Alex Carson
It’s that time of year again, are you excited?
Typically discussing the holiday season with interfaith couples can be a bit of a sensitive issue, but this year we’ve found several celebrity couples that have decided to fully embrace their theological and cultural differences and celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah – because, why not?
Honestly celebrating both holidays has its perks. First of all, it’s not like you have to choose one or the other. This year Hanukkah is celebrated from December 10th to December 18th giving any festive dual-celebrator plenty of time to make Christmas plans after the final candle of the Menorah has been lit.
Obviously, most people aren’t going to be celebrating both Holidays this year, but for those that do, those lucky few get to partake in double the celebration while simultaneously tapping into two very different and storied traditions. Plus, at that point, it doesn’t even matter what kind of wrapping paper you use for your gift giving, and just think about all the tasty food you and your family will get to chow down on. That sounds like a win, win, win to me.
Anyways, let’s see which super-star couples will be having both a Christmas tree and a Menorah in their homes this year. Those lucky ducks!
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis
Kutcher grew up in a Christian household and celebrated all of the Christian Holidays while Kunis was raised Jewish. In fact, her family migrated to the US from Russia when she was just a child.
Back in Soviet Russia, Kunis family holiday traditions were more subdued. Kunis told ET back in 2017 that the communist state wouldn’t allow its citizens to be happy by celebrating as they pleased, so when her family finally found their way to America they decided to go all out.
They saw Christmas as being a widely inclusive Holiday so the first thing did was buy a Christmas tree. Christmas also proved to be the perfect excuse for Kunis’ family to come together and get drunk – which happens to be one of their favorite opportunities.
Kunis and Kutcher have also adopted Easter and other popular Christian holidays into their household although they’ve made it a point to start building their own unique traditions to go along with the traditional ones. To them, the holiday season is an opportunity for their family to come together.
This isn’t the first time that Mila Kunis was involved with someone of a different faith either. Before Kunis married Ashton. She dated former child star Macaulay Culkin for nearly 8 years. Culkin is a Roman Catholic.
Pink and Carey Hart
Pink – whose real name happens to be Alecia Beth Moore, is Jewish. Her husband, former professional motocross rider and current off-road truck racer Casey Hart is a devout evangelical Christian. The couple has been married since 2006, giving them plenty of time to work out their cross-cultural holiday plans.
Pink has expressed a desire to pass on her Jewish identity to her children. In 2018, the couple posted pictures on their Instagram showing their kids in front of a Christmas tree while lighting the Menorah for Hanukkah. Really, what kid could complain about getting to celebrate two holidays? That’s really the best of both worlds.
Eugene Levy and Deborah Divine
Dan Levy, their son, Tweeted in 2012 that he was a celebrator of both Christmas and Hanukkah. He described himself as a ‘halfie’. In the tweet, he said that one half of himself was celebrating Hanukkah while the other half was putting lights and ornaments on the Christmas tree. “My body is confused’ he quipped.
Eugene and Dan further explored their interfaith family dynamic in the hit show Schitt’s Creek. In one episode, Moira played by Catherine O’Hara is Christian and Johnny played by Eugene Levy is Jewish, which is very much like Dan Levy’s real life family situation. His dad is Jewish and his mother, Deborah Divine, is Christian.
Marc Mezvinsky and Chelsea Clinton
Clinton was raised as a Methodist while her husband, Mezvinksy is Jewish. The couple married in 2010 in an interfaith marriage ceremony that incorporated both family’s faith traditions. Clinton, who still identifies as a Christian, tweeted back in 2017 that she enjoys lighting the Hanukkah candles with her family even though she also thoroughly enjoys all of the Christmas traditions as well. Why should she have to choose?
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Alan Alda and Ariene Weiss
Alda isn’t Jewish in the least bit despite the fact that his name sounds like he might be. In fact, old Hawkeye identifies as Catholic. Humorously he made Moment Magazine’s list of non-Jews often misidentified as Jews back in 2009. His wife, Arlene Weiss, whom he’s been with for 63 years now Is in fact very Jewish. That means that Alda has been immersed in Judaism for the majority if his adult life.
