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Happy Christmas? Merry Hanukkah? Happy Challahdays?
There’s no need for an identity crisis this year for those who celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah, with both happily coinciding on Dec. 25.
New Yorkers who normally nurse some serious “Christmas envy” are plotzing over the cultural conundrum they’ve dubbed “Chrismukkah,” a Judeo-Christian mashup for the ages.
Comedian Max Cohen, who goes by the handle MurrayHillBoy, is so pumped for the cultural collision, he staged a parody of the Dr. Seuss Christmas classic, rebranding the holiday tale as “How the Grinch Stole Hanukkah.”
His goal is to “create a moment of Jewish joy” this Chrismukkah that’s “not offensive,” or contains references to the Middle East.
“It pokes fun at the fact that the holidays overlap this year,” Cohen, 24, told The Post of his poignant parody.
“What’s going on here? There’s no Christmas tree in sight! Perhaps I’ve arrived on the incorrect night,” the cranky Grinch opens the video. “Well, you see Mr. Grinch, it’s been a hard year to be a Jew. Do you have to ruin Hanukkah too?” asks an innocent child.
To which the Grinch answers, “You know, people shouldn’t believe everything they read in the news, ‘I quite like you folks,’ said the Grinch to the Jews.”
Cohen said he’s grateful for Chrismukkah, if only to allay “that Christmas jealousy we deal with as Jews every year.”
The idea of dual – and dueling – decorations is also more pronounced this year.
NYC balloon artist Megan Kerrigan’s new “Chrismukkah Tree” has been a hit this year with interfaith clients, with the $84 blue and white balloon tower evoking traditional Hanukkah colors arranged in a tree shape.
“It would not have been as popular if it didn’t overlap this year,” said the Marine Park-based Kerrigan, who dabbles in her own Chrismukkah at her Catholic home. “We celebrate Hanukkah in this house — we love the food, especially latkes. My9-year-old daughter calls them Hanukkah hashbrowns.”
One Chrismukkah tree client, Betty Sobolow, lamented that her two young kids, ages 3 and 4, will suffer stimulation overload this Dec. 25 in her interfaith home.
“It’s going to be an overload of presents. These kids are so lucky,” said the 38-year-old teacher and baker from Sheepshead Bay. “For them, it’s super exciting to have one holiday after another.”
Still, it’s “hard to compete with Christmas as someone who’s Jewish,” she added. “The Hanukkah story is a miracle, of course, but everyone knows what Christmas is.”
Since the Hebrew calendar doesn’t have a fixed date like the Gregorian calendar, the first night of Hanukkah landing on Christmas Day is something of an aberration.
The two holidays have only overlapped four times since 1910. The last time was nearly two decades ago, in 2005, and the next time will be 2035.
Those pulling double duty this Chrismukkah are coming from unlikely places.
After pulling an all-nighter delivering presents, Santa Rick Rosenthal has to hustle back to his North Pole abode to light Hanukkah candles with Mrs. Claus.
Rosenthal, 72, who lives in Atlanta, is an Orthodox Jewish professional Santa who said it’s a “mitzvah” to bring joy to wide-eyed children.
But while the longtime Kris Kringle believes Christmas is “wonderful,” he never forgets his faith.
“There’s something really magnificent about the light of the candle,” Rosenthal told The Post. “When you’re lighting the menorah, it’s a magical time for a Jew. Everything calms down and focuses. The unity is magnificent.”
Unity is what Chrismukkah should be all about this year, celebrants say.
“We have the miracle of Christmas and the miracle of Hanukkah — it’s the time this country needs a miracle,” said Jewish former Manhattan Mini Storage ad guru, Archie Gottesman, who now helms JewBelong, whose cheeky pink pro-Jewish slogans have garnered controversy. “It’s time to be allies to one another. I see this as a miracle presenting itself as an opportunity.”
The witty wordsmith added, “What if this is the moment that healing and real allyship started? That we all care for each other, even if we believe different things? I think that can be so powerful.”
New York families are “excited” for the festival of lights… and more lights this year.
Long Island-based Renee Dilorio decked out her interfaith home inside and out — with inflatables reflecting both faiths.
“The neighbors love it,” said the married mom of one, who also went all out this year with a six-foot tree adorned with Jewish elements.
“The tree topper is a disco ball with Mickey Hanukkah ears,” she said with pride of her 18-year-old daughter’s vision.
“It’s the best,” kvelled Hell’s Kitchen resident Kara Silverman, who’s Jewish, as she anxiously awaits a traditional Christmas dinner this year with her Christian husband and 20-month-old daughter, Summer.
On the menu? Brisket and latkes alongside deviled eggs, ham and lamb.
“It’s the ultimate mashup,” she said, adding a few rounds of playing dreidel will round out the evening. “It’s a combo prayer situation.”
In addition to her even-handed decorating this year, she wants to instill in her youngster that the holidays aren’t “pitted against each other,” said the founder of Various & Co, a public relations firm.
Added the mom: “We want her to experience the beauty and traditions on both sides.”
