Friday, December 4, 2015

Chanukah (Hanukkah)

THE STORY OF CHANUKAH
During the time of the 2nd Temple, the Holy Land of Israel was ruled by cruel Syrian Greeks (at war with Rome). They made it illegal for Jews to observe Judaism. They burned Torah scrolls and holy books. They publicly executed big Rabbis if they refused to eat pork. They placed pigs and idols in the Holy Temple. They went throughout Israel and put idols in all the places of worship and forced the Jews to bow down to them
The First Miracle.
The Syrian Greeks, had one of the most powerful armies in the world. But miraculously, the Jews rose up against them and, led by the Maccabees, they won! The Chanukah lights remind us that with the help of God, even a small group of dedicated fighters - fighting for the right reasons -- can beat the most powerful armies in the world.
The Second Miracle.
The Holy Temple had in it a Menorah - a 7 branched candelabra. Fire from olive oil burned 24 hours every day - to show the continuous presence of God in the lives of the Jewish People. Only pure oil could be used, and the Syrian Greeks had destroyed it. After winning the war, the Jews needed to immediately re-dedicate The Holy Temple and light that fire. ("Chanukah" means "dedication.")
The Jews were able to find one vial of holy oil -- enough for one day. They lit it, and the one vial kept burning for 7 more days - enough time for more pure oil to be made. Another Miracle! In that way, the light was rekindled and burned continuously once again -- showing the return of the presence of God in the Holy Temple. 




JOYOUS LIGHT!
Jews celebrate Chanukah by eating foods cooked with oil (not good for you -- but good!), and by playing with a spinning top called a "dreidel" that says a Great Miracle Happened There (In Israel it says "Here"!). Most importantly, we celebrate by lighting candles on each of the 8 days of the holiday. We start with one and by the 8th day, the entire Menorah is alight. This shows that just as the Macabees started with only one person, they inspired a whole nation to do the right thing. All of us can inspire others to do good simply by lighting our single candle. 
We display our Menorah in prominent windows in our homes to remind everyone that to dispel the darkness, all it takes is one candle! This is the meaning of Chanukah.





This article was written by Spanish interpreter, Norma R.. 

Thursday, October 29, 2015

The Republic Day of Turkey

The Republic Day of Turkey (Turkish: Cumhuriyet Bayramı) is one of the public holidays in Turkey and Northern Cyprus, commemorating the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.


The holiday commemorates the events of October 29th, 1923, when Mustafa Kemal declared that Turkey was henceforth a republic. Turkey had in fact been a republic since April 23rd, 1920, the date of the establishment of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, but the official confirmation of this fact came only three-and-a-half years later. On 29 October 1923, the status of the nation as a republic was declared and its official name was proclaimed to be Türkiye Cumhuriyeti ("the Republic of Turkey"). After that, a vote was held in the Grand National Assembly, and Atatürk was elected as the first President of the Republic of Turkey.



Many people go to local stadiums on October 29th to watch performances dedicated to Republic Day in Turkey. Such performances usually consist of theater sketches, poetry readings and traditional Turkish dances. Many school children participate in school performances for parents and teachers. Parades may take place in some cities and politicians may give public speeches on this day. Many people also lay wreaths to Atatürk’s monuments or visit Atatürk’s mausoleum in the country’s capital, Ankara.


In the evening of October 29in many cities have traditional processions with flags and musical bands to commemorate Republic Day in Turkey. The processions usually end with fireworks, which begin after dark.








This article was written by Tugrul O., LAMP Turkish Interpreter.

More information:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-to-mark-92nd-republic-day-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=90462&NewsCatID=341

Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNz-VigialM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTa9h9g9Vw8

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Victory Day in Turkey

Flag of Turkey
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Turkey)
August 30th, Victory Day of TURKEY honors the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the military victory over the proxies of the Allies, namely Greece on the Western front, Armenia on the Eastern, France on the Southern and with them, Great Britain and Italy in Istanbul. The last battle of Turkish Independence War was fought from to August 26 to 30, 1922 near Kütahya in Turkey. The Turkish victory of this battle is the beginning of the end for the Allies presence in Anatolia. The Armistice of Mudanya was signed by Turkey, Italy, France, and Great Britain on October 11, 1922. Greece was forced to agree to it on October 14th.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
(http://turkishtravelblog.com/mustafa-kemal-ataturk/)
 Although foreign forces left the country for good in the late fall of 1922, Turkish people accept August 30th as the date of the Turkish troops’ overall victory. It became a national holiday in 1935.
In 1923, Turkey was established as an independent republic. The holiday is a celebration of the nation's military, the republic Atatürk being founded, and the spirit of the Turkish people to resist tyranny and rule by outsiders.


