Let's face it...
Despite attempts to make Hanukah fun, the other holiday is winning out. That is why so many Jews in the US celebrate Christmas. Of course, this causes tremendous guilt. We don't want to upset our mothers. It is also difficult to take off for the High Holidays if we put up a "Hanukah Bush." Thus, many years ago, I came up with the solution to the problem. A non-denominational holiday--Hanumas!
Problem is that I wanted to create an inclusive holiday and I realized that I may have excluded some of our our African American brethren. My solution--Hanuwanmas!
Here are some features of Hanuwanmas:
It is a uniquely American all-inclusive holiday.
In order to accomodate our vegetarian friends there is no Hanuwanmas ham (or turkey) to choke on.
All the colors of these holidays make up the rainbow (and we ain't talking rainbow coalition here!).
Hanuwanmas goes from the first day of Hanukah to the last day of Christmas, extending the celebratory period for as long as possible.
A Latino guy--Hanuwanmas Jose--delivers all presents. As he is going to bring them "manana," gifts are never late!
Hanuwanmas isn't overly commercialized
You can send a Hanuwanmas card to anyone, alleviating questions about how to handle cards to people of differing traditions.
Hanuwanmas is blatantly fun. No one will ever suggest that we "put the Han back in Hanuwanmas."