Anonymous wrote:Has anyone remembered that Jesus wasn’t even born this time of year?!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hate to say this, but I'm a Christian and I find your attitude a little offensive. Advent calendars are not "cultural symbols." Advent is a holy time in the Christian faith, counting down the weeks until the birth of the savior. Churches celebrate each Sunday in a special way.

Sorry, but to me, this is on par with the "cultural appropriation" whining that liberals love to do.

Get over yourself; Christians didn’t invent counting down to a special event. Is “Space Oddity” Christian cultural appropriation, too?

(Jew here) Didnt christians invent the idea of having a calendar with little windows you open up as part of the countdown, though? Its not the same thing as just counting down.

Its not cultural appropriation, because the culture doing the borrowing is the weaker culture, not the dominant one. And its not like Christians can really complain about cultural appropriation by Jews anyway, eh? But it does seem like a distinctively Christian custom with real religious content.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hate to say this, but I'm a Christian and I find your attitude a little offensive. Advent calendars are not "cultural symbols." Advent is a holy time in the Christian faith, counting down the weeks until the birth of the savior. Churches celebrate each Sunday in a special way.

Sorry, but to me, this is on par with the "cultural appropriation" whining that liberals love to do.

I’m Christian and I’m not offended by OP. There’s plenty about the Jewish faith that I don’t understand.

If I were actually looking looking for reasons to take offense, though, I’d be more offended by
- the deliberately obnoxious atheist comparing religion to an infection, and
- your gratuitous rant about liberals (check out your own glass house before throwing stones, pp).

Anonymous wrote:Oh, this joyful time of year... we're pretty lax Jews, i.e. we don't belong to a shul but we celebrate holidays with family, and I feel my daughter is learning enough about her culture to keep the meaningful traditions alive. I myself grew up in an overwhelmingly Catholic town in New England as one of three Jewish kids in our elementary school, so the DMV is obviously extremely diverse by comparison! However it is simply an unavoidable fact of American life that all things Christmas are the norm at this time of year (decorations, music, movies, sales -- basically anything that can be "themed"). And naturally my 7yo has noticed that only Christmas stuff is everywhere, not Hanukkah. And she's started pointing out how it's "not fair" for this to be the case. I've been explaining how Hanukkah isn't really on a par with Christmas in terms of the religious significance of the holiday and how the marketing aspects of the two holidays came to be (never too early to start explaining America's true religion: capitalism!) but she really loves the concept of the advent calendar and wants to get one. I know for her it's all about the little surprises behind the little doors, and as I said, we're pretty lax Jews, but I just can't wrap my head around this. It's giving me flashbacks to my own childhood when I strongly advocated for the right to decorate a Hanukkah Bush in lieu of a Christmas Tree, and it was a total nonstarter in my family (a la Tevya: TRADITION!). I don't even fully understand the concept of advent, except as a countdown to Christmas, but I know it has some religious significance and it would feel weird to have one in my house. I should probably just buy some extra gelt and keep it around for distraction anytime she mentions the advent calendar. But I know this is part of the larger lifelong conversation about religion, American secular traditions, and where lax Jews like us fit into it all, so I'm trying to handle it appropriately without invoking my Tevya genes, and without completely capitulating to the capitalist urges that make the whole thing as problematic as possible. Thoughts on this, oh DCUM readers? Happy Holidays!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hate to say this, but I'm a Christian and I find your attitude a little offensive. Advent calendars are not "cultural symbols." Advent is a holy time in the Christian faith, counting down the weeks until the birth of the savior. Churches celebrate each Sunday in a special way.

Sorry, but to me, this is on par with the "cultural appropriation" whining that liberals love to do.

Get over yourself; Christians didn’t invent counting down to a special event. Is “Space Oddity” Christian cultural appropriation, too?

(Jew here) Didnt christians invent the idea of having a calendar with little windows you open up as part of the countdown, though? Its not the same thing as just counting down.

Its not cultural appropriation, because the culture doing the borrowing is the weaker culture, not the dominant one. And its not like Christians can really
complain about cultural appropriation by Jews anyway, eh? But it does seem like a distinctively Christian custom with real religious content.

What do little windows have to do with Christianity? A calendar maker in Germany invented the little windows. I’m sure you’ve used something in your life invented by a Christian before. I see this as no different.

Anyway, we’re Hindu and have done Elf on the Shelf, Lego advent calendars, the tree, the stockings, etc. There is a huge American culture component to this holiday and it’s woven into the American fabric. So we enjoy this part of it.

THere is nothing American about the Adventkalender--it's German. You could not even buy one here outside of German specialty shops 20 yrs ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poster on the upper left is an advent calendar:



Advent originated with the catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Coptic churches.

Op, your kid just wants to have a chocolate a day this month. It has nothing to do with Christmas or Christianity.

+ 1
I assume OP’s kid doesn’t want to abstain from meat and dairy and spend the season of advent in prayerful reflection, like my orthodox relatives. OP’s kid just wants a calendar with cheap milk chocolates. Those commercial advent calendars are not religious and they are not how Christians traditionally observe advent.

Anonymous wrote:Poster on the upper left is an advent calendar:



Advent originated with the catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Coptic churches.

