Thinking ahead to the December holidays, here’s a question that was sent to my Mixed and Matched column in the Jweekly: My boyfriend is Jewish and I’m not. I really love Christmas and he doesn’t want to have it in our apartment. I’m not religious; I just love all the fun things about Christmas….
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To Tree or not to Tree: What Will We Do for the Holidays?
You may want to decorate a Christmas tree while your partner wants to make latkes. What will work for you as a family? Whether December is your favorite month – full of Christmas cookies and chocolate gelt – or your most dreaded month – material surfeit and cultural overwhelm – you are invited to…
Read More »What my Mom said about Christmas
My mom and I are Jewish, my dad is Catholic. Growing up we were members of a synagogue and I went to Hebrew school. When I got close to my bat mitzvah it suddenly hit me, We have a Christmas tree! I went to my parents and said, “We have to stop having a tree….
Read More »“The Holidays” — Happy or just Greedy?
(Photo credit: Maggie Semple Blog) Here it comes, the holidays! The time that songs tell us is “the happiest time of the year.” Which raises the question, what makes us happy? American capitalist culture has a perpetual campaign to answer that question with THINGS! Things will make you happy! Cars, electronics, toys, whatever they are…
Read More »Got Christmas Envy? Try a little Sukkot!
A friend of mine who is in an interfaith family recently told me, “I’m jealous of Christmas. My kids absolutely know they are Jewish but they LOVE Christmas and no Jewish holiday can touch it.” It is true that there is nothing we can do about the massive marketing blitz that this country launches…
Read More »Christmas, Jews, and all that jazz
Christmas is just about here and the last big build-up is upon us. Here’s a good article about the Santa Claus issue — not from a religious standpoint, good for any parent raising kids in America. A few words of advice Whatever you do or don’t do for Christmas, make your peace with it now….
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