Christmas for the Non-Christian

Because of my last name, many people know that I am Jewish. While I definitely am Jewish by blood, I wasn't raised with much religious upbringing at all. We celebrated some of the Jewish holidays and the Christian ones as well- like Easter and Christmas.

One of my major pet peeves around this time of year is when people assume that anything Christmas-like would offend me. And they take special measures to assure that they don't accidently say "Merry Chistmas" or heaven forbid- send me a card with a Santa on it! Yes, I am Jewish, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate Christmas lights or Santa Claus or reindeer. These things are not religious.

I have two stories in particular that come to mind. The first is when one of my good friends sent me a Chanakah e-card. She said "I sent all of my other friends Christmas cards, but since you are Jewish, you get an e-card". I would have much prefered a real card! I appreciate that she was trying not to offend me but this was a good friend of mine who knows that I am not religious and I can appreciate Santa, reindeer, Christams tress, etc. By not sending me a real card, and reinforcing the fact that she sent her other friends real cards, I was actually offended.

In another instance, I told a very Catholic friend of mine that I was exchanging Christmas gifts with my family. She became very defensive of the holiday and said she didn't understand why someone who was Jewish would celebrate something that was Christian. I told her that there is nothing religious about exchanging gifts. She came back with "the whole point of Christmas is to celebrate the birth of Christ. You don't believe in Christ, so why the Christmas gifts". She was actually not very nice about it. The way I see it, there are three aspects of Christmas:

1. The Religious Element
This element involves nativity scenes, midnight mass, angels, and Christmas Carols that speak to the birth of Christ. Nevermind the fact that Jesus Christ was not even born on December 25. . . this is the time of year when it's celebrated.

2. The Secular "Cheery" Element
Candy canes. Lights. Christmas trees. Reindeer. Gift exchanges. Santa. Elves. Stockings. Egg Nog. Gingerbread houses. Family traditions/gatherings. Holiday parties. There is nothing religious about any of these things. Therefore, I don't believe that someone needs to be Christian to enjoy them. And if you haven't noticed- this is the element that is most prominent about Christmas. If you turn on the TV, or go to the mall, or even surf the Internet, these are the elements of Christmas that are most emphasized.

3. The Commerical Element
Retailers make the majority of their money between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every year, it seems that the stores bring out their Christmas decorations earlier and earlier. I think Christmas is great for the economy, and there is nothing wrong with gift exchanges, so long as the true sentiment of caring and joy is not lost. Of course retailers want to capitalize on Christmas. That's not going to change any time soon. I'll admit that I don't like the stress of having to buy a gift for everyone all at one time, but it's fun doing the exchanges and trying to think about what people might like.

Yes, I am Jewish. Yes, I celebrate Christmas and why shouldn't I? Why should I have to believe in Christ in order to display a Santa on my office door? Or to play "Deck the Halls" on the piano? Or to buy gifts for my family? I used to celebrate Chanakuh (is that how you even spell it?) but I don't celebrate it anymore. I appreciate when people take my last name into consideration when they say "Happy Channakuh" but it doesn't really mean much to me. I have to admit I don't even know when the holiday-I-can't-spell is.

I hate to break it to the hard-core Christians out there, but this holiday is no longer reserved for just you. It's become a very commericalized American holiday. Almost everyone in America gets December 25 off work- so why can't we all just be happy and celebrate?