Nothing.
It's not my holiday!
All this stuff?
Pretty, but meaningless.
I grew up the child of immigrant parents. Jewish. Holocaust survivors. Both of them.
But they
never followed them, never celebrated, didn't go to church. Didn't
recognize Jesus as the son of G-d, or G-d or anything like that.
Nothing.
Who was Jesus? A nice Jewish boy, had some interesting ideas, tragically died young.
I
was a little jealous of our Catholic neighbors, the Fredricks... they
had the tree, the ornaments, presents... we had Hannukah, a nice holiday
- we had a menorah, dreidels, gelt,
potato pancakes [never had a jelly donut, must not be a Hungarian
thing.] We did get some presents, but not giant toys, not the crazy haul
the Fredricks
girls got. We didn't have disposable income. I used to go over to check
out the tree - I tried a candy cane at their house, and it was nasty.
They also had a dog that wanted to bite me [Tuffy],
so I didn't spend a lot of time there. Besides, those crucifixes on the
wall were pretty graphic and not very cheerful.
At that time, people were still blaming the Jews for Jesus' death, so I kept it on the down-low when I could.
I never understood the issue... if Jesus didn't die, didn't resurrect... you wouldn't have him as a saviour...so what's the problem? I thought Jesus' entire message was about love. About forgiveness.
For
centuries, our loving Christian brethren have been slaughtering Jews
for that crime, and for any other reason that pleased them. My parents
and their families really paid a steep price. When I was a kid, in the
20th Century... my loving Christian friends would call me "Christ
killer!" to my face. I would be chased, threatened, and sometimes kicked
or had my hair pulled. I'd shout "I wasn't there! I didn't do it!" but
I guess that doesn't matter...something about bloodguilt? How loving and forgiving that practice is...
In college, I piped up during a Religions of the World
class when the professor [actually the Dean of the Humanities
Department of a publicly funded state school] told the class we would
all go to hell if we didn't accept Jesus as our personal saviour. He
also had us read the single chapter on Judaism to discuss. I was a
little disturbed - the entire chapter was almost entirely devoted to
circumcision. that The Q&A included questions about big noses
[?] controlling the banks and Hollywood, and using Christian children to
make Matzo. Well, that was fun!
Hey, there were Hindu
and Muslim kids in that class, too... and he made fun of their
religions relentlessly! Then there's me...the outspoken Jew [and two
others that were cowering in their seats] who disliked the increasing spread of this
"propaganda."
I was followed to my car after that class. By a few loving Christians who wanted to beat the living daylights out of me. Why? Luckily, I had a pair of nunchaku under my car seat and I knew how to use them. I got all Bruce Lee on them and they left me alone.
I stopped going to that class for the rest of the semester.
At
about the same time, I had a part time job at a department store, in
the gift wrap department. I used to wear a beautiful silver necklace
with a Magen
David pendant. A beautifully attired older woman brought me gifts to
wrap, and while I did... my necklace was dangling... the woman asked me
what it was... she actually reached over and touched it. I said it was a
magen david
[sounding more like the Hebrew than English] she said "What?" Oh... A
Star of David... "What?" Oh... a Jewish Star I told her. She immediately
reached out, lifted up my hair and asked me where my horns were. Oh,
these adorable Christian traditions based on a bastardization of a word
in Exodus describing Moses... and this statue didn't help. Thanks,
Michelangelo for keepin' it real. Not.
Through the years...every job I've ever had [when I wasn't self-employed] I would ask for the High Holy Days off... back when I actually went to Synagogue and bought into all that jazz. [These days, I'm more of a provisional agnostic] [I'm not a joiner] Every time... without fail... some fellow employee, or boss would insist if I took those days off, I had to work on Christmas. Well -- you oughta know, I was perfectly willing to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... I wasn't doing anything else.
As I got older, I
paid attention to more things. I read more about Christianity. How did
things get so off course? I totally get how an Emperor wants to be
large and in charge in Constantinople, and then how Rome gets all pissed
so they have a break up. I totally get the difference between Catholics
and the other denominations, and totally get how a randy fat king gets
to invent his own version of Christianity so he can get out of a
marriage so he can have his way with a hot babe... or how a really angry
guy can nail some new rules on a church wall... and how you guys burned
each other on the stake depending on who was in power, and how another
king gets to translate the bible into English for the masses and gets to
do a little editing along the way to make it more convenient...so yeah,
over the last few thousand years, there are many, many versions of
Christianity.
Sure, there are different versions of Judaism, but the only differences is how strict you are, and how many of the original 613 commandments you want to follow [yeah, not 10]. And, I know people who do. Follow. All of them.
It also cracks me up when I see pics of Moses
with the tablets and they have Roman numerals...Um... no Rome yet, dummy? Even Hebrew isn't right!
So,
if this is sounding more like a diatribe against Christmas from a
battered and abused Jewish kid... let me get back to the actual
holiday... and why it is meaningless to me. From an outsider looking in.
I still don't like peppermint, btw.
I'm not really much of a Jew either, I consider myself Jew-ish.
My
first words were "more lights," I was told. I must have been talking
early, but it runs in our family. I made my parents drive around
neighborhoods to look at them. They are beautiful. I'll give you that.
