St Nicholas of Myra (270-343 CE) (Greece) and the numerous miracles he performed were the inspiration for St Nicholas Day celebrated on December 3, 2020. He was buried in the Church of St Nicholas in Myra.  The great schism (1054) officially separated the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches.  The Byzantine Empire was conquered in 1087 by the Seljuk Turks who brought the religion of Islam. A group of Italian Catholic merchants in Myra secretly removed the bones of St Nicholas from the Church and took them to the Italian town of Bari.  They bones were interred in the Basilica of San Nichola and remain there still. The first Crusade (1096) departed from Bari, and St Nicholas’s miracles involving the saving of people, particularly seafarers, became popular with the Crusaders. On their return from the Holy Land, the Crusaders spread the cult of St. Nicholas in Europe.  By the Fifteenth Century stories had evolved to include St Nicholas the gift giver and patron saint of children. Children all over Europe celebrated St Nicholas Day and left shoes or stockings by the fire; if they were good children, they would receive a gift, if not, they might receive a switch.

St Nicholas Day suffered a setback in Germany when Martin Luther (1483-1546) stated that Christmas Day, December 25, was the appropriate time for gift giving to celebrate the Christ Child, Christkind in German.  In England, Oliver Cromwell (1647) declared Christmas was a “Popish” tradition and punished those who observed Christmas on December 25.  He promoted the idea that Christmas really was derived from the Roman pagan festival of Saturnalia.  The people revolted.  In 1652, “The Vindication of Christmas, O Sir I bring good cheer to Pilgrims, ”an anonymous print was circulated.  A Puritan on the left is about to draw his sword while Old Father Christmas, dressed in a long gown similar to the robes of St Nicholas, calms the Puritan, and a commoner welcomes Old Christmas.  

Josiah King’s pamphlet “The Examination and Tryall of Old Father Christmas” (1658) depicts a white haired and bearded Father Christmas,  this time in Bishop’s robe and mitre, similar to the early images of St Christopher. He wears a long fur stole, and although he is in prison, he sits in a chair with a nailed leather back and curved arm.  Accused by the Commonwealth of idleness, drunkenness, profligacy and other debaucheries, Father Christmas was not restored to his proper role until 1600, when Charles II came to the throne

From their arrival n America, Puritan colonists banned Christmas in the Massachusetts Bay Colony until 1681. It was Dutch immigrants in New Amsterdam that brought the stories and legends to New York. On St Nicholas Day in Holland, seafaring men went to the harbor to take part in church services for St Nicholas.  On their way home they would pick up small gifts, such as oranges imported from Spain, to put in the stockings or shoes of children.  Coincidentally, St Nicholas often was shown with three golden balls representing the gift he gave to the father of three daughters for their dowry.  The oranges represent the golden balls.  Alexander Anderson’s engraving for the New York Historical Society’s annual meeting in 1810 officially recognizes the first “Festival of St Nicholas on December 6, 1810”.  St Nicholas is depicted in traditional bishop’s robes and on the hearth a Dutch teakettle, waffles, cat, and stockings.  On the mantle, the good little girl holds several gifts in her arms, and her stocking overflows. The bad little boy holds a switch and his stocking is full of switches as well.

A small paperback book titled The Children’s Friend:  A New-Year’s Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve was published in 1821 by William Gilley in New York. The book included eight illustrations of the poem “Old Santa Claus with much delight,” that tells of Santa Claus’s visit on Christmas Eve, December 24, not December 6. Riding in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer, Santa wears the red robe associated with a bishop.  In other illustrations for the poem he is depicted as tall and thin, quietly putting toys in stockings hung on the children’s bed post.

Another contributor the image of Santa Claus was Washington Irving (1783-1859). Famous for his novels “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle,” he wrote under the assumed name of Diedrich Knickerbocker, a satire titled A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty (1809). In the story Irving described Sinter Klaas as a rascal in a blue three cornered hat, a red waistcoat, and yellow stockings. The figure of Santa Claus was by this time a jolly heavy man who smoked a traditional Dutch long white clay pipe.  He rode over the roof tops in a horse drawn wag and dropped the children’s gifts down the chimney.

A poem called “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”, known familiarly as “The Night before Christmas,” was published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel, on December 24, 1823. The author, disputably, Clement Moore, was a Biblical scholar, a professor and a poet, who taught at the Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York City, did not admit to authorship of the poem for twenty-two years.  The poem contributed a number of new details about Santa Claus. He was dressed all in fur, with a broad face and a little round belly, and he filled the stockings hung by the fire. Moore’s unique contribution to the Santa Claus image was the names and number of eight reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.  Moore presented a peaceful vision of the arrival of Santa Claus in contrast to the more traditional public festivities of drinking, eating, carousing and general rowdiness as the revelers ran riot in the town.  Santa Claus became a family centered figure, and as Moore put it, “A wink of his eye and a twist of his head soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.”