Even though their family will be celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah this year, Alda’s favorite holiday of the year is Passover. In 2017, he described Passover as being a lot like Thanksgiving. People get together and share a meal and some uplifting drink and celebrate being alive. Who wouldn’t enjoy that?
Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas
Although Goodwin had been fairly disconnected from her Jewish heritage for quite some time, In 2013 she revealed that she had gotten back in touch with her roots, just one year before tying the knot with her Christian husband Josh Dallas.
Josh and Ginnifer had a son in 2014 that they named Oliver. Ginnifer joked on social media that her son was probably the only Jewish Dallas in the world. Despite getting in touch with her Jewish heritage, Goodwin and her family have been spotted getting into the Christmas spirit. In 2017, they were photographed showing off their matching ugly Christmas sweaters. Tis the season!
Tamron Hall and Steven Greener
The Emmy Award winning talk show host and her music executive husband Steven Greener certainly come from two different backgrounds. But after all, love knows no bounds. Hall grew up in a Southern Baptist family and her husband is Jewish.
In 2019, Hall and Greener welcomed their son, Moses, into the world. Since he came into the world, he’s gotten the chance to experience both Jewish and Christian traditions including having a bris when he was 8 days old.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, that’s a traditional Jewish circumcision. In an interview with EW, Hall said that her Mom nearly passed out at the ceremony. It was a bit of a cultural shock to her, but Hall explained that they are doing their best to combine each other’s life experiences and traditions to give their child a fuller existence.
Little baby Moses when to Texas to have a Christening and Confirmation at his Grandmothers Southern Baptist church and this year, no doubt his family will be celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah in some shape or form.
Amanda Peet and David Benioff
David Benioff, best known for co-writing Game of Thrones from 2011 to 2019 as well as writing the screenplay for 2004s Troy and 2009s X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a practicing Jew. His wife, actress Amanda Peet, has appeared in films like The Whole Nine Yards, Identity, and Syriana in addition to starring in TV shows like Jack & Jill, Togetherness, and Brookmire.
Peet is a Quaker and in 2006, their wedding ceremony was held at the Friends Seminary Quaker School in New York City. The ceremony also included a traditional Jewish chuppah with friends reading poems and singing songs for the newlywed couple.
Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick
Bacon and Sedgwick got married in 1988 in a private civil union. The couple have three children together. Even though they both come from different religious backgrounds, this celebrity couple appears to have 0 degrees of separation between each other.
Bacon was raised a Roman Catholic although in recent years he’s indicated that he isn’t much of a believer anymore. Kyra Sedgwick is a practicing Jew. As such, their kinds partake in some Jewish traditions such as observing Passover and celebrating Hanukkah as well as taking part in secularized versions of Christian Holidays like Easter and Christmas.
Liev Schreiber and Naomi Watts
Okay, so this one might not count seeing as these two aren’t technically a couple anymore. Even though Schreiber and Watts have been separated for quite some time now, their two children Samuel and Sasha are being raised with both Jewish traditions and Christian traditions. Schreiber is very connected to his Jewish roots and views it as an essential part of who he is and what drives him as an actor and artist.
Watts grew up in a Christian family although she has expressed some degree of interest in Buddhism as well. So even though this particular duo isn’t quite an interfaith couple, it’s pretty clear that their children will be experiencing a fairly diverse Holiday season.
Granted, some super-orthodox Christians and Jews would probably take offense to the idea of celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah. Some might even see the concept as being downright offensive, but to those that are able to put aside their knee-jerk views, coming together as one united family and embracing the cultural traditions and values of family members that have a different worldview can be remarkably unifying.
Not to mention, getting the chance to celebrate both Holidays means double to fun, right? I don’t know about you, but I’m personally kind of jealous of folks that get to light the Menorah, play with their Dreidels, eat tasty chocolate Gelt and get to unwrap presents left by Santa under the tree on Christmas morning. That literally sounds like the best holiday season ever. Might as well throw on a yule log and celebrate the solstice while you’re at it.
Granted, no one should be celebrating any other religion’s holidays without having a respectful understanding and appreciation of what the traditions represent. But for those that come from interfaith families, the door is wide open to enjoy what both religions have to offer in terms of holiday cheer.
Anyways, what December Holidays will you be celebrating this year, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa? Let us know in the comments section below.
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And from all of us at Facts Verse, Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!
