Comments on: Putting Christ Back in Hanukah

By: jennifer

jennifer — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:44:36 +0000

Tracie – Happy Cholidays is an inspired turn of phrase – I love it! Your experiences are so interesting, I’m sure you could sell a book. I can see the cover now: your pink flamingos with the porch Chanukah lights in the background.

By: Tracie in Tallahassee

Tracie in Tallahassee — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:39:54 +0000

Oh Emily, thank you so much for tackling this tough issue. I don’t know about Philly, but in my neck of the N. Florida (i.e., S. Alabama)woods there are not all that many “dark hole” houses. I have to admit that I caved years ago on the lights issue, and happily bedeck the halls of my porch with tons of twinkly blue and white Chanukah lights, which go along with the vintage plastic electric menorah I found on ebay last year. In addition to living in the deep South, I also come from a “mixed” family, which makes for many interesting and amusing holiday combinations/misunderstandings/attempts to understand each other’s traditions. I could write a book, but who would buy it? One of favorite memories is of going through my local grocery store’s bakery section just a few years ago during Passover, and finding that they had prominently displayed a nice selection of freshly baked challah as a Passover special. It was a nice gesture, I thought.

Happy Cholidays!

By: Walking In My Sleep

Walking In My Sleep — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:23:39 +0000

Several years ago, my husband and I were invited to join a Seder Meal at a nearby synagogue right about the same time we were celebrating Holy Week. What I found was a whole new level of understanding of religion – not Judaism or Christianity, but Religion. Religious traditions are just as much about culture, history and wisdom, as they are about beliefs. If we are open to what each one has to teach, we are richer in our own beliefs because of it.

By: East Coast Surfer

East Coast Surfer — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 04:06:04 +0000

Several years ago, one of my students shyly admitted that she celebrated both Chanukah and Christmas…needless to say, one of the more brazen boys promptly replied: “You’re so lucky!”

…and the boys did in fact get to decorate a tree this year… Thanks Cyn!

By: Geoffo

Geoffo — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:08:14 +0000

That sequence of pictures is hilarious.

Rejoice in a cultural inheritance which is rich with texture and meaning and is not for sale at Walmart.

By the way, there are plenty of us out there who are not down with the Holy Trinity, but still enjoy the secular traditions of trees and tinsel.

By: Grammy

Grammy — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:12:27 +0000

Lat’s all remember whether a “Christmas person or Chanukah one”(as my children used to say) that it is the glow within each home that counts, not what is showing on the outside. Personally, I would never describe your home as a “dark hole” not with all the love and joy within it.
Grammy

By: MemeGRL

MemeGRL — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:29:17 +0000

Once upon a time when I was about 9, we were with friends of my parents whom I knew to be Jewish, and someone wished them a Merry Christmas (drunkenly, I would imagine) and they said “Merry Christmas!” right back. When I said to them later, puzzled, “You’re Jewish; why would you say “merry Christmas”?” without missing a beat, the woman said to me, “Darling, we’re international. If you want to celebrate something, we’re right there with you!” I’ve tried to adopt that attitude too. As an Italian (and a Penn alum!) many people assume I’m Jewish and I cheerfully accept good wishes for a happy Hannukah. Why not? And we try to either host or get invited to a night of Hannukah every year so our boys can see and experience it
As to the “tourists”…we invite friends who are Jewish (whom we know like to be invited) to come trim our tree every year. It’s a fun tradition. I have no interest in converting anyone, but it’s a nice night, and when they were smaller, helped their kids feel less left-out of the season. Now it’s just one more fun night of our holiday season (and all the better if it’s one of the eight nights and they bring their menorah).
There are gains and losses from any assimilation. It’s up to each family to figure out where the lines get drawn.
Merry Everything!

By: Anne

Anne — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:27:29 +0000

Last year George asked if we could become Jewish because Chase got a Wii for Hanukah.

Actually, when your boys experience their bar mitzvahs, they’ll feel better.

no more Happy Holidays for me either, it completely dilutes the diversity of different holidays. The challenge as a parent these days is to stand firm in your family’s belief system (religion, nintendo whatever). It is too easy to get pulled into what the kids think everyone else is doing, when actually every other family has their own way of celebrating.

By: jennifer

jennifer — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:46:33 +0000

I like your house photo! People say Merry Christmas to you? I almost never hear that anymore – it seems the entire East Coast is conditioned to say Happy Holidays. The most comical example of this occured after our Presbyterian Advent service a few years ago. A friend came up and sincerely wished me Happy Holidays. I said “Rob, we’re standing in a CHURCH. It’s safe to say Merry Christmas here! Chances are everyone in this building is a Christian!”