#beetlejews

[meangirlsx]

Beetlejuice Hanukkah Headcanons

NOTE: I tried to base characters being Jewish off of the actors while still making it my own story and exploring both perspectives. I wanted to clarify that, so you understand why I’m writing some characters as Jewish when there hasn’t been anything necessarily established in canon or fanon (as far as I know).

Additionally, I did my best to try to make it generic, specific, and universal all at the same time. There are a lot of Orthodox Jews in my extended family who we celebrate with most years, but my immediate family isn’t very religious, so I did what I could from my own experience and experiences of friends. If you come across anything that seems glaringly wrong or accidentally offensive, please feel free to let me know. That was definitely not my intent.

Finally, to go with this, here is a drawing by the wonderful @alotofbooksalittletime​ of Beetlejuice and Lydia at the menorah!

She heard the call for Beetlejuice Hanukkah content and very kindly answered and also DELIVERED. Here is the original post of her drawing on its own, if you would like to help me spread it.

Happy Hanukkah, friends!!!

——

As the holidays approach, the group realizes they haven’t discussed how or what they’re going to celebrate

It starts with Charles, Delia, and Lydia starting to talk about it in the living room

And pretty soon, everyone else has joined in

Beetlejuice is Jewish

Barbara is Christian and Adam is Jewish, and they’ve done their best to celebrate both sets of holidays since they got together

Charles was raised in a Jewish household but he grew less religious as he got older

Emily wasn’t Jewish, but she hadn’t been very religious, either

So they celebrated major holidays with each side of the family

And they kept that going when Lydia was born, but they hadn’t really raised her in any religious practice

Delia also grew up in a Jewish family but wanted to learn about and try to experience other religions once she moved out

She especially liked Hinduism, but nothing stuck for a variety of reasons

She reconnected with Judaism after learning so many of her new family members were Jewish, and now she loves it and feels like it’s another place she belongs besides the family

So the group agrees to celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah

They’re all really excited

Hanukkah is up first, but the holidays crossover this year, so they decorate the house in a mix of decorations

The tree set up in the living room has Christmas ornaments as well as Hanukkah ones they found when they went shopping

The fireplace mantel holds a menorah, a few individual candles, a stocking for each member of the family, gold tinsel wrapped around the menorah and candles, and a garland draped above the stockings

They have a lot of fun buying and cooking food

Barbara and Adam tell the group about a local bakery that they think makes the best challah bread

And Charles gets his mother’s potato latke recipe that Lydia loved as a kid

On the first night, they start by gathering around the menorah

They agreed that it was probably best to not give everyone their own menorah

Adam lights the shamash candle, then the one candle on the far right side of the menorah using the shamash, and leads everyone in the blessings

Charles and Delia find themselves reciting the words as if they’d never really forgotten

Lydia doesn’t know the blessings, but she thinks they sound beautiful

Barbara and Adam translate and explain the blessings as they sit down for dinner

Over dinner, Barbara and Adam also explain why Hanukkah is celebrated

Beetlejuice even chimes in, he’s so excited

Charles knows the story, but not well, anymore

Delia has recently relearned it, but she loves hearing it told again

And Lydia doesn’t remember much of it from when she was younger

They all enjoy hearing the story retold with so much animation

Lydia really takes to the story of the Maccabees

She finds herself connecting to the concept of a group of underdogs fighting for what they believe in even when the odds are against them

She tries not to get emotional over it, but she does, just a little bit

Naturally, as soon as the others notice, they get emotional, too

The idea of the oil in the menorah in the temple lasting eight days instead of its estimated one also seems to bring them all hope and inspiration

After dinner, they prepare to play dreidel

Before they start the game, they all have a lot of fun just spinning their dreidels

Barbara and Adam see how long they can keep theirs spinning

Beetlejuice definitely uses his powers to keep his spinning longer than possible and even spins it on his finger like a basketball at one point

Charles and Delia haven’t played with a dreidel in a long time, but they get back in the swing very quickly

Lydia has never played with one before, so it takes her a minute to get the hang of spinning her dreidel

Once she does, she and Beetlejuice try to spin their dreidels to knock each other’s over

Eventually, they go over the rules of the game and pass out dried pinto beans to use in place of money

They end up playing for a long time

Beetlejuice and Lydia suggest continuing to play with real money

The adults insist on sticking with the beans

Barbara says that while she doesn’t really enjoy making pottery, she kind of wants to try making a dreidel

(By the following week, she’ll have made one for every single one of them)

This of course prompts Adam to start singing the dreidel song

Barbara joins him, and so does Beetlejuice

Delia ends up joining and encouraging Charles to, as well

Lydia finds it very amusing

Charles doesn’t say it, but he hasn’t sung the song since he was a boy, and singing it with this new-found family makes him emotional all over again

After a few phrases, everyone is ready to stop, except for Beetlejuice and Adam

Barbara breaks out the chocolate gelt to shut them up

But of course the song is stuck in everyone’s heads for the rest of the night

And much of the next day

They had all agreed beforehand that they would exchange most of their presents at Christmas

But they exchange one gift each

When everyone has opened their presents, Beetlejuice says he has a present for everyone and disappears into the kitchen

He returns a moment later, holding a guitar

He begins to strum the guitar relatively aggressively

And he breaks out in “The Hanukkah Song” by Adam Sandler

He doesn’t get very far before everyone stops him

They can’t help cracking up, though

He’ll never admit it, but he never actually intended to sing the whole song

He just wanted to see their reactions and end the night in laughter

——

Tag list: @mars-bars-stars​, @reader-ships​, @anxiousankylosaurus​, @msmith74​, @broadwaymusicaltrash​, @you-thinks-wrong-romeo​, @theatricalwriter​, @be-more-heidi-hansen​, @peachy-jolly​, @g1ngersp1ce​, @trumancheerleadermaui​, @dancewyou​, @percabeth15​, @coral-cat-iris​, @madameboxhead​, @elaineygrace​, @theolwebshooter​, @dontgotothenetherworld​, @ohsomightykeyboard​, @vampireamango​

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[macbethz]

Shana tova from me and Jane prentiss!!

[originalwhorederves]

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[hondaofhollywood]

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[meangirlsx]

Beetlejews fam! I’m writing Beetlejuice Hanukkah headcanons! But I could use a little information. Which of the characters do we believe is Jewish?

I’ve mainly seen that Beej is. Do we think that because Alex is, because Beej says l’chaim during Creepy Old Guy, or something else?

[meangirlsx]

I will happily take more Christmas and generic winter requests if you have them! But for the love of my split-religion childhood and the good of the fandom, please someone send me a Hanukkah request