Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Thanksgivukkah America!

"My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor."
~~ Phyllis Diller, American stand-up comedienne, actress, voice artist, and comedienne, best known for her eccentric stage persona and her wild hair and clothes.(b. July 17, 1917 – d. August 20, 2012)

Just when you think you've got all the bases covered for Thanksgiving -- turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, decorations, etc., another unusual, unexpected, once in a lifetime happening happens and sheds a whole new light, 8 lights to be exact, on Thanksgiving.

To think the purest, American holiday is colliding with the Jewish religious 8 day of lights -- it's been 125 years (1888) since Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fell on the exact day. And this hybrid holiday won't be happenning again until another 80 millennia (that's right 79,000 years later)! Thanksgivukkah Menurkie photo above right from Lori Feldman blog, A Year in Photos - Year 5: Thanksgivukkah Menurkies"

The “once-in-a-lifetime” holiday is being marked by Jews across America by decorating their homes with turkey menorahs, known as menurkies, and dreidels decorated with birds, known as turkels.

What will you be doing this Thanksgiving Day (Thanksgivukkah).

If you plan on being in New York City, there's always the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, this is the 87th year.

For those of you who will be going it alone, you are not alone -- there are plenty of folks who are thankful for what they've got but still say "no thank you" to celebrating with their families.

There are plenty of things to do on Thanksgiving for those going solo -- see links below in the "Resources" section.

Thanksgiving Day (Jour de l'Action de grâce in Canadian French) is a national holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.

Several other places around the world observe similar celebrations.

It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and on the second Monday of October in Canada. Thanksgiving has its historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, and has long been celebrated in a secular manner as well.

Hanukkah (/ˈhɑːnəkə/ HAH-nə-kə; Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה, Tiberian: Ḥănukkāh, usually spelled חנוכה, pronounced /χanuˈka/ in Modern Hebrew; a transliteration also romanized as Chanukah, Chanukkah or [Chanuˈkah]), also known as the Festival of Lights and Feast of Dedication, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from late November to late December in the Gregorian calendar.

This blog would not stand to it's allthingsdigitalmarketing motif without a collage of Thanksgiving Google Doodles past. Here is a collage of the lovely Thanksgiving Doodles past. Of course, as soon as the 2013 Google Doodle is live, I will add it here.

As promised, the 2013 Thanksgiving Day doodle (see below opening and closing snapshots) is an adorable animated forest animal collage setting, with pumpkins, trees, foxes, turkey, chipmunks, birds, banjo player, etc. all joining in to celebrate Thanksgiving festivities.

Resources:

•Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 2013 Route Map, Live Stream, Start Time, Program Schedule, NYC Performers Lineup, Float Details (NBC TV Info), The Christian Post
•Thanksgivukkah Holiday Hybrid Recipes, Delish.com
•Thanksgivukkah on Facebook
•Thanksgiving-Hanukkah overlap spurs thanks, angst, Yahoo News
•10 Reasons Not To Spend Thanksgiving with your Family, Babble by Disney
•A heaping helping of holidays: Thanksgiving and Hanukkah collide, Washington Post
•Thanksgivukkah Blessings by Rabbis Bring Hanukkah Gratitude To The Thanksgiving Table, Huffington Post
•How to do Thanksgiving without Family, Elephant

Please remember to check out the links in the resource section above and share this on your LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks you enjoy! Thanks!

Photos courtesy of Wikimedia.org unless otherwise indicated. Thanksgivukkah Menurkie photo screenshot from Lori Feldman blog, A Year in Photos - Year 5" http://lfeld365.blogspot.com/2013/11/thanksgivukkah-menurkies.html


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