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Christmas with Christian Family

12/24/2010

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​My daughter (a toddler) and I are "home"—on the east coast with my family right now.  My family celebrates Christmas, and here we are staying at my brother's house-- full on Christmas.  You name it- the tree, the nativity scene, the stockings, the cookies, all the holiday cheer.  I wish that this part of the family (my family) celebrated Hanukkah, but they don't.  And that's o.k.  In MY home, we celebrate Hanukkah-- and we do it up big.  And it's fun!  My daughter is a little surprised by all the Christmas going on here, and she is definitely interested in it.  And that's o.k. with me, because we are in their home.  In our home we do it differently.  And that's good too!
I figure that if we don't join in the big celebrations of my family, how can we expect them to join us in celebrating her Bat Mitzvah years from now?  We know we are Jewish and have other wonderful holidays to celebrate (a sukkah at sukkot, lights and dreidel at Hanukkah, getting together with friends at Passover, etc.  not to mention Shabbat every week!).  My child loves our family celebrations in our Jewish home.  She isn't going to love them any less because she sees how other people celebrate different holidays.
It's all good!
MC, Reform, Female


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Christmas as a Jew

12/24/2010

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When it comes to Christmas, I find it a relief not to have to deal with the tree, the ornaments, all the decorating, anticipation about gifts, etc.  Candles are a hassle-free alternative to the literal mess that accompanies the holiday.  I'm reminded of these things when I visit my family members during the holidays - all this hassle, all this build-up and then, BAM, it's over.  The only thing about the holidays that I miss are the traditional foods that I grew up with, but it's really not difficult at all to incorporate that into my Chanuka celebration.  I spend Christmas with my family and exchange gifts, but I truly feel that this is THEIR celebration and not mine.  I'm not pro-Christmas, but I'm not anti-Christmas either - just like I'm not pro- or anti-Chinese New Year, Eid al-Adha or any other celebration by an ethnic/religious group.  Other people have their customs and that's great, but I have my customs and I choose to embrace them.


When I was a child and Christian, I loved Christmas, but now that I'm an adult and Jewish, those memories feel like they come from a different lifetime and were experienced by somebody else.  I find that engrossing myself in Judaism by celebrating the holidays as best I can and making Tefilla, Teshuva and Tora study something I engage in every day doesn't leave me with much of a hole that needs to be filled when it comes to the holidays.  Truth be told, I identify so strongly as a Jew that I sometimes forget that I'm a convert and led a completely different life up until just a couple years ago!

DL, Conservative, male

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