See, I'd far, far rather wish you a Happy Chanukah than Happy Holidays! And it has nothing to do with religion, and everything to do with simply hating the expression 'Happy Holidays'. I always have, ever since I first heard it in an American song. To me, it's meaningless - I'm not going on holiday. This is a time of festival, not a 'vacation'. So I won't say 'happy holidays', and that has nothing to do with not respecting anyone else's religious traditions.
See, this is what happens when you take a perfectly good word -- a compound of 'holy' and 'day' -- and make it mean something else. Silly Brits.
*runs*
Nonetheless, I always thought of Chanukah as the Jewish equivalent of Christmas--not because of the reason the holiday was celebrated, but in terms of the secular add-ons of feasting, decorating the home, and gift-giving.
*giggle* With the exception of Yom Kippur
all Jewish holidays involve "feasting"! Chanukah actually does less than most, for while there are special foods (latkes and sufganiyot (potato pancakes and filled donuts)), there is no special
meal. Most of the other holidays have one -- even Yom Kippur has a special meal on its eve.
