Welcome to my 2nd annual rant about the holiday season.
Being Jewish is not fun at this time of year.
All my Christian friends are distracted and unavailable.
They're out doing things like going on field trips to tree farms to find the perfect Christmas tree.
The ones that have young children are too busy moving that @#$ elf around to have any time to play.
Sooooo.....
I'm pretty much left on my own.
Then
to add salt to the wounds, all the good stuff on TV is postponed for those sickly sweet Christmas shows and movies.
I really don't care if Clarence gets his wings.
I really, really don't.
Besides, everyone knows that Donna Reed isn't married to James Stewart.
She's married to a pediatrician named Alex!!!!!
Then
every where I go is Christmas music.
The same songs over and over....Every Damn Year!!!!
I am so sick of the sound of Bing Crosby's voice I can't even begin to describe how it sets my teeth on edge.
I DON'T want to have myself a merry little Christmas now,
or anytime in the future!!!!!
But, my all time biggest irritant is when someone asks me what I'm doing for Christmas,
and I answer them sweetly....
telling them I have no plans.....
and then they make a big deal about how sad that is.....
so I explain that I don't celebrate Christmas because I'm Jewish.....
and they say.....
"But Christmas is a holiday for everybody!!!!!"
No it isn't!!!!!
It celebrates the birth of the Christian's Savior.
This is not a holiday for everyone.
It's for Christians!!!!!
THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED CHRISTMAS!!!!!
If they still don't get it, I ask them what they're doing for Passover.
They say that they have no plans.....
I tell them that that's so sad....
I could go on, and on, but I'm sure you get my point by now.....
One of my best friends, whose identity will remain anonymous,
get's upset about Jews who have taken on the Christmas holiday's customs.
This is a very special holy day for her, and she feels it's being trivialized.
I agree.
This is not a national holiday but a major religious one.
It's not about the decorating, the presents, the food....
ALTHOUGH THAT IS A WONDERFUL WAY TO HONOR THE DAY.
But it is a religious holiday.
Please, leave my Jewish @$$ out of it, I don't need any more food shoved at me when it's cold.
I'm not getting enough exercise as it is, and soon the chairs won't be big enough to hold my Jewish @$$.
On that lovely note,
Latah, Gatah
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25 comments:
Oh sweet Betsy, you cracked me up! Yeah, I don't like the trivial part some make out of C'mas and yes, you are right, it is a very religious holiday, where you go to midnight mass and all, Here there are reunions at different homes for, "Baby Jesús Nine Day Novena" and C'mas Eve there's midnight mass...so yes, it's a religious holiday. Now as a Newyorker, I had many Jewish friends and they would invite me for Passover one day of the nine to their homes and I loved it, (I made a table for you and all my Jewish friends with Menorah and all) They would also make a tree at their homes to celebrate the end of the year; as trees are not a religious thing, invented by a German who saw a shining tree with lights that the snow and ice would produce...and since the holiday tree at the end of the year.
Anyhow, I believe you and loved this post, you phrased it with so much detail and fun!
Hugs,
FABBY
Haha. As a Christian who celebrates it for religious reasons, I certainly agree it's a religious holiday. A lot of aspects of the Christmas celebration - like, I don't know, baking cookies and putting up pine garland - aren't specifically religious in nature, but they grow out of a religious motive if you trace them back. I have no objection to people who don't care about the religious motive baking a lot of cookies or whatever they want to do, but I do think it causes problems when people who have specifically NON-religious motives co-opt every Christmas-related trapping they can get their hands on. By which I mean every store that's playing Bing because they LOVE Christmas as an opportunity to sell things (NOT THE POINT) but wouldn't be caught dead playing "Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King!" etc. So while I enjoy Bing - in measured doses - I tire of him at this time of year, too.
And for the record - I DON'T have plans for Pesach, but occasionally I am invited to a meal for a Jewish feast day and it is always delightful, with fascinating traditions and great food. (And non-Christian friends are of course welcome to come for Christmas Eve dinner - if they can stand the food, which is traditional and borderline edible - but I wouldn't patronize them by pretending we were having a "seasonal dinner." I think inclusiveness loses whatever virtue it has when it demands that people erode or ignore things that are important to them. I'm sure, of course, that it would be a royal pain to try to get anything accomplished in late December as a non-Christian.)
P.S. I think that elf is dumb, but that picture you found is awesome.
Haha. I think the moms that are moving the elf around each night probably feel a little like your picture by the time December 25th gets here. As a Christian, I have been invited to Passover and I love that celebration and remembrance. Passover works for a Christian because Jesus was Jewish, the reverse can't be said of Christmas. I would also like to have a friend to celebrate Chanukah with because that is such an amazing story of God's provision yet, Christians don't even talk about it because it isn't in the King James. And if it isn't in the King James....
I am sure all the Christmas-y blog posts get old if you aren't making wreaths out of wheels, or Bundt pans or anything round. Thanks for a very entertaining post.
Creepy pedophile elf. Kill it! KIll it with FIRE!
That is all.
I don't care that you don't care. Maybe I'll get some care in my stocking. It still wouldn't be enough to make me care that you don't care, however.
Andie
I think someone needs a nap. ;-)
I am a devout Christian and I agree with 99% of your post. I like Clarence. I wish you could come to my house on December 25 to help me decorate. We'd have so much fun! I would cook a delicious meal-gourmet and nutritious! I don't bake or prepare any "traditional" holiday foods, so you don't have to worry about your blood sugar going through the roof (can't make any promises about your @$$.)
