The so-called "December Dilemma" is an annual topic of conversation and popular magazine articles. The topic has plagued the Jewish community and interfaith couples for decades. However, there is much to learn about how Chanukah "grew up" alongside Christmas. This session will chronicle the meaning and history of these two holidays, offering fresh insights about how to turn the dilemma into delights for interfaith families and communal leaders. All are welcome and questions are encouraged!

Dr. Keren R. McGinity is an internationally known scholar-activist and a research associate at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University. She is a 2018 Forward honoree of America’s 50 most influential Jews for her clarion call for a Jewish response to the #MeToo Movement and a Lilith Magazine 2023 Jewish feminist highlight. Dr. McGinity was the first interfaith specialist at the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism and the founding director of the Interfaith Families Jewish Engagement graduate program at Hebrew College.

Her pioneering books, Still Jewish: A History of Women & Intermarriage in America (NYU Press 2009), a National Jewish Book Award Finalist, and Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage & Fatherhood (Indiana Univ. Press 2014), provided groundbreaking analyses about Jewish continuity by focusing on gender and change over time. Her newest book is #UsToo: How Jewish, Muslim, & Christian Women Changed Our Communities (Routledge 2023). To learn more, visit www.loveandtradition.org.