Last week, my family celebrated Hanukkah, but unlike the most of the NASH Jewish community, my celebration will continue throughout the month.

My family is half-Jewish and half-Catholic, so we observe both religions and their holidays.

In between concerts, work, and other commitments, my family squeezed in a daily Hanukkah celebration, which included exchanging gifts, lighting the menorah, and saying the daily Hanukkah prayers. Because the our Jewish relatives live out of town, we exchanged gifts with them over Thanksgiving and just sent holiday well-wishes to each other via text messages.

For Christmas, we will get together with my dad’s family to eat and exchange gifts as well, and until then, we will work on setting up our Christmas tree and putting up festive lights and decorations inside and outside of our house.

I consider myself extremely lucky that my parents celebrate different holidays, as it gives me the chance to learn about both sets of traditions. I am not formally a member of either religion because I have not completed the coming-of-age ceremonies (for Judaism, a Bat Mitzvah, at age 13; and for Catholicism, a Confirmation, usually in eighth grade) to make me an official member of either, but I choose the best parts of each to observe during the holiday season and throughout the rest of the year.

I know that there are plenty of people who celebrate multiple sets of traditions around NASH, and we don’t all celebrate in the same ways. I know that my family makes a bigger deal out of Hanukkah than most, even though it is not the most important Jewish holiday of the year — that title belongs to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

With the many positives of observing multiple religions comes the only negative: there are no group settings for people like myself. While I know of a few other people like me around NASH and the community, there is no place where we can all meet to share our common experiences. Many churches, synagogues, and other religious centers start youth groups and community for programs for their congregants since they all share similar backgrounds.

While I don’t know of the best solution to this problem, I would be open to hearing other people’s suggestions. If you have any ideas, you can leave them in the comments below, and maybe we can get something started at NASH.

Until then, I wish you and yours a happy holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.