Louisa May Alcott, of Little Women fame, wrote in 1856 a poem titled “Christmas Elves,” which would have made another addition to the story of Santa Claus if her publisher had decided to use it. However, in 1857, Harpers’ Weekly published a poem titled “The Wonders of Santa Claus” that included these verses: “He keeps a great many elves at work, All working with all their might, to make a million of pretty things, Cakes, sugarplums and toys, To fill the stockings, hung up you know, By the little girls and boys.”  Godey’s Lady’s Book, (Christmas 1873) contained the image “The Workshop of Santa Claus.” Numerous elves sew, hammer and otherwise busily make toys. The caption reads: “Here we have an idea of the preparations that are made to supply the young folks with toys at Christmas time.”  The same issue also contained an article by a socially conscious writer who informed the reader that contemporary toymakers were not elves, but real people, mostly struggling foreigners. “Whole villages engage in the work, and the contractors every week in the year go round to gather together the six day’s work and pay for it.”

The artist who most influenced the evolving image of Santa Claus was Thomas Nast, an immigrant from Bavaria and a famous political cartoonist. Nast, inspired by his German background and “The Night before Christmas,” created what was to become the iconic image of Santa Claus.  However his first depiction of Santa Claus, published by Harper’s Weekly (1863), drawn and printed during the American Civil War, was not what one would expect.  “Santa Claus at the Union Camp” depicts a white bearded Santa dressed in a jacket with white stars and pants with white stripes.  Although a black and white image, the intended reading of the red, white and blue of the American flag is obvious.  This patriotic Santa passes out gifts to Union troops.  A strong Union supporter, Nast included a small boy holding a puppet with a noose around its neck that looks very much like Jefferson Davis. 

Thomas Nast continued to draw images of Santa Claus for Harper’s Weekly for the next thirty years, completing thirty-three Santa’s. The iconic image is “Merry Old Santa Claus” (1881).  His red suit, arm-load of toys, pack on his back, white beard, smiling jolly face, and a long stemmed pipe, this Santa composed the model for all Santa’s to follow. One more part of the story came from Thomas Nast. He began noting “Santa Claussville, N.P.” in the corner of his works, to identify the North Pole as Santa’s home.

 After the end of the Nineteenth Century, Santa Claus’s image was secure. Writers such as Frank Baum, commercial companies such as Montgomery Ward and Coca Cola, and song writers and singers such as John Marks and Gene Autrey continue to add delightful bits of information about Santa Claus.  St Nicholas from Myra, Kris Kringle or Kristkind from Germany, Old Father Christmas from England, and Sinterklaas from Holland, all participated in bringing Santa Claus to America. 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown six years ago, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and Chesapeake College’s Institute for Adult Learning.  She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 10, and ends at sundown on December 18, 2020. Also known as the Festival of Lights. The festival commemorates the re-conquest of the land of Israel and the re-dedication of Solomon’s Temple. The land of Israel, including the city of Jerusalem, was conquered by Antiochus III (ruled 222-186 BCE), King of Syria, who at first dealt kindly with the Jews. When he was defeated by the Romans and made to pay them heavy taxes, he extracted the tax in gold from the treasury in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem. The treasury held the half shekel each adult male Jew gave annually for the upkeep of the Temple, and an amount for orphans to be paid when they came of age and went out on their own.

At Antiochus’s death his son Seleucus IV further oppressed the Jews. He was followed by his brother Antiochus IV, called the Madman. Defeated in a war with Rome, Antiochus IV returned to Jerusalem and ordered his army to attack the Jews. Thousands died. Jewish worship was forbidden, the scrolls of Law were burned, rituals were forbidden, and Jews were made to eat pork. Thousands of Jews fled and hid in the hills of Judea. From 167 BCE to 160 BCE, Judah Maccabee and his brothers led battles to reclaimed the land. They cleared the Temple of the Syrian and Greek idols and built a new altar. The re-dedication of the Temple was held on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev (November-December) in 139 BCE.

The original Gold Menorah was stolen when Antiochus IV savaged the Temple; a new one of crude metal menorah was made for the re-dedication. A Menorah has six cups of equal height to hold the consecrated oil, representing among other things, the tree of life and the six days of creation, and a seventh taller cup in the center representing the light of God. However, there was only a small amount of purified olive oil was found, and it was only enough for one night.

The Hanukkah miracle occurred as the one day’s worth of oil burned for eight days, the time necessary to prepare new oil. A new celebration of Hanukkah was declared, and a new lamp was created. Hanukkah lamps had eight oil cups and with a ninth, the Shamash, with oil to light the others. The new lamp celebrated the miracle of eight days of light and the rededication of the Temple.

Lighting the Hanukkah lamp is the most significant part of the celebration. The honor of lighting the lamp goes to a woman. The Talmud and other scholars state that women contributed to the victory of Hanukkah and compare their part in the victory to that of Judith (Book of Judith, Apocryphal Gospels which are excluded from Hebrew and Protestant books) and her victory over the Assyrians. Centered on the lamp is the image of Judith and Holofernes. Judith, a beautiful widow of Bethulia in the sixth century BCE, was determined to save her city from the Assyrians. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Assyria had sent his general Holofernes to conquer the town. He laid siege to the town and their victory was assured as the people of Bethulia would soon starve.. Judith dressed in her finest and with her maidservant went to the camp to see Holofernes. She promised to aid him with the conquest and an easy victory if he promised to spare her people. Holofernes was charmed. In three days, at the dark of the moon, she would lead him to a secret entrance into the city. Until then she agreed to stay in the camp and only asked to go outside in the evening to pray.

