First off, to my gentile friends and loved ones, Merry Christmas Eve! (Or for the Brits, Happy Christmas Eve!) I’m grateful to be sharing the holiday with my husband’s family. They made me a part of their family from the get-go, and it’s been a wonderful ten years. My first Christmas with them had my mom worrying I might convert, it was so awesome.
So. I’m Jewish. I mean, really Jewish. Like bat mitzvah and confirmation Jewish. Grew up in a town that was 80% Jewish and the rest mostly Indian. No joke. It was like an upper middle class white Jewish ghetto with a not unpleasant aroma of curry occasionally wafting by. (My best friend’s mom made some killer curry. Shefali, if you’re reading this, write me!)
Anyway, we didn’t have Christmas trees and Santa and Christmas lights all over the place. There were a few decorated houses; our family doctor would do a spectacular display every year. But you’d see way more menorahs than wreaths, and people said “Happy Holidays” because you were never quite sure what they celebrated.
So moving to the South has been a little bit of a culture shock for me. (My first taste was Pensacola, but that’s another story.) Most people that I’ve met down here have never had Jewish friends. Some have never even met a Jewish person. So it’s pretty ingrained in a lot of people down here to think that everybody is Christian and/or celebrates Christmas.
I say and/or because there are a lot of people who claim that some Christmas symbols are secular. Um, no. No they’re not. Santa and the Christmas tree are most definitely associated with Christmas. Now, I know that a lot of Christians are frustrated at how commercial Christmas has become, and they feel that it’s not about Jesus anymore. And I hear you, truly I do. But that doesn’t change the fact that those symbols are now associated with a Christian holiday, even if they were not necessarily Christian once upon a time.
There have been a few times in recent years when Chanukah and/or Kwanzaa coincided with Christmas.
When these holidays occurred simultaneously, it made perfect sense to say Happy Holidays.
But people, listen, what other holiday is happening right now? Chanukah was last month; in case you missed it, Thanksgivukkah was a big deal. Apparently it’s not going to happen again for 79,000 years, so there were plenty of menurkeys to mark the occasion. Kwanza starts the day after Christmas. And New Years…well, you know.
So, rather than blindly following some weird PC thing our country has (don’t ever possibly offend anyone! And stop being different!) just do the research. Knowledge is power. Or something like that.
Merry Christmas, y’all. Have an awesome evening and I hope tomorrow is filled with whatever makes you happy.
Love and purple,
Eve
The Purple Mama 
I’m Jewish and happy to hear Merry Christmas… But if you do the research, Christmas trees
B— ugh- I can’t see my post bc the “follow me” is blocking it and I already follow you! Anyway, if it’s disjointed that is why… Anyway… Decorated trees in the home is a practice of the winter solstice… Celebrating trees that stay green year round. Whatever the tree has become in America or other counties doesn’t mean that the original meaning is no longer valid. If that’s how we ran things, Judaism would no longer be valid because people would sayChristianity is the new version. There are many symbols that mean different thjbgs to different cultures. Look at cows in India vs the USA (poor cows here!)… Just sayin’ … I did do the research and was surprised by the origins of the tree which came much before Jesus. Now, a nativity scene… Jesus all the way. 😉