Is anyone else here Jewish and celebrate Christmas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is so secular nowadays that I don’t see any problem with it. Jesus never met Santa or had a Christmas tree!

This post makes no sense -- of course, Jesus didn't -- Jesus was a Jew and never claimed to be anything else (we are all the children of God).

However, many years after his death, people created a new religion based on him (against his wishes -- I'm sure he's rolling in his grave). These new people tell Jews (such as Jesus) that they are going to hell for being Jewish (just like Jesus). They also celebrate his birth randomly at Christmas.

I'll admit that Christmas is so commercialized but it's not "secular" anymore than Hanukkah which has been Americanized and commercialized but no Christians are celebrating it. Christmas literally means the celebration of Jesus as "Christ" (gd).

That said, as a party-loving Jew, we do have a Hanukkah bush, Hanukkah stockings and basically every other Hanukkah-version of Christmas possible. Any when DS was 2 until he turned 4, so 3 years, at which point both my mom and my MIL thought it was ridiculous, DS got one present from Santa. And when he started kindergarten, we explained that Santa was just make believe and didn't visit anyone.

Atheists celebrate Christmas and have Christmas trees. It is secular, PP. It is a national holiday.

[Anonymous]

Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Yes we were a reform Jewish family. We celebrated Christmas and Easter. Oddly, we never really celebrated Hanukkah. We never had a tree though- that’s pushing it. Now that I am married, my DH is Catholic, so we celebrate Christmas with a tree and my DH has a little nativity scene from his childhood that we put out. I also have introduced Hanukkah to my kids with the menorah and some treats...best of both worlds for my kids!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

Well so are Rosh Hahahah and Yom Kippur --- just join Machar, the Jewish secular synagogue, to see that they are secular!

So if that is part of your heritage or not, you can enjoy! Not that I see why non-Jews every embracing our most important holidays.

But, please don't tell us Jews that because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a person who other worship as a god, has become secular, Jews should embrace it. It's commendable for Jews to keep their unique culture and not assimilate with the majority Christian culture. I personally admire Jews who show that Christmas is not an "American" holiday any more than Hanukkah is -- American means diverse religions so no religious holiday is an "American" one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is so secular nowadays that I don’t see any problem with it. Jesus never met Santa or had a Christmas tree!

This post makes no sense -- of course, Jesus didn't -- Jesus was a Jew and never claimed to be anything else (we are all the children of God).

However, many years after his death, people created a new religion based on him (against his wishes -- I'm sure he's rolling in his grave). These new people tell Jews (such as Jesus) that they are going to hell for being Jewish (just like Jesus). They also celebrate his birth randomly at Christmas.

I'll admit that Christmas is so commercialized but it's not "secular" anymore than Hanukkah which has been Americanized and commercialized but no Christians are celebrating it. Christmas literally means the celebration of Jesus as "Christ" (gd).

That said, as a party-loving Jew, we do have a Hanukkah bush, Hanukkah stockings and basically every other Hanukkah-version of Christmas possible. Any when DS was 2 until he turned 4, so 3 years, at which point both my mom and my MIL thought it was ridiculous, DS got one present from Santa. And when he started kindergarten, we explained that Santa was just make believe and didn't visit anyone.

Atheists celebrate Christmas and have Christmas trees. It is secular, PP. It is a national holiday.

Atheists who were born Christian, yes, but not Jews. It is not a National holiday nor is it secular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, we never did growing up and I find it inappropriate. In a mixed marriage and my husband will sometimes have it but my kids and I have no interest in it. They prefer 8 days/Hanukkah vs. Christmas but maybe because they get most of their gifts then.

There is no preference because my Jewish kids don’t choose or compare the holidays. Hanukkah is our tradition while Christmas is very much a national tradition. The White House Christmas Tree is for my kids too. Santa is a myth for all kids - not just Christian ones.

I honestly have never seen the harm in being inclusive. We have Catholic friends at nearly every Shabbat and Seder.

