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Holiday Greetings To All
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We at Alex Painting, LLC would like to thank all our customers, partners and friends for a wonderful year, your support and trust in us.
We wish you a joyous, peacful Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
With many thanks and love,
Judit, Alex and Alicia
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Christman traditons
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Christmas is celebrated on the 24th and 25th of December to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity.
Christmas Nativity Scene Depicting the Birth of Jesus
The date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jeus had been conceived, the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of various ancient winter festivals.
Christmas is central to the holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.
Folk Hero Santa Claus Flies Above The Sky
Delivering Gifts As His Reindeers Guide His Sleigh
Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoes, nativity scenes and holly. In addition, several similar mythological figures, known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and Santa Claus among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season.
A Large Decorated Fresh Cut Christmas Tree with Stockings
Filled With Goodies and Piles of Gifts Ready To Be Opened
In most European countries Christmas is celebrated without Santa Claus. The big red guy is not part of this holiday, but there is a special day dedicated just to him. It is called St. Nick’s day and on the 6th of December many kids shine their shoes and put them in their windows in hope of a visit from St. Nick who might drop candy in those shoes. If you are on the naughty list you may end up with coal or a small stick that your parents can use to spank you with....
Christmas is a three day holiday in many countries. Catholics go to the midnight mass on the 24th and the 25th and 26th are both holidays. Gifts are opened on Christmas Eve and a meal with a fish entree is shared by the immediate family. The next day extended families gather and exchange gifts and on the 26th friends are included in the celebrations.
Excited Children Eagerly Await Gifts That St. Nick Carries For Them
Whatever way you celebrate Christmas
we wish you a merry, joyous and blessed one!
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Hanukkah
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Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The story of Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Torah since the events that led up to the holiday, happened after the Torah was written. More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of God.
Hanukkah Menorah
When they sought to light the Temple's Menorah (the seven branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously the one-day supply burned for eight nights.
For most of its existence, Hanukkah was a minor holiday until the 1800s when it gained popularity and went on to become the most celebrated Jewish holidays on the calendar.
Fried foods are associated with the holiday since it was oil that kept the sacred fire burning. Foods like Latkes (potato pancakes) and Sufganyiot (sweet jelly-filled donuts) are popular choices.
Sufganyiot (sweet jelly-filled donuts) and Potato Latkes
It’s traditional to play with a Dreidel on Hanukkah. A four sided spin top which features the Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hay & Shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, "a great miracle happened there”. Players “gamble” with small candies or nuts, each adding or taking away from the pile according to the letter shown after each dreidel spin.
Hanukkah Driedel
Giving of Hanukkah Gelt (money) is a traditional gift to give children. But a yummy treat that also satisfies is Chocolate Gelt in a Yellow, plastic webbed sack.
Hanukkah Chocolate Gelt
Whatever way you celebrate hanukkah
we wish you a very joyous and blessed one!
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Kwanzaa
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Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States honoring universal African heritage and culture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activities such as the lighting of a kinara and libations, and culminates in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Ron Karenga and was first celebrated from December 26, 1966 to January 1, 1967.
The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning first fruits of the harvest. Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called the seven principles of Kwanzaa, as follows:
- Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
- Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
- Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers' and sisters' problems our problems, and to solve them together.
- Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
- Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
- Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
- Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
Kwanzaa's Colors are Black, Red & Green
Pictured here is a table decorated and ready to celebrate
A Family Lights The Kinara, An Arched Candle Holder
Families celebrating Kwanzaa decorate their households with objects of art; colorful African cloth such as kente, especially the wearing of kaftans by women; and fresh fruits that represent African idealism. It is customary to include children in Kwanzaa ceremonies and to give respect and gratitude to ancestors. A Kwanzaa ceremony may also include drumming and musical selections.
A Newark, NJ Song & Dance Group "The Seventh Principle"
Share The Kwanzaa Spirit with A traditional ceremony
Whatever way you celebrate Kwanzaa
we wish you a very spirtual and joyous one!
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Holiday Contest
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The holiday contest entry deadline has passed. Because of lack of interest this time and no entries, we will hold another one at a later date. Please keep checking back on our facebook page for more updates on future contests. We also would love to hear from you so don't forget to "LIKE" our facebook page and become a fan!
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