A look at Christmas Day services as Christmas and Hanukkah overlap for the first time since 2005
Some churches held Christmas Day services today across the Coachella Valley. One of those churches: St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Palm Desert.
Churchgoers say they were happy to be a part of a larger community celebrating Christmas Day, including Andrew Battaglino, from New Jersey, and his mother, Stephanie Battaglino.
"It's always amazing to have the feeling of basically coming together and always feeling like, you know, you're a part of something that's much larger than that," says Andrew.
Matt Mailander says he doesn't belong to any one religious group, but is happy to be able to celebrate both Christmas Day and Hanukkah, especially with church communities like St. Margaret's.
Mailander says it's great "to have any kind of faith where people actually get together and smile and give a hug and say, 'I love you and I wish nobody's suffering and and peace.'"
Rabbi Rick Jacobs says it's best to make sure both holidays are celebrated on their own to properly celebrate each one. "I just think it's really important to give each one it's due not not to sort of blend in together as in the term ‘Chrismakkuh,’ because I think that does harm to the uniqueness of each. But the proximity can actually lead all of us to understand more, to appreciate more about those who make up different faiths."
As for local communities, church leaders at St. Margaret's says it's great to celebrate with people of all faiths.
"We have a Jewish community that celebrates here in our church, and there are, you know, Jewish brothers and sisters. So we're all like Reverend Kathleen was saying, we're all one community."
