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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is such a nasty thread and I am amazed that nobody wants to call out the op.

It is your stepdaughters home for the time being as well.  She knowingly married a man with a Christian daughter.  Let her have a damn tree - it's not going to hurt you.

As a Christian I would never want someone under my roof to feel unloved including the celebration of their religious holidays.

I think sour op wants to pretend she doesn't have stepchildren, or worse, is afraid folks will gossip at her temple about her Christmas tree.

I feel sorry for that stepdaughter who clearly has no home.  I guess she's just a shiksa though.[/quote]

You just don't get it.  As a Jew, I'm very worried about my children assimilating into the dominant Christian culture.  You act like we can just have a tree in the house and that's fine.  It isn't.  For Christians, you can dabble in other people's traditions and that's fine, because you're the vast majority.  Jews aren't.  We have to constantly guard against assimilation.  That means, among other things, keeping a Jewish home.  A house with a Christmas tree isn't a Jewish home.  OP cannot accommodate both the stepdaughter and her own desire to have a Jewish home.  PERIOD.  They're mutually exclusive.[/quote]

While I agree with you, my heart breaks for the non Jewish stepdaughter who can't celebrate how she traditionally does. I spent Christmas by myself once and it was the most depressing day I can remember. It's normally a family day, but instead she'll be with a stepmother who says she can't celebrate because she isn't religious enough.

I think the stepdaughter needs to spend Christmas elsewhere. [/quote]

I'm a differnent poster but still a Jew who would be uncomfortable with a tree in my household. Is a tree really going to fix this problem, though? I would think, the traditional Christmas is a family day, with the kids waking up at 6am for presents, family gathered all day, special meals, etc (all that stuff I see in the movies!) Instead stepdaughter is going to wake up to kids that are sleeping in because the day is off from school. Mom maybe getting some extra housework in because nothing is open anywhere to do errands. Maybe even going to work. (As a Jew, I always work Christmas as that allows other to take off - I'm in the medical field)

Even if there is a tree. Any even if there's some sort of presents or special dinner, how can it be at all the same as celebrating with a Christian family? It just seems like the reality is either stepdaughter celebrates at her mom's house, or, at baseline there is going to be some level of compromise. Is the tree even going to seem like largest issue?[/quote]

Of course it's not going to be the same, it's going to be a [i]compromise[/i], which is something both sides should be doing. No one (or at least pretty much no one) on this thread is advocating for the OP hanging stockings from the mantle, stocking the tree for everyone, and cooking a big Christmas dinner. Telling the stepdaughter she either needs to leave her home for Christmas or not celebrate at all is a really hostile response to this situation.[/quote]

I'm the poster you are replying to. I agree, compromise is called for. I guess, what I'm not understanding is why, from my point of view, there seems to be so much hostility to the viewpoint that many people would be uncomfortable with a traditional tree. (Large tree, prominently displayed in public area of house). If compromise is part of the baseline, why is that not a reasonable compromise. What I'm feeling most acutely from this thread, as a Jewish poster, is hostility towards the viewpoint that a tree is a Jewish household is not approrpiate. [/quote]

Bingo Schlomo- it is hostility to the idea it is a Jewish household; it is in fact a mixed household.[/quote]

The anti-semitism in here is unbelievable.  Can I make a Catholic priest rape joke or is that frowned upon?[/quote]

Where exactly is the anti-semitism? there have been many posts by Jewish people on here who "can't accept a Christian child," are "guarding against assimilation" and seem to believe that a Christmas tree is like the Jewish kryptonite. The Christian point of view seems more welcoming and open/minded. I my (very humble) opinion i suspect there is more anti-semitism in real life than on this thread. But this is just my interpretation.[/quote]

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