Op, your kid just wants to have a chocolate a day this month. It has nothing to do with Christmas or Christianity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, this joyful time of year... we're pretty lax Jews, i.e. we don't belong to a shul but we celebrate holidays with family, and I feel my daughter is learning enough about her culture to keep the meaningful traditions alive. I myself grew up in an overwhelmingly Catholic town in New England as one of three Jewish kids in our elementary school, so the DMV is obviously extremely diverse by comparison! However it is simply an unavoidable fact of American life that all things Christmas are the norm at this time of year (decorations, music, movies, sales -- basically anything that can be "themed"). And naturally my 7yo has noticed that only Christmas stuff is everywhere, not Hanukkah. And she's started pointing out how it's "not fair" for this to be the case. I've been explaining how Hanukkah isn't really on a par with Christmas in terms of the religious significance of the holiday and how the marketing aspects of the two holidays came to be (never too early to start explaining America's true religion: capitalism!) but she really loves the concept of the advent calendar and wants to get one. I know for her it's all about the little surprises behind the little doors, and as I said, we're pretty lax Jews, but I just can't wrap my head around this. It's giving me flashbacks to my own childhood when I strongly advocated for the right to decorate a Hanukkah Bush in lieu of a Christmas Tree, and it was a total nonstarter in my family (a la Tevya: TRADITION!). I don't even fully understand the concept of advent, except as a countdown to Christmas, but I know it has some religious significance and it would feel weird to have one in my house. I should probably just buy some extra gelt and keep it around for distraction anytime she mentions the advent calendar. But I know this is part of the larger lifelong conversation about religion, American secular traditions, and where lax Jews like us fit into it all, so I'm trying to handle it appropriately without invoking my Tevya genes, and without completely capitulating to the capitalist urges that make the whole thing as problematic as possible. Thoughts on this, oh DCUM readers? Happy Holidays!

I really, really, really do NOT want to judge you, but I think you just may be a TAD unrealistic? Unless you live in an overwhelmingly Jewish neighborhood (which it sounds like you do not) I don't think you can easily maintain a distinct Jewish identity, let alone the traditions, without membership in a synagogue (in theory you could in some other Jewish institution with the same level of community and commitment and regular attendance, but AFAICT no such institution exists around here).

If you want to be secular, and also guarantee the kids are unassimilated, you probably need to move to NYC, or maybe even to Israel.

+1 What are the traditions you want her to have? I also don't want to judge, but realistically, without joining a shul, it isn't likely your kid will learn the skills to be Jewish as opposed to just culturally Jewish. If actually doing the Jewish things beyond the Tevya-traditions isn't for you, not sure why it matters if you have an advent calendar.

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hate to say this, but I'm a Christian and I find your attitude a little offensive. Advent calendars are not "cultural symbols." Advent is a holy time in the Christian faith, counting down the weeks until the birth of the savior. Churches celebrate each Sunday in a special way.

Sorry, but to me, this is on par with the "cultural appropriation" whining that liberals love to do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, this joyful time of year... we're pretty lax Jews, i.e. we don't belong to a shul but we celebrate holidays with family, and I feel my daughter is learning enough about her culture to keep the meaningful traditions alive. I myself grew up in an overwhelmingly Catholic town in New England as one of three Jewish kids in our elementary school, so the DMV is obviously extremely diverse by comparison! However it is simply an unavoidable fact of American life that all things Christmas are the norm at this time of year (decorations, music, movies, sales -- basically anything that can be "themed"). And naturally my 7yo has noticed that only Christmas stuff is everywhere, not Hanukkah. And she's started pointing out how it's "not fair" for this to be the case. I've been explaining how Hanukkah isn't really on a par with Christmas in terms of the religious significance of the holiday and how the marketing aspects of the two holidays came to be (never too early to start explaining America's true religion: capitalism!) but she really loves the concept of the advent calendar and wants to get one. I know for her it's all about the little surprises behind the little doors, and as I said, we're pretty lax Jews, but I just can't wrap my head around this. It's giving me flashbacks to my own childhood when I strongly advocated for the right to decorate a Hanukkah Bush in lieu of a Christmas Tree, and it was a total nonstarter in my family (a la Tevya: TRADITION!). I don't even fully understand the concept of advent, except as a countdown to Christmas, but I know it has some religious significance and it would feel weird to have one in my house. I should probably just buy some extra gelt and keep it around for distraction anytime she mentions the advent calendar. But I know this is part of the larger lifelong conversation about religion, American secular traditions, and where lax Jews like us fit into it all, so I'm trying to handle it appropriately without invoking my Tevya genes, and without completely capitulating to the capitalist urges that make the whole thing as problematic as possible. Thoughts on this, oh DCUM readers? Happy Holidays!

I really, really, really do NOT want to judge you, but I think you just may be a TAD unrealistic? Unless you live in an overwhelmingly Jewish neighborhood (which it sounds like you do not) I don't think you can easily maintain a distinct Jewish identity, let alone the traditions, without membership in a synagogue (in theory you could in some other Jewish institution with the same level of community and commitment and regular attendance, but AFAICT no such institution exists around here).

If you want to be secular, and also guarantee the kids are unassimilated, you probably need to move to NYC, or maybe even to Israel.