Boston Resident Trademarks 'Thanksgivukkah'

BOSTON (CBS) --- For some Americans, there may be something different on their Thanksgiving table this year - a menorah.

Hanukkah begins on Wednesday at sundown and lasts for 8 days.

On Thursday, many American Jews will celebrate the "extremely" rare convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. It may not happen again for ten-of-thousands of years.

The epicenter of the merged celebration appears to be right here in New England.

Boston resident Dana Gitell trademarked the term "Thanksgivukkah" more than a year ago.

"We're the closest Jewish community to Plymouth Rock and where thanksgiving happened, so it's awesome to see so many people in the New England community embracing this opportunity," Gitell said.

Gitell has partnered with Atlanta-based company "Modern Tribe" to create a line of Thanksgivukkah merchandise.

"The most popular item is our Woodstock inspired design. Another one is the American Gothic painting. Ours we call American Gothikkah because we've turned the painting into a Hanukkah-Thanksgiving inspired mashup," said Jennie Rivlin Roberts of ModernTribe.com.

It's a unique opportunity to shake up the menu and swap out a green bean casserole for some latkes.

"Thanksgiving is probably the one holiday that you could put another carbohydrate on the table and nobody would notice," Jewish cookbook author Tina Wasserman said.

Rabbi David Paskin co-wrote the "Ballad of Thanksgivingukkah."

He says the shared holiday is a fun way to celebrate being an American and being a Jew.