Hanukkah, no surprise, is rooted in the same struggle between darkness and light. Since the Han dynasty the people of China have marked the solstice with the consumption of little rice ball dumplings and the honoring of ancestors, called Dongzhi. The ancient people of the Punjab region of India marked it with an enormous bonfire on Lohri (which is still celebrated today, but over the centuries has moved from the end of December to the middle of January and now features children who sing door-to-door for little treats). There is Yaldā, which is celebrated in Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and
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