Victory Day is celebrated throughout Turkey and on the island of Cyprus. The primary celebration is held at Atatürk's Mausoleum in the city of Ankara. Leading military officials visit the tomb to lay a ceremonial wreath. Veterans come from all over Turkey to attend the event. Wreaths are also placed on various statues of Atatürk found throughout the city. A ceremony including military and governmental officials is then held at the Atatürk Culture Center. Military leaders later retire to the General Staff headquarters to greet dignitaries from the country's major political parties, parliamentary and judicial officials, and the prime minister. A ceremony is also held at the War Academy in Istanbul, while marches are held in major cities across the country.
Military Marches
(http://www.thetower.org/article/ataturk-ben-gurion-and-turkeys-road-not-taken/)
Victory Day is a national public holiday in Turkey on August 30th. Administration buildings and schools are closed on this day. Workers in private companies may have a day off or work until noon. Public transport routes may vary in the event of street parades.

Victory Day in Turkey was celebrated by many people by attending military parades, which take place in major cities throughout the country. Residents and shop owners decorate their windows with Turkish flags and images of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. State officials attend a ceremony at Atatürk's Mausoleum in Ankara. All promotions in the Turkish Armed Forces take place on this day, and military schools hold annual graduation ceremonies on August 30th.

To learn more about Victory Day, visit these links: 

Check out this video on Victory Day! 


This article was written by Tugrul O., LAMP Turkish interpreter. 

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Portugal
          June 10, titled Dia de Portugal, de Camões e das Comunidades Portuguesas, has a dual purpose of celebration. It celebrates both the entirety of the Portuguese heritage and its cultural impact, and also the anniversary of poet Luís Vaz de Camões’s death. The holiday is considered a national day of rest, and therefore, most Portuguese workers have the day off, in honor of both celebrations. The holiday’s dual significance has a special place in two distinctive periods of Portuguese history, emphasizing its national importance to all citizens.



            During the New State dictatorship that lasted from 1933 to 1974, the holiday was formally called “Dia da Raça: A Raça Portuguesa ou os Portugueses”, which translates to “The Day of Race: The Portuguese Race or the Portuguese People.” This day’s formal celebration is associated with a negative connotation today, because it signifies an attitude formerly focused on Portuguese supremacy, by disfavoring Portuguese emigration, and foreign immigration into the country. This celebration of the Dia was changed during the April 1974 Revolution, where the Portuguese military disbanded the dictatorship and established The Republic of Portugal. Since the Revolution, the day has been celebrated with its current connotation, here previously mentioned. Currently, the day is celebrated by the President and his accompanying state dignitaries, who participate in formal ceremonies led by the military, which are held in different cities yearly. The reasoning for these ceremonies being held in different cities annually is to equally celebrate all regions and talents of Portugal, as well as emphasizing the country’s unity, despite geographic separation. In order for a city to earn the distinction of hosting the ceremony, it is considered a great honor, and they are recognized for their incomparable contributions to the state and its national mission.
http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/
country/portugal.html

        The significance of Vaz de Camões’s poetry to the holiday manifests itself in his Portuguese epic, titled Os Lusíadas. The epic narrates a fantasy-driven version of the Portuguese voyages of discovery, which were Portugal’s call to fame, during the New Age of discovery. The epic is comparable in impact to the Iliad, and specifies in great detail, the nature of sons of Portugal, the “Lusus”. The significance of defining the “Lusus”, is that the state of being Portuguese, whether being an emigrant or immigrant, now had a formal definition and title. The title is still used as a prefix to describe foreign nationals of Portuguese ancestry, and is utilized warmly during international celebrations of the holiday. The author’s death signifies that being Portuguese is still an honor and definable today by both his work and original terminology, and salutes him for his contributions to Portuguese society annually.

