Posted on 12/24/2011 10:14:49 PM PST by JoeProBono
Christmas is not a Jewish holiday. Many Christians think of Christmas as an American holiday, a secular holiday or a cultural holiday, but most Jews today do not think of Christmas that way. According to the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey, 82% of Jewish households never have a Christmas tree (and the idea of a "Chanukkah bush" is mostly a joke, not anything anybody takes seriously). The same percentage was found in a 2000 survey by the AJC, though I'm sure that survey skewed toward the more Jewishly-involved. Even among those who are intermarried, only half have a Christmas tree in the home and only 75% give Christmas presents (see Intermarriage and Jewish Journeys). A 2007 survey by InterfaithFamily.com found that only 37% of interfaith families that have decided to raise the children Jewish have a tree in the home. It has become a cliché to talk about the "December Dilemma," the problems that Jewish parents face when their children become jealous of the presents and the fanfare of Christmas, or when interfaith couples must decide what to do for the December holidays.
Many Jews (even highly assimilated Jews) are uncomfortable about Christmas. We don't object to Christians celebrating Christmas, but we don't particularly want to celebrate it ourselves, and there is enormous social pressure to celebrate Christmas, whether we want to or not. One Jewish writer said it's like being a man in the lingerie department: you feel like you don't belong there. Another Jewish writer said, "just try telling a Christmas enthusiast that the creche in front of your post office makes you uneasy; suddenly, 'frosty' describes more than just the snowman." Many secular Christians have told me that Christmas is my holiday too, and some of them get very angry or even nasty when I tell them that I don't want to celebrate it, calling me "Grinch" or "Scrooge." ......
Go out for Chinese food Many Jews go out for Chinese food on Christmas. In fact, Justice Elena Kagan mentioned this in her Supreme Court confirmation hearings: when a senator asked her where she was on Christmas, she said, "You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant." Someone even wrote a song about Jews eating Chinese Food On Christmas. The Chinese do not celebrate Christmas any more than we do, so most Chinese restaurants are open on Christmas. In Philadelphia and New York, there are several kosher-certified Chinese restaurants to choose from, so that even the most observant Jew can eat Chinese on Christmas............
They go out for Chinese? Ya think they would be redoubling their efforts to produce a Messiah.
Count the profit from Christmas sales!
LOL, oh you're bad!
Merry Christmas Dalereed
It can be lonely. Sometimes there isn’t even anyone online. However, tomorrow our extended family has a big fun Chanukah party, so all will be well.
Oh, and if you live in L.A., you can get up early and drive all over the freeways as fast as you want and get wherever you want in 20 minutes. It’s pretty cool.
The Messiah will come when G-d is ready to send him.
They go to the movies.
When I lived in LA (far from my family), I’d go with them.
They pray to be forgiven for helping elect 0bama.
That the same as the wife saying “I’ve got a headache”???
Well, this Jew loves Christmas. I just went out yesterday to be around people because everyone is so flipping happy for the few days before Christmas. Everyone is smiling at one another, saying Merry Christmas and I love it. I love the lights, the music, the crazy hats...I love it all. I went to a Hannukah party last night at our small synagogue here and that was fun too. Tomorrow I and my husband, who is Christian, will go to the movies to see WAR HORSE. Then, next week, everyone will go back to being a bit pissed off and all will be normal again.
They have Hanukkah - 8 days, a present each day!
HEYYYY!!! I know that gurl.
Merry Christmas!
I’m locked in a death struggle with a 30 pack of Coors Light!
Merry Christmas Salamander.
That offer to post bond still stands...
FReep, of course.
Not quite.
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