The Holidays

So finals are finally over, and I'm on "winter break." I remember way back when it used to be called Christmas break. But growing up in Long Island, with a very heavy Jewish influence in the neighborhood, it wasn't all that uncommon to hear about Hannukah, especially when chances were your elementary school teacher was Jewish. The most Jewish elementary school teachers I can remember were Fishbach and Friedman, and the principal's name was Kreutzberger. So easy to say, the name "winter break" took hold fairly easily and without a problem in my neighborhood.

My family doesn't celebrate christmas. We don't celebrate any holidays for that matter. We just use the time off to spend lazy days with one another, eat good food, and enjoy each other's company. No "holiday" excuse needed, we just spend time together when we're off from school or work.

So what is it about this whole "war on Christmas" that the far right has pulled out of it's ass? They're whining about how congress went so far as to rename the Christmas tree the Holiday Tree, and complaining how stores aren't using "Merry Christmas" in their holiday campaigns. Something about how this is a conspiracy by the far left to destroy Christmas and good old hometown values.

My response is, who cares? If people want to say Merry Christmas, so what? Let them. My friend Suman very wisely stated something along the lines of, "if you're offended by someone saying Merry Christmas, you're an idiot. If you're offended by someone saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, you're an even bigger idiot." Thank you Suman. Christmas nowadays is all about shopping and profits anyway, so who cares what you call it? Regardless of the holiday name, the shopping season will continue.

Way back in the day, during the 80's, my family once decided to get a white plastic Christmas tree. We put our gifts (which we don't bother with anyway) underneath the tree, opened them to much disappointment on Christmas day, and never celebrated it again. None of us were into it, so why bother?

But, one thing that we did do, and just about every American family did, regardless of how new you were to this country, is get pictures of the kids taken on Santa's lap. You can check out a pic of my sis and my cousin on Santa's lap at her blog, as well as below:

The one thing I love about all mall Santa pictures is the miserable look on the Santa's face as he sits through the millionth picture with yet another kid on his lap. I can imagine I'd want to kill myself after a day of work doing that as well.

From what I hear, in traditional Jewish lore, Hannukah is really a minor holiday with no serious significance. It was only revived so Jews could enjoy the Christmas season as well. On top of that, Christmas being around December is also a concoction through up during the Roman era. December 25th was supposed to be a Zoroastrian or other Pagan holiday celebrating the god Mithra, the sun god. That's what supposed to have brought us the idea of the Christmas tree (casting a shadow to show the lengthening daylight hours or something like that). Gotta love cultural influences. Then just a few years ago came Kwanzaa, which I honestly beleive is a complete BS holiday. I have yet to meet anyone who genuinely celebrates it. I've met more African Americans who celebrate Christmas than those who celebrate Kwanzaa. Honestly, the traditional African American shows of recent years, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Family Matters, etc., all had Christmas episodes, but I heavily doubt any shows now will have Kwanzaa specials. I wonder how long until that holiday fizzles out.