I'm guessing this is some kind of electronic nod to the Star of
Bethlehem? If Jesus himself walked up to this house, do you think for a minute he would recognize this as a celebration of his birthday? Or his teachings?
Santa Claus. Sinter
Claus? Old St. Nick? but how is he related to Jesus? Does that make him
Jewish, too? Well... a nice story about the guy who gave to poor
children got mushed from St. Niclaus to Santa Claus... I don't get the connection between that real story and the guy invented
by Coca Cola
to sell more soda... but yeah, it's fun. Somehow, the story of a simple, Jewish rabbi wandering around the desert preaching love, and spirituality turned into mishegas.
The guy who warned his followers against being "of the world and losing your soul" inspired people to go broke buying their kids presents?
The man who said to love your neighbors as yourself inspired the annual War on Christmas?
And, those who think this is a Christian nation instead of a nation - a Republic - with a majority population of Christians. These kind folks think I'm gonna get all warm and fuzzy if they get in my face to sneer Merry Christmas!!! AT ME instead of just saying Happy Holidays...or Seasons Greetings. Or busts a gasket if the Target Lady says Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas?
You
can have your holiday, it's a lovely time of year, get over yourself.
Why do people get so angry at people that don't celebrate Christmas? Or
throw Memes around the internet
saying the White House tree is now called a Holiday Tree by a Muslim
President [major sigh inserted here] Are you really practicing your
faith or are you just a blowhard fan?
No
one even gave children presents for Christmas until the visit from St. Nick poem came
out... it was written by a rich guy in 1893 who didn't want to give his
servants gifts for Christmas [as was the custom], but instead
invented this gat guy, the reindeer and all that... so SANTA would have to
give the gifts, not him. Then, the department stores got in the act, and
the rest is history.
Did you know that celebrating
Christmas in America was illegal for a while??? Have you heard of
Separation of Church and State? Honestly, your nativity set is lovely...
get it off the courthouse lawn.
The man who said the only way into heaven is to DO the WILL OF G-D [which includes: to love mercy, serve others - especially the poor and walk humbly...., love your neighbor {so start donating to your local food bank}]
and not what you SAY.
So, it's not how many times you say Merry Christmas, or how big your Christmas display is, or how many trees you have up or how much that Playstation cost...it's what you DO and how you ACT.
Ham
for Christmas dinner? Uh, you know Jesus was kosher, right? Plaid bows?
Wow, that technology wasn't invented yet in year 32 of the Common Era.
Getting a tattoo of Jesus? That's not cool...as far back as Leviticus!
Celebrating
Christmas has turned into a circus. Every year, I hear someone say "Put
Christ back into Christmas." I don't see it, folks. When I look at
Christmas trees, I know Jesus never saw an evergreen. Santa doesn't
belong in the lexicon. Elves? come on, what did ancient Jews know from
the North Pole?
I'm
not being a grinch. I just don't take it seriously. I might've stayed
up late on Christmas eve once...staring at the fireplace, just in case. I
like cookies. I like carols. I really love Amahl and the Night
Visitors. I'd watch the Mr Magoo or Black Adder Christmas Carol anytime.
Mostly because it doesn't mean anything to me.
When
I was a display artist, I decorated Christmas trees. I could fluff and
light a tree faster than anyone. I fell in love with the lights and
colors, and ornaments. I collect glass ones. They're out all year. One
year, I got a sandblasted mesquite tree, painted it with bumper chrome,
put blue and white lights on it and ornaments. No star, no plaid bows.
It was our winter solstice tree. I can be a little pagan if the mood
suits.
I see the Christmas being celebrated all around
me as a morph between outlandish capitalism, the torture of the Santa myth until kids are horribly
disappointed later - and pagan rituals. What you call Christmas has
almost nothing to do with Jesus. And, I am not a believer... so other
than the fact that I still don't like Candy Canes, Christmas means
nothing to me.
and
for many years, I'd go to Vegas. With all the other non-Christians [and
that one granny chain-smoking at the nickel slot machine with her tacky
Christmas sweater on]. I'm sure there are plenty of Christians there,
too. After all, it's a Christian nation.
So if someone wishes YOU an easy fast on Yom Kippur, you'll be cool with that, right? Of if someone hopes you have a bright Dewali...you'll be grateful for the kind wishes. If someone hopes you family is blessed with warmth and grace during Ramadan, you'll say "Thank you, you too!"....right? If you say Merry Christmas to me, I'll say "thanks, you, too!" back. I won't get mad at you. If I get a Christmas card instead of a Seasons Greetings card, I won't get mad. If I put a wreath on my door...that's blue and white... I don't think Santa is coming, it's just pretty.
So, Christmas is just not my holiday,
and I don't celebrate it at all. It's great for those who do, but for
me...it's just Thursday.
I'm sure these are pretty tasty, though... Happy Holidays! | ||||||
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
What Christmas Means to Me.
Labels:
Candy Canes,
Christ,
Christianity,
Christmas,
Christmas tree,
Holocaust,
jerusalem,
Jesus,
Jewish,
Judaism,
Las Vegas,
Ornaments,
Pagan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)