…You know, with the Holy Trinity of Santa, Rudolph, and the Grinch; topped off by the ritual sacrifice of Pine Trees, Turkey, and Pumpkin Pie, and that doesn’t really share much with “Christian” Christmas anymore except that they share the same name and date?
I mean, I can certainly understand not wanting to celebrate a holiday that’s derived from a holiday of another religion. Whatever someone does or doesn’t want to practice or observe, they’ll get no quarrel from me.
But I’m just curious as to wether it’s considered “OK” by relatively observant Jews to celebrate a facet of a religious holiday that’s already had the spiritual element reamed out by soulless commercialism.
On the off chance that this thread doesn’t get locked, I’ll ask the same question about Halloween.
Ranchoth
(P.S…I can still say “Jew,” right? It’s not considered an offensive term? I’m not meaning it as an offensive term.)
I doubt even a somewhat religious Jew (which is ok to use, btw) would approve of celebrating Christmas, but I guess it’s possible. I can see very secular Jews, i.e. Jews that never go to synagogue but are ethincally Jewish, celebrate Christmas.
Nope, relatively observant Jews don’t celebrate any kinds of Christmas. They may like the beauty of holiday window displays in downtowns stores and all that, but nothing from the heart.
To second what agiantdwarf said, the only Jews I know who celebrated a secular Christmas would be Reform-oriented. The only other situation I see quite often is when a more observant Jew is married to a non-Jew, usually one with kids from a prior marriage, and the Jewish spouse will “celebrate” with the family.
As non-religious Jews, my family liked to celebrate Christmas. We thought it was fun. Had the big fake tree and pine-smell-spray, and everything. My grandmother would get really pissed off when Grandad used his shoes to make ash footprints leading from the fireplace to the tree. Amazingly he never set the carpet on fire.
My cousin’s husband is Jewish (she’s catholic) and Christmas is a big deal at their place. Grandpa (from his side of the family) even dresses up at Santa. It should be noted that they’re not really “practicing” Jews. The general attitude seems to be that two religions = twices as many opportunities to get together and party. Of course, they draw the line when half the party takes off to midnight mass.
My family had a secular Christmas growing up. Both of my parents are atheists, but my (Jewish) dad was actually raised atheist (I come from a long and distinguished line of radical communists) and my mom was raised Catholic. So, even though it was completely unreligious, we did the tree and gifts thing when I was a kid. My mom likes it and my dad didn’t care, so there you go. Some years my mom would decide that we needed to honor the other family traditions, and would light Hanukkah candles…not that any of us knew the bracha (did I mention my dad was raised atheist? He’s been known to email me with questions on Jewish culture.)
Now that I’m grown and live thousands of miles away from my parents and I consider myself to be a Jew, I do not celebrate Christmas at all.
Lenny Bruce had a wickedly funny bit about “Why Santa Claus Is Jewish.” He compared Santa Claus with Irving Berlin (who had hit songs with “White Christmas” and “Easter Parade”). They are examples of Jews getting their revenge on Christians.
How? “He turns their holiday into SCHLOCK!”
P.S.
Rabbi Schulweis told this joke:
There’s this Jewish mother worrying that Sammy is going to feel left out of life, so she takes him to Macy’s and sits him on the lap of Santa. And Santa, laughing cordially, asks Sammy what he wants for Christmas. And Sammy says, “You know, we don’t really celebrate Christmas. We’re Jewish.” And Santa responds: “A lang leben ouf dein kepeleh.”
Sticking strictly to the OP as phrased, the answer would be that yes, there are Jews who do celebrate Christmas, particularly in its more secular forms. I’ll hasten to add that those who do would be a small minority, even among more or less completely secular Jews (i.e., those who do not consider themselves religious and who make no effort whatever to observe Jewish laws and customs). I doubt very seriously that any Jew who takes Judaism at all seriously as a religion would “celebrate Christmas” even secularly, though the degree to which Jews will take part in Christmas-related activities does vary widely. Many Jews will, for example, have dinner on Christmas Day with Christian friends or relatives. Most Jews will attend company “holiday parties” and such, especially if they’re not promoted as Christmas-specific activities.
Personally, we generally try to avoid anything overtly Christmas-specific, though since my family is not Jewish (I converted), we have on occasion spent Christmas with my family, and we don’t attempt to prevent my Christian relatives from sending the kids presents (and for the most part, my family tries to make them “Hanukkah presents”, with appropriate wrapping, etc.). After being in Jewish preschools for the last few years where it was never an issue, my kids have handled being in a secular school pretty well so far this year – they’re clear that it’s fine for the other kids to be excited about Christmas, and that that’s something we don’t have in common with them, and that’s OK. The attitude we try to take about Christmas and Christmas activities is that we’re honored when our Christian friends and relations want to share with us an occasion that’s special to them, just as we’re happy to share our Hanukkah or Rosh Hashanah or Sukkot activities with them.