To learn more about the Dia and its international celebrations, please visit:


This article was written by Andrea L., LAMP Portuguese interpreter.

Friday, May 1, 2015

První Máj

Traditional Maypole
Although many people in the Czech Republic celebrate their romantic love on St. Valentine’s Day, there is another day that is much older and much more traditionally Czech: the first of May. 

While the calendar may say that May 1st is Labor Day, the people recognize a different tradition: a celebration of the blossoming of love, coinciding with spring’s arrival. This tradition is much older than the bank holiday of Labor Day, and based on a 19th century Czech love poem by Karel Hynek Macha.

Creative way to celebrate První Máj!   
On the night before the first of May, maypoles are cut down in the forest and prepared by the men of the village. On the first of May, the maypoles are erected and decorated by the townspeople. On this day, the men kiss their sweethearts under a blossoming cherry tree to preserve the lady’s beauty for another year. At night, a group of people sneak into neighboring villages to try and steal each other’s maypoles, and whoever successfully defends their maypole wins. This means that the single men from the village can go around visiting the young single girls and giving them presents.

If you live in Prague, there is an additional tradition: In Petřín Park behind the Prague castle, there is a statue of Mácha. If you kiss your lover under the statue’s gaze, it guarantees that your love will be as strong as the stone from which the statue is made.
Statue of Macha

At night on the first of May, the youth from the town put on a May Day Ball, electing a king of the celebration, and showcasing musical and dancing abilities of the town’s youth. Nowadays, these balls have a feeling of a music festival with student parades, costumes, and various performances.

This article was written by Anne H., LAMP Spanish interpreter. 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Nepali New Year 2072 B.S.



Happy Nepali New Year 2072 B. S.

Flag of Nepal
     "Nepali" refers to language and the general culture being practiced by people of Nepal and other nationals whose origins are in Nepal. Nepali language has root to the ancient and religious language of India known as Sanskrit.  Therefore, Sanskrit, Hindi, Nepali and many other languages of India use the common script known as Devanagari, one of the few ancient scripts.
     Nepal, a Himalayan country north of India and south of Tibet (China), has its own official calendar known as Vikram Sambat abbreviated as V. S. or B. S. The calendar started in 57 BC and hence, it is 57 years ahead of the Gregorian Solar calendar. The New Year of the Vikram Sambat or Nepali calendar starts between mid- March to mid –April. The New Year starts today, April 14th 2015. The calendar year from today in Nepal is 2072 BS, which is mandatory for both official and religious purposes. However, in India the Hindus follow this calendar for religious significance only; their official calendar is the Gregorian Western calendar.
     Vikramaditya, the Emperor of northwest India, defeated his enemies, the Sakas, in 56BC. As an honor and memory to his great victory, he introduced the calendar: Vikram Sambat. Since then the Indian kings started to use the calendar in the north and the east. From the Indians, the Rana rulers of Nepal adopted the calendar after 1850 AD when military general, Jung Bahadur Rana, defeated King Surendra Shah of Nepal through a military coup and established the Rana regime that ruled Nepal until 1951 AD.
     As in other countries and cultures, Nepali celebrate their New Year with prayers, rituals, family gatherings, socialized gambling, picnic and travelling. Hindu priests offer prayers. Depending on family practices, male goats, buffaloes, sheep, pig and roosters are sacrificed to appease family deities for having helped to fulfill family wishes in the bygone year and then to renew divine protection, favor and successes in the New Year. Similarly, the Hindu astrologers identify the unfavorable influence of planets and stars on the life of each family members in the New Year and then the priests offer prayers and rituals to appease the planets and stars. The Hindus believe that such appeasing to heavenly bodies helps to neutralize malefic effects of the heavenly bodies on the health, career and day-to-day events of each family member. Also, the first month of New Year is the most favorable month for wedding.
     As to the Hindus, the Buddhists too have significance of the first month. Lord Gautama Buddha achieved Buddhahood or enlightenment in the month of Baisakh, the first month of Nepali calendar. Buddhists offer prayers, organize religious dances and celebrations in monasteries, forts and pilgrim sites. During the full moon of the month, Buddhists pilgrims from worldwide visit Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha in south Nepal.
    