Christmas is not a National tradition. Its a Christian tradition. There is no Santa in our home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

Well so are Rosh Hahahah and Yom Kippur --- just join Machar, the Jewish secular synagogue, to see that they are secular!

So if that is part of your heritage or not, you can enjoy! Not that I see why non-Jews every embracing our most important holidays.

But, please don't tell us Jews that because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a person who other worship as a god, has become secular, Jews should embrace it. It's commendable for Jews to keep their unique culture and not assimilate with the majority Christian culture. I personally admire Jews who show that Christmas is not an "American" holiday any more than Hanukkah is -- American means diverse religions so no religious holiday is an "American" one.

I think we Jews should embrace it. We can still keep our culture and assimilate at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family celebrates Christmas, Easter, Hannukah, and Purim, we just remove all the religious aspects

That is what we do....35 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

Well so are Rosh Hahahah and Yom Kippur --- just join Machar, the Jewish secular synagogue, to see that they are secular!

So if that is part of your heritage or not, you can enjoy! Not that I see why non-Jews every embracing our most important holidays.

But, please don't tell us Jews that because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a person who other worship as a god, has become secular, Jews should embrace it. It's commendable for Jews to keep their unique culture and not assimilate with the majority Christian culture. I personally admire Jews who show that Christmas is not an "American" holiday any more than Hanukkah is -- American means diverse religions so no religious holiday is an "American" one.

I think we Jews should embrace it. We can still keep our culture and assimilate at the same time.

NP. And how is that working out for us? 75% of Reform Jews intermarry and they and their kids predictably stop keeping any traditions. The only Jewish movement that’s actually growing is Orthodox. Because they refuse to assimilate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is so secular nowadays that I don’t see any problem with it. Jesus never met Santa or had a Christmas tree!

This post makes no sense -- of course, Jesus didn't -- Jesus was a Jew and never claimed to be anything else (we are all the children of God).

However, many years after his death, people created a new religion based on him (against his wishes -- I'm sure he's rolling in his grave). These new people tell Jews (such as Jesus) that they are going to hell for being Jewish (just like Jesus). They also celebrate his birth randomly at Christmas.

I'll admit that Christmas is so commercialized but it's not "secular" anymore than Hanukkah which has been Americanized and commercialized but no Christians are celebrating it. Christmas literally means the celebration of Jesus as "Christ" (gd).

That said, as a party-loving Jew, we do have a Hanukkah bush, Hanukkah stockings and basically every other Hanukkah-version of Christmas possible. Any when DS was 2 until he turned 4, so 3 years, at which point both my mom and my MIL thought it was ridiculous, DS got one present from Santa. And when he started kindergarten, we explained that Santa was just make believe and didn't visit anyone.

Atheists celebrate Christmas and have Christmas trees. It is secular, PP. It is a national holiday.

Atheists who were born Christian, yes, but not Jews. It is not a National holiday nor is it secular.

Christmas actually is a national holiday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas is so secular nowadays that I don’t see any problem with it. Jesus never met Santa or had a Christmas tree!

This post makes no sense -- of course, Jesus didn't -- Jesus was a Jew and never claimed to be anything else (we are all the children of God).

However, many years after his death, people created a new religion based on him (against his wishes -- I'm sure he's rolling in his grave). These new people tell Jews (such as Jesus) that they are going to hell for being Jewish (just like Jesus). They also celebrate his birth randomly at Christmas.

I'll admit that Christmas is so commercialized but it's not "secular" anymore than Hanukkah which has been Americanized and commercialized but no Christians are celebrating it. Christmas literally means the celebration of Jesus as "Christ" (gd).

That said, as a party-loving Jew, we do have a Hanukkah bush, Hanukkah stockings and basically every other Hanukkah-version of Christmas possible. Any when DS was 2 until he turned 4, so 3 years, at which point both my mom and my MIL thought it was ridiculous, DS got one present from Santa. And when he started kindergarten, we explained that Santa was just make believe and didn't visit anyone.

Atheists celebrate Christmas and have Christmas trees. It is secular, PP. It is a national holiday.

