I have been meaning to post this earlier, but just haven’t got around to finish writing this blog. So I’m doing this now before the new year begins.

Since it was Christmas time and living in Europe it is pretty much impossible to avoid being affected by it in one way or another, there is just no escape, I thought I’d talk about the topic Judaism and Christmas.

Since I have got more and more into Judaism, I have naturally started questioning all the Christian traditions and holidays that I’ve always been surrounded by. I wasn’t raised in any religion, but living in Europe, many of those Christmas holidays and traditions are part of the culture and most people just celebrate them without ever really thinking about their meaning or associate any religious importance to them (unless they are religious Christians obviously). And I get it, it’s part of the culture, just like Jewish holidays are part of the Israeli culture, regardless of one’s religious observance.

But I think choosing Judaism makes you more aware of these things, and more critical of these religious aspects of the culture that most people don’t bare a thought to (like in the USA, many Jews have no problem celebrating both Hanukkah and Christmas, and don’t see it problematic in any way). Hanukkah obviously has nothing to do with Christmas, it just happens to be around the same time of the year, and that has resulted in many Jews adapting Christmas traditions to their Hanukkah celebration, including decoration, presents ( not just gelt) and even Hanukkah (or Christmukkah) trees. Herman Wouk in his book ‘This is my God’ writes about Hanukkah in the USA:

..in schools where there were large numbers of Jewish children a dual celebration of Christmas and Hanuka sprang up, as an official symbol of mutual courtesy and tolerance. This in turn generated a new Jewish interest in Hanuka.

While Christmas and other Christian customs pose a risk of assimilation for the Jewish minorities, I agree that it can also work as a way to spark an interest to know more about Hanukkah, as Wouk states that ‘if the old custom of Hanuka money has become the new custom of Hanuka gifts, this is a minor shift in manners. (..) The gifts win their attention. The little candles stimulate their questions.’

I find myself being very critical of Christmas, and even despising it these days, but I feel that probably with time when I am more confident and familiar with my Jewish practice, I’ll be able to feel more neutral about it. I have a strong desire to raise my kid(s) Jewish, and if one grows up with a strong Jewish identity, celebrating the Jewish holidays and customs, it doesn’t seem likely that receiving gifts, decorating a tree or eating some gingerbread cookies once a year would possess a big threat to their identity. I would draw the line at Christmas carols though – I would not feel comfortable singing about baby Jesus (just hearing those songs make me cringe) or having someone forcing my child to do that at school. (To be fair, neither do many secular Christians, because for them Christmas is simply part of western culture with no religious significance, and they would rather sing Frosty the snowman or Jingle bells than those less cheerful sounding some baby Jesus songs).

The hardest part for me is the feeling of loneliness during holiday season, when the majority of people around me are celebrating and I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel or what I should do, especially when most places are closed for the holidays. This year I went to the gym (and it was amazing, I had the whole gym to myself!) and on Christmas Day I ordered pizza (the delivery was super fast, I don’t think they had many orders coming in!) So I didn’t feel like I was missing on anything, apart from missing having someone who feels the same as I do to spend my time with. Days like these really make that feeling of loneliness worse, and make me long for a community, or even just one person, that shares the same values and who would not find it weird to order takeaway food on a Christmas Day.

I think that will be one of my next posts: the feeling of loneliness and the difficulty of not really having a sense of belonging in any community or culture at the moment.