Map of Nepal
Just a week ago, the Hindus celebrated the birthday of Lord Rama along with celebrating His victory over the powerful demon King Ravana of ancient Ceylon. During these festivals, parents and brothers invite their sisters and families to celebrate together by giving gifts and money as a gesture of respect and honor to daughters and sisters. Likewise, businessmen and companies settle their business deals and renew new contracts on these auspicious occasions.
     New Year is an auspicious occasion for festival, ritual, celebrations and family gatherings in Nepal. Both Hindus and Buddhists celebrate the New Year for the entire month. It is also the end of harvest and beginning of new farming season for the Nepalese whose 75 percent population rely on sustainable farming. As a cool and dry season, this time of the year is favorable for all kinds of tourists to visit Nepal and experience intact nature especially in the mid hills and the higher Himalayas popular for rafting, trekking, mountaineering, and experiencing social and cultural diversities of over 104 different ethnic groups in the country with just the size of Iowa (56,000 sq. miles).
                                        
Wish you all Happy New Year 2072.




This article was written by Yadu N., LAMP Nepali interpreter.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Happy Chinese New Year


Red paper posted on main entrance

      On February 19, more than a quarter of the world's population will celebrate the Chinese New Year. The New Year's Day celebration is on a different date each year because it is based on the lunar calendar that has been followed in China since ancient times. Chinese use the Zodiac to represent a cycle of twelve years. This year, it is the Year of the Sheep.

       Why do we celebrate the New Year? Each culture has its own legend for the reason. The one that belongs to Chinese is spookily interesting.

       It was said that the Year had been a monstrous beast. It had appeared on every New Year's Eve to create havoc, eating people and wrecking houses, at which time everyone locked up windows and doors and hid breathlessly at home. Later on, people realized that the Year was fearful of noises and any color in red, so that on one New Year's Eve when the Year showed up as usual, people began to fire firecrackers and pounded the chop knife against the chop board to make deafening noises in every household. Meanwhile, they were all dressed in shiny red and gave each other money contained in red bags for good luck, while they pasted on top and both sides of the main entrance of buildings poems of auspices written on pieces of brightly red paper. Needless to say, the Year scurried off and never returned. At dawn of the New Year's Day, people emerged safely to cheerfully congratulate each other by saying "good luck for the coming year".


     Traditionally, on New Year's Eve, all family members gather around a table, some grinding pork and some kneading dough, to make dumplings. The dumplings, pretty much round in shape, symbolize fullness. The firecrackers start to blast exactly at midnight of the New Year's Eve nonstop till the New Year's Day. Everyone puts on new clothes and new shoes and says good wishes to every family member. The older generations hand out money in red bags to the younger, much like opening Christmas gifts on the Christmas Day. The grownups who have earned money are to present money in red bags to their parents to show their appreciation. Later that day, friends visit each others homes to wish each other good things to happen in the coming year.

Paper cuttings of lambs
       The New Year's Eve and the New Year's Day are the most important days of the year to Chinese. They represent a time for reunion and new outlook. In Asia, the Chinese New Year is celebrated concurrently in China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The Chinese celebration usually lasts for half a month until the Lantern Festival held in the evening of lunar January 15.



             Even though my husband and I have lived in the States for thirty years, on New Year's Day we have been handing out money in red bags to our two sons, who are very pleased (who wouldn’t be?) to have been able to receive gifts on both the Christmas and Chinese New Year's Days, which are not far apart. We also celebrate by eating dumplings, oranges (also symbolizing fullness), and special sweets. On top of all these, we have always remembered to call our parents in Taiwan to send greetings and regards.

          The Year of the Sheep symbolizes purity and innocence, auspices and satisfaction, and perspiration and perseverance. Best wishes to every one for a fulfilling new year!
Sumei Chi, LAMP Mandarin interpreter and author