A Peek at Christmas Through the Lights of the Menorah

After much pleading and nagging, I've convinced the infinitely-more-talented-than-me Oodgie to once again grace us with a post. Moved by the holiday spirit, she's agreed to share her Jewspective on this time of year.  Enjoy...

Like any good Jew, I grew up coveting everything about Christmas. Way back then, of course, Hanukah wasn't even remotely what it's become today  as we sorely lacked the shameless paganism which seems to have overtaken Christmas. Not, of course, to belittle the religious meaning behind the holiday, but since when did the mania start right after Halloween?

I wanted to celebrate Christmas so badly when I was kid that I actually went out and bought ornaments and hung them on the family ficus. My father, horrified by this gesture, quickly denuded the tree and delivered a terse explanation of why we don't do that sort of thing. With a heavy sigh, another lame holiday season went by.

Sure, sure, Hanukah (which no one really knows how to spell...Channuka? Chanukah? Hanukka?) IS a holiday and we DO get presents but come on, a dreidel? Really? And latkes with applesauce? And imitation chocolate that looks like money (and I'm sure that doesn't fuel any sterotypes)? It just isn't the same.

In college, my Christmas Envy took a turn towards bitter disdain when faced with a Jewish roommate whose family - both Jewish parents, mind you - fully celebrated Christmas. I'm not saying they put out a nativity scene or baked cookies and fought about who ate the baby Jesus, but they got a tree and exchanged a ton of gifts and that was enough to send me into a tirade on how wrong it was for them to do that. I even pretended I was motivated my an inflated sense of religious loyalty.

As I sailed into adulthood (or gave up the fight and stopped clinging to my youth) I continued to lust after pine and hams and lights and fat men dressed in red and basically All Things Christmas. While I believe I was open to the idea of marrying a fellow Member of the Tribe, well, I just never even dated one. Enter CroutonSpouse.

I like to think my choice in a mate wasn't clouded by my sordid, envious, Christmas-coveting past, but hey, who knows? These days, I'm the one who picks out ornaments when we travel somewhere (and we've got some doozies, we claim, for comedic relief). I'm the one who wakes up every weekend after Thanksgiving saying, "today? tree?" and who scrambles to prepare a holiday meal for a gathering that features 4 out of 5 Jews (apparently, since I'm Jewish, Israel says so is Cheeky and that's that). I keep telling myself (and my guilt-inducing relatives) that we'll celebrate Hanukah (Channuka? Chanukkah?) once Cheeky is old enough to understand the meaning of the holidays and also grasp the fact that what's inside, not the box itself, is the present. But I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Until then, a have a holly jolly Christamakakwanza!

PS - ...and a big HA HA HA to my college roommate, who, since marrying a more religious spouse, is no longer permitted to observe Christmas. Look who's caroling now....

Comments

[MetroDad]

I had friends growing up who had the dreaded Hannukah bush decorated with tinself and little Stars of David. Quite amusing. The funny thing is I just wrote something on my site about MY inner Jewishness. Maybe we should all get together and have some holiday Manischewitz!

[Lance]

Sleigh Bells ring, are you listening....
I guess he's not. Ha!
Merry Christmas Crouton Boy!

[Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah]

Okay, but as someone whose mom was the Christian and whose Dad was the Jew, my brother and I used to lobby for eight days of Christmas.

Plus, latkes with sour cream rule.

That being said, now that I am a full on Athiest, I celebrate Christmas. Carols and all. I've been teaching The Goon Squad "The Little Drummer Boy". I'm not proud.

[Kara]

Maybe if I had been forbidden from celebrating Christmas as a kid, I'd like it more today. Because today? I just hate it.

[L.A. Daddy]

Thanks for sharing! You always wonder what it's like on the other side of the fence.

Of course, I still think we should all celebrate Festivus. Festivus for the rest of us! http://festivusbook.com/

[Wendy Boucher]

Excellent post full of fascinating insight. As an atheist I've taken to appropriating whatever parts of holiday celebrations I like.

[whit]

I love that you end your holiday post with just a sprinkle of spite. Now you're really celebrating Christmas!

Happy Everything!(yes, even Life Day)

[ricki Fier]

Hola mi familia-
As we guzzled down drinks, and ate the yummy Hispanic dinner of PORK!!! arepes, y yucca y muchas postres con su familia,we celebrated the Christmas,Hanukah, Navidades Espirito-Muchas gracias mi hermana! Feliz Navidad y BuenoAnoNuevo-Plus we got a dose of Cheeky just for kicks-No religiosa pero muy divertiendos,
Amor,
ECG and ECG