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CSU Students Gear Up For The Holidays

The holidays are coming up and Cleveland State University students are ready. When asked about how they gear up for the holidays, a handful of students responded with events they attend and traditions they participate in.

Deema Bteibet, a senior majoring in English literature and marketing, celebrates Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha, the main two holidays in the Muslim religion. Eid Al-Adha follows the annual pilgrimage that Muslims make.

“On both eids,” Deema said, “Muslims usually go to their mosque early in the morning, only on the first day, and pray the eid prayer. My family usually goes to either the Islamic Center of Cleveland in Parma or West Cleveland Muslim Association in Westlake.”

Deema added that other than that, each family usually does festivities on their own. Usually her family visits family members, goes out to eat at restaurants, or does fun activities like kayaking or going to the beach.

Hope Smith, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, celebrates Chanukah (one of the minor holidays in comparison to the high holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah). “For Chanukah, we don’t typically wear anything special, so we just dress up nicely and have a big meal each night,” Smith said.

“My rabbi and his wife usually hold a little holiday party at Crocker Park and have a menorah lighting there with snacks and drinks,” she continued. “Sometimes they will host a cute little market so it’s easier to find kosher food and stuff, it’s super cute! There is also an occasional matzo workshop for kids and there will be a clown sometimes as well.”

Kate Flaherty, a senior majoring in English, celebrates Christmas. “I think the best things are in the city. Playhouse square has a festival of trees where all the heavy hitters downtown donate a tree to decorate and they are displayed in the lobby. The tree lighting in Public Square s always around this time too and they set up a skating rink and have Santa…”

“Then there’s west 25th which is the best place period to get Christmas Ale,” Flaherty said. “It’s all lit up too and there’s a ton of happy holiday people all over the place every weekend. I feel like it’s also the best time of the year to give to those in need. You can make a bunch of no-sew blankets with friends and take them to the rape crisis center, take up a collection and put it in a card to bring to the women’s center which is literally one block from CSU.”

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