On the evening before the attack, she contrived to get Holofernes very drunk, and using his sword she cut off his head. Stuffing it into a bag, she and her maid went out to pray as usual. When the soldiers came to wake Holofernes, they found him dead. Without a leader the army foundered, and the city was saved.

The Talmud states that Jews could not rely on miracles, but should ask God to give them the strength to do the impossible. One story about Judith quotes her: “Give into my widow’s hand the strength that I plot.” Another version of the story relates that she took food into the camp so as not to break Jewish dietary laws. This act presents another aspect of Judith’s link with Hanukkah. Today potato Latkes are a traditional food for Hanukkah: however, they originally were made with cheese. Potatoes were not found in Israel until well after they were brought to Europe from South America and America by Christopher Columbus. In Europe and Israel eating cheese latkes was the tradition. Judith’s food included cheese made from goats and sheep and was extremely salty. She fed Holofernes cheese on his last night; to quench his thirst he drank heavily, and passed out. Cheese latkes became forbidden in the Fourteenth Century when Jews began to fry food in chicken fat (schmaltz), which violated kosher dietary laws not to eat dairy with meat, thus the potato latke. Cheese is still a part of Hanukkah meals as kugel or rugelach. Both cheese and oil remain a part of Hanukkah to remind the Jews of the miracle associated with Judith. Ashkenazi Jews are known for the potato latke. On Hanukkah, the Sephardic tradition features fried jelly doughnuts (Sufganiyot).

Lions and eagles frequently are depicted on Hanukkah lamps. Two rampant lions appear on either side of this bench lamp The Lion of Judah is the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah. In Genesis 49:8-10, Jacob blesses his son Judah: “Judah your bothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. You are a lion’s cub, Oh Judah. The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet.” Three eagles refer to God sending eagles to fight against the Egyptians as the Jews crossed the red Sea. On Mt Sinai, God said to Moses (Exodus 19:4): “You yourself have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to yourself.” The Talmud states that eagles fly the highest of all birds and carry their young on their backs rather than in their claws as other birds do. In this way if an eagle is attacked, the children are protected, and the eagle will sacrifice itself for its children.

Early Hanukkah lamps use oil and not candles as we see today. A second Hanukkah bench lamp depicts Judith and her maidservant in Holofernes’s tent. The beheaded general is depicted on the bed his arm lying over a chest. Judith holds Holofernes sword in her left hand and his head in her right hand. The maid servant opens the bag to receive the head. The city of Bethulia appears to sit upon Judith’s head, perhaps an attempt by the artist to place it in the background outside of the tent. Behind the maid servant are waving palm branches. A Hanukkah lamp with burning oil is centered in the composition. To the left Moses holds his staff in his left hand with the waters of the Red Sea swirling at his feet. In his right hand he supports the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. On the right Moses’ brother Aaron is depicted in the garb of a priest of the Temple: a mitre or turban on his head, a breastplate of judgment set with five stones, and a robe with pomegranates and golden bells on the hem as tassels. In his left hand he holds the ninth oil cup, the Shamah, and in his right a sword. “Thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron they brother for glory and for beauty.” (Exodus 28:2)

In the early Eighteenth Century, Johan Adam Boller (1706-32), a member of a famous silversmith atelier in Frankfort, created a Hanukkah lamp that resembled the shape of a menorah rather than the bench type Hanukkah lamp mostly seen in houses. The eight stems are decorated with alternating flowers, knobs and bells. The description of the Golden Menorah God gave to Moses states that seven stems should have intermittent almond blossoms with rings of other leaves and petals. Judith is placed at the top, and at the lower point of the shaft a rampant lion holds a shield with deer and a bird engraved on it. Four roundels at the base with scenes of Rebecca meeting Abraham at the well, and three scenes from the life of Jacob, her son represent new images. Also new are cloisonné enamels and the use of color in the roundels and in some of the flowers. Hanukkah lamps were often wedding presents, and symbols of the family were frequently included.

A game using a dreidel is another part of the Hanukkah celebration. A dreidel is essentially a top that each person spins to win gelt, a small Jewish coin first minted in the Middle Ages. Like the yearly donation of shekels to Holy Temple, gelt was given to teachers as a thank-you gift for sharing their knowledge. Today gelt is more familiar seen as gold foil covered chocolate coins adorned with symbols of Judaism. On the four sides of a dreidel are the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, hay and shin which explain something about the game. In Yiddish nun stands for nothing, gimel for all, hay for half, and shin for put in. When put together into a Hebrew phrase they stand for “a great miracle happened there” which brings us full circle, referencing the miracle of the eight days of light.

To my Jewish friends, particularly Dena, Happy Hanukkah.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown six years ago, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and Chesapeake College’s Institute for Adult Learning.  She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.