I'm Jewish, and pretty happy about it. But, yeah, I still celebrate Christmas. I don't celebrate it as the birth of Christ, but it's still a tremendously meaningful and important holiday for me. I wouldn't say it's my favorite holiday of the year - there's too much other stress going on for that. December is decidedly a challenging month for us here, between the number of Jewish people who write articles that I can't stop myself from reading that assure me that a tree has no place in a Jewish home, and worrying about whether or not people are judging me for putting up the tree anyway and celebrating a holiday that has never been particularly Christian to me, but is most definitely not Jewish. Plus, it's honestly a hard month for my husband, who grew up not only not celebrating Christmas, but not celebrating it is almost a part of his Jewish identity - so it's never easy.
But celebrate it we do, enthusiastically. I've got stocking hung by the chimney with care, and a tree that's lopsided, with way too many lights on it, and ornaments that are well loved and not particularly coordinated. I've got pictures of all of my babies with Santa Claus, and tinsel and candy canes EVERYWHERE. So why do I celebrate? Why do I insist on participating in holiday that everyone keeps telling me is all about rampant consumerism and materialism? If I strip away the Christian connotations to it, what exactly is Christmas all about? And why exactly do I insist every year that we celebrate it?
I celebrate it because it's wrapped up in some of my favorite memories from my childhood. Caroling with my cousins, singing songs to my sister at night before we fell asleep. Every Christmas Eve, my little sister would beg to sleep in my bed with me, and I'd tell her stories about Santa and swear that I could see Rudolph's nose in the sky. Baking Christmas cookies with my baby cousins, and taking my nieces and nephews out at night to look for the prettiest Christmas lights. My mother has this one song - Mary's Boy Child, and it's this odd sort of Jamaican Christmas carol, and every time it comes on the radio, she'd turn it up as loud as it could go and rock out. My mother doesn't rock out as a rule, and watching her chair boogie in the car while we drove anywhere in December was (and is) kind of awesome.
I celebrate it because I love the anticipation of Christmas Day. I love that my kids talk about Santa Claus (despite the fact that both the older ones know it's just a myth). When I was a kid, I loved that sense, all month long, that we were building up to this one day when magically, just because, we'd wake up and find that someone had brought us presents, just because. It's not about the gifts, exactly. Looking back, I don't remember any specific Christmas gift that I ever got that made a huge impression. What I remember is the magic, the excitement and the joy of it all. I want that for my kids.
I celebrate it because I'm my mother's daughter. And I'm raising her grandchildren. Having a child convert to a different religion isn't easy, and my mother supported me and stood beside me every step of the way. I've never doubted her love or commitment, and I can't imagine how disappointed she'd be if I didn't give my kids the same opportunity to love Christmas as she gave me. I won't do that to her. I won't do that to her grandchildren. It's not that she wants them to not be Jewish - she just wants to know that they're still a part of her family, celebrating her favorite holidays and traditions. Like sleeping over at Grammy's house on the night before Thanksgiving, and trekking up to Maine every year to camp at Hermit Island - celebrating Christmas, for my mother, is about spending time with her kids, and her grandchildren. Passing along those traditions. I'm not willing to tell them that it's not their holiday just because they're Jewish. Yes, they're Jewish, but they're also a part of my family too and they get to do our fun stuff as well.
I celebrate it because I believe in peace on earth and goodwill towards men. And having a day to celebrate that is lovely to me. I celebrate it because I feel a little closer to everyone else on earth during this time of year - it seems to me that it's the one time when we all try a little harder to be nicer, a little harder to appreciate the blessings we have. We don't always succeed, and we aren't all on the same page, but I sincerely think that the world is an amazing and beautiful and blessed place. On Christmas, I think we all feel that way.
It's not about the shopping or the wrapping or the stress. And for me, it's not about celebrating the birth of the Messiah. It's about joy and peace - it's closer to a celebration that we're coming into the light. It's no accident that the Solstice is on the twenty-first - we are literally getting a little more light, just a bit, every day. I think that's worth celebrating. I think having a day to stop and just celebrate the magic, celebrate the beauty of family and friends, to eat candy canes and drink eggnog, to watch your kids open presents and be absolutely delighted is awesome. Christmas isn't perfect, and it's nowhere near as simple and as easy as it used to be for me, but it's still an integral part of my year. And my life. I don't want to miss it. Being Jewish has added so much to my life, so much meaning and resonance, it's given my kids a framework to build a spiritual life upon. It's given me Shabbat dinner, and Passover Seders and a community that I love. But I still love Christmas.
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