More observant Jews, however, would generally shun any activity that seems at all Christmas-related; while not expressly prohibited biblically, such participation can definitely be interpreted as running afoul of Jewish law and custom. Halakhically, they’re probably on firmer ground than I am.
Oy! Like, you didn’t have enough problems already?
And as a slight hijack - funnily, here in Israel just about nobody (except the Christian minority) celebrates Christmas, but New Year’s Eve (known here as “Sylvester” - yes I know who he was, that’s what’s confusing!) is a BIG holiday! Completely secular - just an opportunity for a bash, and of course the mid-night kiss.
Something similar happened in the former USSR. Religious celebrations were discouraged and at times more than that, so Christmas became a purely religious holiday, celebrated quietly, even secretly. The secular trappings of Christmas as most of us know it were moved to the New Year. New Year’s Eve parties feature a decorated evergreen tree and presents, and if children are present a Santa Claus-like figure may show up to hand out the loot.
In Scandinavia, meanwhile, one could question how seriously this Christianity thing has caught on. A thousand years, give or take, and they still haven’t changed the name of the midwinter holiday :dubious:
No Christmas celebration in my (secular; socialist) Jewish family growing up. I now have a non-Jewish partner and we do have a tree and spend Christmas with her family. I specialize in finding ornaments depicting pigs, lobsters, cheeseburgers, etc. I used to put a Mexican tin devil ornament on the tree but it upset her too much. The joke among our friends is that I’m better at getting the tree in the stand correctly because it doesn’t cause me post-traumatic flashbacks of an angry, drunken father shouting “You’re doing it all wrong! What an idiot!” If I didn’t have a non-Jewish partner, nothing would induce me to have a tree in the house.
I married a Reform Jewish guy. He doesn’t really remember, but his mom told me that when the kids were preschool age, they had “Santa Claus.” No tree, just a few presents on Christmas morning. Then they’d all go out for a movie and Chinese that night.
It is certainly true that a midwinter celebration existed long before the Baby Jesus, let alone Rudolph. Any excuse to light up, and lighten up, those long winter nights.
I was told that it has become a tradition among many Jewish families to go out in Chinese restaurants on Christmas. Originally this was because they were the only places open on Christian holidays but now it’s just a tradition. I thought that was a local thing, though. How common is this?
In the years when my whole family has been home around Christmas-time, we’d usually end up doing the presents thing on the morning of the 25th. We never had a tree, though, as my dad converted to Judaism when he married my mom. Since my brother’s birthday, Chanukah, and Christmas all fall around the same time, it was pretty much one holiday for us.
And yes, it many times did involve going out for Chinese food. Since there was only one restaurant in the town, we’d always see someone we knew. It’s in no way a “local thing” confined to wherever you are, jovan, but it’s more of a Jewish in-joke than tradition that all the Jews go to Chinese restaurants on Christmas. Although, I suppose in larger, cosmopolitan cities, they could also go for Thai food, Indian food, etc…
Yup, Chinese food and a movie. With the release of the three LoTR movies in Dec it works out just great for me and some friends.
When I was younger we just stayed in, had a nice family meal, and watched TV or read. Otherwise I’d never consider celebrating any aspects of Christmas with my family.
I caught a few minutes of “The OC” the other night and there’s a mixed religion family (Jewish/Christian) and they were celebrating Christakah. Alas, it looked like all the standard Christmas trappings, only the dad’s presents were wrapped in blue paper. Since Christmas and Chanukah are often weeks apart, it’s seems like a heavily Xmas biased idea.
For several years, Dec. 24 has been a popular night for Jewish groups to hold parties.
So last year, I was going to DC on Dec. 24, to meet my brother for dinner and then to head over to a dance club, where a group he’s in was holding their annual “Gefilte Fish Ball.” (That’s an in-joke, people.) The morning of the 24th, he emailed me to say we were going to meet some of his friends at a restaurant in Chinatown. So I passed this on to the girl I was then seeing, so that we could meet up at the party. She wrote back that she, too, was meeting friends for dinner – also in Chinatown! At the same restaurant! And it was the same group of friends! ;j
I don’t disagree with you. But since it * has* been appropriated, it all screams “Christmas!!!” to me, whether the symbols are secular, pagan, or overtly Christian. E.g., Habitat for Humanity, to which I contributed this year, just sent me a self-described “holiday pin” that’s red and green and features a candy cane, christmas tree, snowman, stocking, and bell. Sorry, that is Chreistmas iconography. (If it’s not, why doesn’t everyone walk around with dreidels on their sweaters? Hannukah is a military, not religious, holiday.)
- yes I know who he was, that’s what’s confusing!) is a BIG holiday! Completely secular - just an opportunity for a bash, and of course the mid-night kiss.