Atheists who were born Christian, yes, but not Jews. It is not a National holiday nor is it secular.

I was born atheist raised by atheists and we celebrate secular Christmas. It really isn’t a religious holiday if you don’t want it to be snymore than Valentines Day is.

I think people should relax and do what you want. I would never want my young kids to think that this world excludes them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

Well so are Rosh Hahahah and Yom Kippur --- just join Machar, the Jewish secular synagogue, to see that they are secular!

So if that is part of your heritage or not, you can enjoy! Not that I see why non-Jews every embracing our most important holidays.

But, please don't tell us Jews that because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a person who other worship as a god, has become secular, Jews should embrace it. It's commendable for Jews to keep their unique culture and not assimilate with the majority Christian culture. I personally admire Jews who show that Christmas is not an "American" holiday any more than Hanukkah is -- American means diverse religions so no religious holiday is an "American" one.

Do you and your husband exchange Valentines Day gifts? Do you go to December 31st New Year’s Eve parties or wish others a happy new year on January 1st?

Both of those are Christian holidays.

And yes, Christmas and New Year’s Day are both national holidays (banks, federal offices, post office etc are closed in observance).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

Well so are Rosh Hahahah and Yom Kippur --- just join Machar, the Jewish secular synagogue, to see that they are secular!

So if that is part of your heritage or not, you can enjoy! Not that I see why non-Jews every embracing our most important holidays.

But, please don't tell us Jews that because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a person who other worship as a god, has become secular, Jews should embrace it. It's commendable for Jews to keep their unique culture and not assimilate with the majority Christian culture. I personally admire Jews who show that Christmas is not an "American" holiday any more than Hanukkah is -- American means diverse religions so no religious holiday is an "American" one.

I think we Jews should embrace it. We can still keep our culture and assimilate at the same time.

NP. And how is that working out for us? 75% of Reform Jews intermarry and they and their kids predictably stop keeping any traditions. The only Jewish movement that’s actually growing is Orthodox. Because they refuse to assimilate.

How often descendants of immigrants keep their culture after the 1st generation? My parents are Jewish immigrants and they raised me with a culture as an adult I choose not to care for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

Well so are Rosh Hahahah and Yom Kippur --- just join Machar, the Jewish secular synagogue, to see that they are secular!

So if that is part of your heritage or not, you can enjoy! Not that I see why non-Jews every embracing our most important holidays.

But, please don't tell us Jews that because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a person who other worship as a god, has become secular, Jews should embrace it. It's commendable for Jews to keep their unique culture and not assimilate with the majority Christian culture. I personally admire Jews who show that Christmas is not an "American" holiday any more than Hanukkah is -- American means diverse religions so no religious holiday is an "American" one.

Seders are actually pretty common in some Black churches. I don’t know the history of it, but I’ve known many AA who grew up with family or faith community Seders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Christmas and Valentines Day are secular now, Guys. Enjoy!

Well so are Rosh Hahahah and Yom Kippur --- just join Machar, the Jewish secular synagogue, to see that they are secular!

So if that is part of your heritage or not, you can enjoy! Not that I see why non-Jews every embracing our most important holidays.

But, please don't tell us Jews that because Christmas, which celebrates the birth of a person who other worship as a god, has become secular, Jews should embrace it. It's commendable for Jews to keep their unique culture and not assimilate with the majority Christian culture. I personally admire Jews who show that Christmas is not an "American" holiday any more than Hanukkah is -- American means diverse religions so no religious holiday is an "American" one.

Do you and your husband exchange Valentines Day gifts? Do you go to December 31st New Year’s Eve parties or wish others a happy new year on January 1st?

Both of those are Christian holidays.

And yes, Christmas and New Year’s Day are both national holidays (banks, federal offices, post office etc are closed in observance).

Valentines Day and birthdays are not Christian Holidays. Valentines Day is a hallmark holiday. Christmas should not be celebrated by Jews. Most of us, even non-practicing, have absolutely no interest in Christmas or a tree and our tradition is movies and Chinese food.