often called the ÔJewish ChristmasÕ because American Jewish parents give their children gifts, like their Christian neighbours. Surveys we conducted in both Israel and the US confirm that Hanukkah is perceived to be much less important in Israel. This stark difference in the importance of Hanukkah in Israel (where Jews are a majority) and in the US (where Jews are a minority) suggests that the extent of Hanukkah celebration in the US may be driven by the presence of Christmas. With so many other differences between Israel and the US, however, one should be cautious drawing any interpretation from this anecdotal fact. Our strategy is therefore to look within the US, by comparing the behaviour of different American Jewish households.Our hypothesis is that Jews with children are more likely to be affected by the presence of Christmas, because Jewish parents might worry that their children would feel left out, intermarry, or convert. That is, Christmas, a fun holiday for children, induces Jewish parents to ÔcompeteÕ. Thus, if the presence of Christmas is important, we expect that Jewish parents will celebrate Hanukkah more intensively than Jews without children. To account for the alternative hypothesis that children induce more intensive celebration of all holidays regardless of Christmas, we use the intensity of Passover celebration as a control. To account for the alternative hypothesis that Hanukkah is simply a more fun holiday for children than Passover, we use a difference-in-differences

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“…Consequently, past experience has a long-term influence on happiness level, especially during the period of the religious event. This is consistent with the findings of Abramitzky et al (2010) concerning religious phenomena: 'Jews with young children are more likely to celebrate Hanukkah, that this effect is greater for reform Jews and for strongly-identified Jews, and that Jewish-related expenditure on Hanukkah is higher in counties with lower shares of Jews' (Abramitzky et al, 2010, p. 612).…”

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Christmas Economics—a Sleigh Ride

“…“If Christmas has these positive effects, why can't everyone celebrate Christmas then?” Santa asks. Rudolph replies that this might not be necessary, as Christmas already has an impact on the celebrations of other religious holidays with gift‐giving: Abramitzky, Einav, and Rigbi () suggest that the presence of Christmas might drive the extent of Hanukkah celebrations among Jews in the United States.…”

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“…For example, Bisin and Verdier (2000) and Bisin et al (2004) present evidence that, compared to cultural majorities, minority groups exercise greater efforts to prevent their children from "marrying out" of the group. Abramitzky et al (2010) find that American Jews are more likely to celebrate Hanukkah if they live in areas with relatively low Jewish market shares, suggesting that the celebration of religious holidays is partly motivated by the desire to counteract the influence of outside religions. Similarly, Iannaccone (1991) shows that, across seventeen western countries, Protestants' religious commitment is negatively related to Protestant market shares.…”