Betsy, I love your decorating and am glad in this country you have freedom to express your disgust. But, this country was begun as a Judeo- Christian nation, and most Christians are huge supporters of Israel and Jews. So, whole this country is a melting pot, a majority of people claim to be Christians and I'm sorry and can sympathize with your feelings. But, if I lived in Israel I would not expect the Jewish traditions and holidays to be generally celebrated. So, soon the season will be past and you can feel cheerful again! Love your gorgeous decorating!!
Total misstatement on last post from melody- if I lived in Israel, I would nor expect that the Jewish holidays and traditions would not be celebrated.
Wow, that's it...just wow...
Well, at least you have the expectation of good Chinese food to look forward to :-), and after that, all the torment will be done for another year.
I guess you are also saying that you wouldn’t like me to give you a Chanukah bush?:-) I brought my best friend a Norfolk pine, decorated with blue and silver ornaments.. she loved it! But since she is married to a Protestant, she can’t complain, right?
Dolores
Betsy you are a trip, I'll come out and play with you and I promise I won't be singing any Bing Crosby songs because I can't carry a tune to save my life. This is the first time I have seen a picture of that silly elf, sort of reminds me of my estranged husband in that photo...just saying.
Alison
I am a Christian, and I hate all of the commercialism associated with it! Christmas is a very Holy day for me, and my family. I asked an atheist friend why she celebrated Christmas? I asked her with 2 reasons she celebrates. 'Do you celebrate a Santa Claus Christmas or Christian Christmas? I already knew the answer... Santa! And I had a Jewish doctor once, he was complaining about Hanukkah and Christmas. I asked him if he celebrated Christmas and why. He said his kids gave them too much pressure. That is just wrong. What happened to family traditions, values? When someone says 'Merry Christmas' to you, answer with 'Happy Hanukkah'. If they have any sense, they will know to not carry on. So, Happy Hanukkah, Betsy. Paula
You made me laugh. I thought others would be scolding you, but I guess birds of a feather…:)
Oh my. I guess you don't like Easter. Well, I'm glad we live in a country where we still have the freedom to choose. I think Bing Crosby sings beautifully. My grandchildren love the elf. How can I not be joyful to see their sweet smiles. I love it most when people get along, no matter the holiday, or religion, . Love your sense of humor, and of course, I love your decorating.
Complaining is just Betsy’s ‘shtick’, Linda- she just likes to pretend that she is a misogynist,but she doesn’t fool her friends:-)
This year,I promised myself that I would enjoy every bit of the Christmas pre-season craziness as the time to play goes by so quickly, and I want to make more happy memories for my little grandsons rather than fretting over having a ‘perfect’ holiday. Working so far!
Peace and good will to all..
Dolores
Wow. Betsy, I'm so sorry someone said something so inappropriate you had to delete it! I think your post was very funny and thought provoking. My family's not religious but we enjoy the chance to get together and eat very fattening food. Love the elf!!
Betsy, I'm a Baptist minister's wife, granted not your typical one, and I have come to hate Christmas. Well, I hate the way Americans celebrate the birth of Christ. I mean, what does tacky gaudy decorations and light shows, elf on the shelf, orgies of consumerism at malls and shopping centers, orgies of food and alcohol consumption, deplorable saccharine songs about talking snowmen and red nosed reindeer, etc., etc., etc. have to do with a baby born in a barn smelling of animal shit? We have totally perverted the story and the message. It's NOT a religious holiday anymore. It's a secular and commercial one.
Thanks for the chance to vent. You can understand why I choose to remain Anonymous.
I did NOT delete the post by Delores!
It must be a computer glitch!
She always leaves lovely comments.
I totally agree. Especially the part about losing all the good stuff on tv because they think you are out shopping and won't be watching. And thinking that everyone is a christian who wants to spend all their money on junk.
Delores left this link to a really funny Jon Stewart segment from the Daily Show on Christmas : http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-12-2013/war-on-christmas---s--t-s-getting-weird-edition
Too funny. We're Unitarians, and the mid-winter celebrations are all over the place: Solsti-Kwanz-Chris-Kkah. UUs, the religion to have when you're having more than one.
Interesting discussion. Will add that Melody is incorrect. This country was not 'begun as a Judeo- Christian nation." It might have had a lot of cultural Christians, but as a nation, it was specifically not of any religion. Mainly, I think, because so many people came across the water to a place where the churches of Rome and England could not compel them to practice religions they didn't believe in. (Then, naturally, being human, they tried to force everyone to worship their God in their way).
Betsy is upfront about not wanting to be compelled to attend to the religious needs/wants of people who don't share her religion. That is American individualism, well expressed and declared.
I think that elf looks idiotic, and i have no idea of the traditions that apparently belong with it. If I knew them, the elf would still be taking up wasted space.
A decorated tree is inoffensive, until I remember that it's pretty dumb, IMO, to kill a live tree so it can be brought INDOORS to dry out in superheated air and tossed aside after the holiday. I guess the loss of a tree and the waste of money both get to me And I live in place where lots of Christmas trees are grown. You'd think I'd be happy $$$ to see the tree excesses of the modern world. But tree-hugger that I am, it pains me…to see…a tree…defiled so.
Thanks for your take on those old movies, too, gal. I share your views.
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