Because the incoming administration is pandering to / being influenced by Christian Nationalists and I’ve grown tired of hearing about it and frightened and angry at the thought of spending the next four years watching any religion influence how this country is governed. You may not agree with my thinking, but can you really not understand what the election has to do with it?
Exactly. The Jews mostly worked for places that were closed for Christmas, so they had the day off. The Chinese restaurants were mostly open. So it became traditional for Jews to go out for Chinese food with their families. Jews also often go out to the movies on Christmas Day. It’s a joke that you expect to see the Rabbi at the movies. But it’s a joke that often happens irl. I’ve certainly run into my Rabbi at the movie theater. 
The funniest was one year when my aunt told my father that “10” was a cute movie, so the whole extended family went to see it Christmas Day. Everyone from my 6 year old sister to my 60-something maiden great Aunt. We were pretty much all embarrassed to be there with each other. But it makes for a good family story.
It’s ridiculously easy to make, so I always advise making your own (and use pasteurized eggs if you’re worried about raw ones). Don’t get me wrong, there’s a sick, sad part of me that loves the weird taste of store-nog, but the real thing is so much better!
On to the OP…
I’m a secular Jew, and grew up in Reform household. So we never celebrated Xmas, but grew up in an area with a veerrrrry low population of the tribe, and did feel ostracized as a child.
As an adult…
My wife comes from a pretty secular although nominally Christian household, and she’s totally agnostic. We’ll do Xmas Eve with her extended family, and Xmas day with her folks. All of my family is 600+ miles away. Xmas Eve will give me some very minor issues, because there are a few very devout (but to be fair, living a Christian life more than not) who WILL say grace and WILL say “In Jesus’ name” rather than in God’s name despite my feelings, but I’ll live.
Xmas day will have none of that, and I’ll be fine.
BUT
I life in Colorado Springs, and there are MORE than enough Christian Nationalists who WILL make it a political and theocratic point.
So I will be on edge most of the holiday.
Quite aside to this point of @Roderick_Femm
I would have accepted this if there had been a qualifier or two in here. And I respect you enough to believe there was an implied “Most” at the beginning of the segment.
I won’t even say that it’s the majority of them HERE, land of Focus on the Family, but there are PLENTY that see the deal in the other direction. That they’re using the Fascists and Power mongers in the Right to force people to follow their True Faith. And that’s been the problem, as you rightly point out, with many believers in magical thinking who believe in the One True Way, and not limited to Christians alone.
Even if I were someone who enjoyed celebrating Christmas I think I would not be in the mood this year.
Aside from that - a little story I must tell. One that highlights my ever present lack of situational awareness.
My brother used to live in Squirrel Hill which is a primarily Jewish Pittsburgh neighborhood.
One year I stopped at the Giant Eagle grocery store to pick something up and saw what I thought were Christmas cards on an end cap. I thought they were especially pretty - all wintry blue with lovely candles.
Not thinking I bought them.
Still not thinking I sent about 40 of them out to friends and family.
After Christmas one of my cousins asked why I had sent out Hanukkah cards.
Hmmm…it never occurred to me until that moment.
They were really very pretty. Good intentions and all.
No, that is most definitely not what I am saying. Especially not in the context whence that quote comes. I meant exactly what I wrote.
Do you remember “basket of deplorables” and the “garbage” gaffe? Two small instances of bad judgment that got way more attention than they deserved. I think those are symptomatic of what doesn’t work, and we spend a huge amount of time and effort here reproducing them.
I’ve always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey
(with apologies to fans of The World is not Enough)
Since St. Nicholas was from what is now Turkey, it makes perfect sense.
What doesn’t work is backing down on them instead of standing by those kind of statements. As demonstrated by who won.
Moderating:
Let’s keep this about celebrating Christmas, and the role of Christianity in the recent election. We have lots of generic political threads over in p&e.
Thanks
I lived in Squirrel Hill from birth to 9th grade. I really liked the neighborhood. And I loved having a day off from school for Jewish and Xtian holidays.
We lived in Darlington Road between Murray and Shady. It was a one-way street. Anytime someone drove down the street the wrong way, we would yell, “ONE WAY!!”
I remember Hillary Clinton saying “basket of deplorables” I do not remember ever hearing a convincing argument that it actually cost her any votes, and I have definitely never seen any evidence that it did.
RE The Rise Of Christian Nationalism
One state is now requiring a sign saying “In God We Trust” to be placed in all public school clasrooms. Another is requiring a Bible in every public school classroom. Rather than objecting on the basis of first ammendment violatons, that state’s head of education allocated funds for a new course on Bible studies. During his campaign, Trump sold special Bibles. Do you deny any of this? How can you deny the rise of Christian Nationalism?
Sorry, saw the mod note after I posted.
I remember how “odd” it seemed when I was in Hawaii over x-mas a few years back. Nowhere near the religious or even Santa/commercial iconography. Quite refreshing.
Oh my … I remember those streets very well after all these years.
I actually lived in Squirrel Hill right after college. My brother lived in an apartment on Murray.
Sometimes the Hanukkah and Christmas dates coincide like this year. It was interesting living in that neighborhood years ago. I think that is where I discovered bagels in the early 1980s lol.
Covid and the election kicked the celebratory molecules right down the street and into the river.
Thanksgiving is my Christmas.
I grew up thinking that everybody loved bagels, lox, chopped liver, matzoh ball soup, borscht, hamantaschen cookies, etc. All my friends’ moms were stereotypical Jewish moms. When i was leaving to go home for dinner, they’d get me a little plate of food to “hold me over”.
Speaking of the river, you should come out pontooning with us in the summer.
Would love that!
Gotta make it through the holidays…Happy Holidays to you and your family.
You too!! Yeah, surviving winter is always the first concern.
Be careful with that broad brush- if Christians voted as a block, they could run any election at like 70%. Plenty of Christians voted for Harris.
Evangelical Christians mostly supported trump. Not “Christians”. Excluding them I would guesstimate about half of the remaining voted for either.
Note carefully the term Nationalist which modifies Christian.
Evangelical Christians have done a really good job securing the “brand” of Christianity for themselves in the US. When most people here say “Christianity”, they mean Evangelical Christianity; other Christian sects aren’t even condemned, they are typically outright treated as nonexistent. Even when a member of one speaks up.
Indeed, I read that about 70% of black Americans identify as Christian, yet 90% of black voters vote Democratic.