Posted on 12/23/2016 9:25:59 PM PST by nickcarraway
Forget this “war on Christmas” business — it’s Hanukkah that’s on the endangered list in 2016.
It’s bad enough that we have to compete with Christmas every season, but just when I thought the Jews had suffered enough, another slight: The first night of Hanukkah this year collides with Christmas Eve.
Which self-hating member of the tribe decided to throw Hanukkah under the bus?
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I'm not jewish but I have spoken to some older jewish friends about Hanukkah and they all say that when they were kids Hanukkah was nothing. The religious importance of the holiday is very minor and the presents each day were something like a chocolate coin. It was never on the same level as Christmas. It only is now because people didn't want their kids to feel left out.
Over-commercialization.
The article seems written by a self centered,sell pitying Jew.
IIRC, [ne is commanded to go into ones tent and srudy the Law (Torah) and to do so quietly. What other, non-Jews did was not the business of the Jew.
But, being a compassionate conservative, and this being Christmas as well as Hanukkah, I attempted to call the Wa a ambulance for the article author.
Operator said they were too busy.
I’d be more offended that the image that is used for the article shows a Temple Menorah and not a Hanukkah Menorah. One has 7 branches and one has 9
Thanks for the information on the two menorah. I didn’t know, but had noticed it.
Happy Hanukkah!
This is an amusing article. I got a kick out of it. BTW, Jewish immigrants to Gold Rush era San Francisco were so grateful to be in a place which gave them the freedom and safety to flourish that Christmas trees became standard decorations in their homes. The oldest synagogue in town has a magnificent stained glass window showing Moses descending from....get this....Yosemite!
Yo!, Semite....it’s not just a greeting...
Yohhe’meti (Southern Miwok) or Yos.s.e’meti (Central Miwok) originally referred to the Indian tribe that lived in Yosemite Valley. Yosemite means literally “those who kill” (Yos, “to kill,” the modifier e, “one who,” and the plural suffix -meti). It was used by the surrounding Miwok tribes.
Interesting. Never knew that one.
I am Jewish and you are spot on. But the author is right about the Chinese food part (sans the shrimp, since some of us do still try to avoid extremely un-kosher things). We're doing Indian food this year, though.
This one will put a smile on your face.
The Teacher asked young Malcolm Macdonald: “What do you do at Christmas time?”
Malcolm addressed the class: “Well Miss Jones, my twelve brothers and sisters
and I go to midnight mass and we sing hymns; then we come home very late and we put
mince pies by the back door and hang up our stockings. Then all excited, we go to bed and
wait for Santa Claus to come with all our toys.”
“Very nice Malcolm,” she said. “Now Jimmy Smith, what do you do at Christmas?”
“Well, Miss Jones, my sister and I also go to church with Mum and Dad and we sing carols and
we get home ever so late. We put cookies and milk by the chimney and we hang up our stockings.
We hardly sleep, waiting for Santa Claus to bring our presents.”
Realizing there were Jewish boys in the class and not wanting to leave them out of the discussion,
she asked, “Now, Isaac Cohen, what do you do at Christmas?”
Isaac said, “Well, Miss Jones, it’s the same thing every year . . . . Dad comes home from the office,
we all pile into the Rolls Royce; then we drive to Dad’s toy factory. When we get inside,
we look at all the empty shelves . . . and begin to sing: ‘What A Friend We Have in Jesus’.
Then we all go to the Bahamas.”
Yes, that’s true. Growing up, we celebrated chanukah at home. At dinner we lit a menorah, ate some latkes - the tradition is to eat some fried foods (foods cooked in oil). After dinner Mom and Dad gave us dreidels, chocolate coins and some gifts. No bush, no Santa, no stockings.
“The religious importance of the holiday is very minor and the presents each day were something like a chocolate coin.”
You are correct. Chanukkah is a festival not a Holy Holiday.
My kids did get a(as in one) gift for each of the 8 nights...., sugar free gum, crayons, tiny lego set, small items and their favorite gift was a box of Poptarts (I only bought them for Chanukkah or a vacation trip).
When they were teens they got a dollar for each candle each night (44 candles are used during the 8 nights) so $44.
Birthdays are the bigger gift giving day in our family.
Chanukah is a strictly Jewish holiday. It is not explicitly Biblical, shared at the insistence of other religions.
The Chanukah blessings, ending in, “[God] commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light,” is an assertion of the primacy of Judaism over Bible-only beliefs.
The last verse of the most famous traditional Chanukah song, Maoz Tzur, relates:
Wreak vengeance upon the wicked nation, On behalf of your faithful servants.
For deliverance has too long been delayed; And the evil days are endless.
O thrust the enemy into the shadows of death, and set up for us the seven shepherds.
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