Hanukkah is not the biggest and most important Jewish holiday on the calendar but it's still there. We still light the candles for eight days straight and say the prayer. We still bake latkes and spin the dreidel to celebrate the eight "crazy" nights. There is still some celebration!
The thing about the holiday times is that I am constantly asked what my opinion on Christmas is. I have plenty of Jewish friends who LOVE Christmas and that's great! Better to love another religions holiday than be against it. The fact of the matter is, I don't really have an opinion on Christmas. I don't love to watch all of the movies on Hallmark about the couples who fall in love once they kiss under mistletoe. I can name probably three reindeer off the top of my head and I'm not a big fan of the Christmas lights. Unless they are on a tree or set up in a magnificent wonderland, I don't see the hype about them.
I used to really enjoy Christmas music. My sister and I used to dance around with our American Girl dolls to every song that played on 93.9 Light FM. Now? I can do without it. I'm not in an any cheerier mood during this time of year. Some of my friends get confused that this time of year doesn't affect me.
My biggest problem is the gifts. Hanukkah is not meant to be a gift exchanging holiday. It only became that way because the little Jewish kids started to feel left out of the Christmas activities. And then viola! Parents now feel obligated to buy AT LEAST eight presents for each of their children. I stopped receiving presents when I was 11. And personally I'm okay with that. I get enough "presents" throughout the year. Like in August when my dad gave me $20 to go to red robin and liquid fusion. Thanks for the early Hanukkah present! It's completely unnecessary to give presents all eight days of Hanukkah. That is the only thing about the influence of Christmas on Hanukkah that urks me.
Being a Jew on Christmas is like being a Jew on any other day of the year. Unless Hanukkah happens to fall on the same day, like this year. (mark your calendar) It's like every other day of the year except we are imprisoned in our homes because anywhere we would want to go is closed. The only open places are movie theaters and Chinese restaurants. So yes, many Jewish people do the thing that is expected and spend their day in the movie theater and their nights feasting on egg rolls and sweet and sour chicken. But like I said, being a Jew on Christmas isn't special. It's just another day.
Honestly it's the build up that effects us the most. It's the red ribbons and wreaths. It's the jolliness and poor displays of twinkle lights around our neighborhoods. It's the constant Christmas music that plays in the common area of the High School. Just when you think you can escape, here's the place that you spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, throwing a ball of Christmas cheer at you while you're trying to do homework and eat lunch.
Christmas is great for the Jewish people because we don't have to worry about getting coal in our stocking. I can be as naughty or as nice as I want and NOTHING extra will happen on the 25th of December. Also, we knew Santa wasn't real for our whole life. Our parents never had to break our hearts with the bitter news that they were the ones who spent the money and became secret spies in order to get us the PERFECT gift. Never happened. Never will. They sure dodged that bullet. Seriously, Santa Claus? I just don't get it. But it's okay! I don't have to get it! As long as we respect it and stay in our place for this merry holiday, we're fine!
So, to recap:
-No Santa
-Chinese and Movies
Yeah that sounds good.
To end I'd like to say thank you to all of the stores that give Hanukkah a section of their Christmas aisle. We're a blue speck in a sea of red and green but at least we're there. So, on Christmas, you might not see the Jews. But trust me, we're there.
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