Jews are well familiar with the so-called "December dilemma" of getting through the Christmas season with its ubiquitous carols, advertising and holiday displays. One answer has been to lift the relatively minor Jewish festival of Hanukkah into competition with the major Christian observance of Christmas.
Armenian Orthodox Christians in the United States face their own December dilemma.
For the overwhelming majority of Christian denominations, the Christmas holiday culminates with celebrations Dec. 24 and 25. But Armenian churches wait until Jan. 6.
The observance of what has come to be called Armenian Christmas underscores an almost 1,700-year divide between the Armenian church and most other churches over when to mark the birth of Jesus.
The two Southern California-based Armenian archbishops this week sought to bridge the differences, honoring their own calendar and traditions while acknowledging that many of their members participate in Dec. 25 festivities.
That stance reflects the reality of a distinct ethnic church ministering in a religiously and culturally diverse region and nation. By contrast, in Armenia, there was little alternative to the Armenian church and its Jan. 6 observance of Christ's birth.
But among Armenians in America, holiday dinners and family reunions are common on Dec. 25 and during New Year's gift exchanges, as well as on Jan. 6. Tables are spread with fish, rice pilaf and spinach; kebabs of beef, lamb and chicken; and \o7kufte\f7, a ground meat wrapped in a fried bulgur wheat shell. Presents are sometimes wrapped in the colors of the Armenian flag: red, blue and orange.
There are an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 Armenians in California.
"I cannot possibly tell my people you are not part of this tradition," said Hovnan Derderian, primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.
"If Dec. 25 is conveying the good news about Jesus' birth, there is every reason for us to take it as a blessing, because in today's society the more venues we look for to celebrate Christianity in our life, the better for our communities," said Derderian, a native of Beirut.
The other Southern California Armenian prelate agreed that it is fine to celebrate both dates.
"We cannot deny that they do" also mark Dec. 25, said Archbishop Moushegh Mardirossian, prelate of the Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, which is administratively separate from Derderian's overlapping Western Diocese. "They bring me gifts too."
