We study the extent to which religious activity responds to the presence and activity of other religions. Specifically, we employ individual-level survey data and county-level expenditure data to examine the extent to which Hanukkah celebration among U.S. Jews is driven by the presence of Christmas. We find that (1) Jews with children at home are more likely to celebrate Hanukkah than Jews without children; (2) The correlation of having children at home with Hanukkah celebration is higher for reform Jews than for orthodox Jews, and is higher for strongly-identified Jews. In contrast, this differential correlation is not present for other Jewish holidays; (3) Jewish-related expenditures in Hanukkah are higher in counties with lower share of Jews and in counties with higher share of Catholics. All these findings are consistent with an hypothesis that celebration of religious holidays is designed not only to worship and enjoy, but also to provide a counterbalance for children against competing cultural influences.
