David Arquette (Getty Images)
The holidays aren't only about Christmas! Stars such as David Arquette and Zooey Deschanel are celebrating the Jewish festival of lights, Hanukkah, which began on December 8 and continues through December 16.
Arquette, 41, lit a giant ice sculpture of a menorah — that's 10-feet tall and made with 800 pounds of ice! — on Sunday, the second night of Hanukkah, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. The "Scream" actor appeared with Rabbi Cunin of Chabad of California, a non-profit organization that provides drug and alcohol prevention and rehabilitation for at-risk youth, and all kinds of support for the needy. Although Arquette's mother was Jewish, he only experienced the Jewish rite of passage — the bar mitzvah most Jewish boys have at 13 — at age 40 this past June. While working on a show for the Travel Channel, he was at Jerusalem's iconic Western Wall attending a bar mitzvah ceremony when he was asked if he'd like to have one himself, according to the L.A. Times.
Zooey Deschanel (Twitter)
And though Deschanel, 32, is not Jewish, she celebrated the holiday with her Jewish best friend and posted a Twitter pic of herself lighting a (much smaller) menorah along with the message: "Happy Chanukah y'all!!! Photo by @sofifii." The "New Girl" star was referencing her bestie, who's known outside the Twitterverse as producer Sophia Rossi and is a co-founder along with Deschanel of the website hellogiggles.com.
Last year, Deschanel, who was raised Catholic, released a Christmas album with her She & Him partner M. Ward. Of course, it features "Baby, It's Cold Outside," the song she covered in the 2003 Will Ferrell movie "Elf," and songs like "Blue Christmas" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." Perhaps she should do a cover of Adam Sandler's "The Hanukkah Song" next!
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