Merry Christmahanakwanzika Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lights

The annual eight-day celebration of lights begins on the 25th day of Kislev, which is the ninth month of the Hebrew year. Due to the means of counting calendar days on the Hebrew calendar, this time frame falls anywhere from late November through the month of December.

Answer: Maccabees

The books of First and Second Maccabees detail the miracle that evolved into the celebration of Hanukkah. The story is told that as the Maccabee Jews rebelled against the rule of the Greek ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the purified wicks of the temple candelabra were lit one at a time, day after day, eventually adding up to eight flames.

The miracle being, the lights of hope were burning for the duration of the eight-day time frame on only one day's worth of lamp oil.

Answer: True

It is required that the "shamash" or "helper" candle be set either higher or lower than the rest of the branches in order to be considered kosher. This ninth branch is used to hold the candle that lights the other branches of the candelabra. Each branch is lit one at a time over the course of the eight days of the Hanukkah celebration.

Answer: Swahili

The first Kwanzaa celebrations occurred in 1965 at the height of the Black Power movement in the United States. A Swahili word was chosen because the East African countries that used the language were not involved in the slave trade that sold Africans to the United States.

Answer: 7

There are seven tenets of the Kwanzaa holiday, each represented by a Swahili word, representing unity, self-determination, collective works and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. The founder of Kwanzaa, Maulana Karenga, stated the principles represented "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world".

Answer: True

The founder, Maulana Karenga, believed that mixing other year-end holiday celebrations, including Christmas or Hanukkah, violated the Kwanzaa principle of Kujichagulia. This principle is based upon self-determination, and Karenga believed that including the trappings of other holiday festivals diluted the purpose and message of Kwanzaa.

Answer: Germanic

The cutting and burning of the Yule log came from Germanic pagans and their celebration of the month of Yule. This celebration typically coincided with the winter solstice occurring among the months of November thru January on a cyclical basis. Various pagan gods are honored during the celebration, with primary emphasis on Odin, who is known as the "Yule father".

Answer: The Trinity

Saint Boniface, a Catholic missionary to Germany, took the Germanic practice of cutting down an oak tree and adapted it, instead using a fir. His reasoning was that the fir tree pointed to heaven like an arrow and had three sides representing the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Additionally, the use of an evergreen would be symbolic of the Christian belief in eternal life.

Answer: Purple

The liturgical color typically associated with Advent is purple (although blue is sometimes used). This color is historically tied to the Sarum Rite, another Catholic ritual adaptation of a Roman rite. Modern Christians equate the color purple to repentance in preparation of Christ's return and/or the royal lineage of Jesus.

Answer: False

Catholics did not turn from the celebration, but Protestants definitely did rejecting the Catholic church's incorporation of paganism and the use of icons. The Puritans and Presbyterians condemned the celebration, even outlawing Christmas in the New World for many years. It was once again celebrated as it came back into fashion in the 19th century, only to be rejected once again during the American Revolution for its ties to England.

The celebration of Christmas continued to adapt and develop to what we now know as Christmas today.