Fed up with tryzng to
Chanukah into a Jewish Christmas.

ALLISON KAPLAN
Special to The Jewish News

was just a kid, no older than 7,
when a nurse at my pediatri-
cian's office asked if my green
corduroys and red sweater were a
new Christmas outfit.
"I'm Jewish," I retorted in all the
pre-adolescent outrage I could rn.uster.
"I don't celebrate Christmas."
Apparently, I was ahead of my tirne.
I grew up at the tail end of an era
when many Jewish parents still felt
guilty about their kids missing out on
Christmas trees and Santa Claus. Of
course, my youthful outspokenness
had its clear origin; my parents were
the ones who complained to the prin-
cipal, and then the superintendent,
when my sixth-grade music teacher
decided our class would perform "A
Christmas Carol" rather than a diplo-
matic holiday concert of both
Christmas and Chanukah songs.
After numerous letters and confer-
ences in which my parents declared it
inappropriate for a public school to
put on a Christmas play when not all
students celebrate Christmas, I' played
the part of an urchin held down by
Scrooge.
I took it in stride, understanding
from a young age that Christmas was

(-)

MARCH

the majority, but it was not my holi-
day. My mom simply explained to me
from the start that Jews don't celebrate
Christmas. (She also gave me the
heads-up on Santa's fictional status
ears before my Christian
friends figured it out.) So I
never felt bad. Sure, I was curi-
ous about decorating a
Christmas tree. But then
again, I also was curious about
playing the clarinet, and I never
did that either.
A school play was just
the beginning of it.
Christmas has spun out
of control. It invades
our offices, our
schools, our shopping
malls, our theaters.
And if another holi
day craze like Tickle
Me Elmo 'incites an even
earlier start to the shopping
madness, we might as well
just cancel Halloween.
Yet this holiday overexposure
and rampant commercialism is not
adding to the Christmas-envy you
might expect Jews would experience.
In fact, says Gary Tobin, director of
the Cohen Center for Modem Jewish
Studies at Brandeis University, the
Jewish people are starting to rebel

March 22-29

Israel trip with the Jewish
Community Center. Led by Nancy
Lipsey. Call (248) 661-7721.

Skiing BanffiLake Louise, Canada.
Cost: $1,475. A portion of the fees
will go to the New Israel Fund.
(800) 666-4857 or email: njs@ski-
moguls.com.

March 22-24

March 22-29

March 18-April 1

The 11th United Jewish Appeal
- National Young Leadership Conference
in Washington D.C. Cost: $185,
plus hotel and airfare. Detroiters
who make a minimum $200
campaign pledge can receive subsidy
from the Federation. Call Tanya
Mazor-Posner, (248) 203-1456.

Jamaica, Renaissance Grande Resort
with Premier Jewish Singles. Cost:
$1,555. (800) 444-9250.

APRIL

April 1-5

Skiing at Park City, Utah with

against Christmas with a refreshing
zeal.
"Fifty years ago, Jews were so dif-
ferent, we needed to blend in,"
Tobin said, byway of explaining the
concessions Jewish parents have
made through <the years, like hang-
ing stockings or little presents from
Santa.
"Now," Tobin said, "we're so blend-
ed, we have a need for Chanukah to
stand out."
He describes this phenomenon as
"converse assimilation." Jewish people
today are secure with who they are,
Tobin said. NVe've become almost
immune to the Christmas season,
which at this point, has lost nearly
all religious significance.
Even so, the fact remains that
my holiday vacation from work
begins on Christmas Eve. That
Dec. 24 is also the first day of
Chanukah this year is but a
convenient coincidence —
one that will allow me to
travel home and celebrate
the festival with my
family for the first time
in several years.
We might not be
threatened by
Christmas the way we
once were, but American
Jews are still influenced by
this largest of Christian cele-
brations. "Why, going to the
movies and feasting on Chinese food
has become as much of a Christmas
tradition for Jews as church is for the
Christians.
Are we giving in to Christmas when
we plan get-togethers and schedule our
family Chanukah parties around the

Steppin' Out. Cost: $820, members.
(773) 509-8595.

April 1-7, 15-22

Bicycling tour, the Antebellum
South, Mississippi. Easy ride, flat
with some gently rolling terrain,
15-45 miles per day. Historical
Cycling International. (714)
499-0342 or email cycling@gte
.net.

April 19-26

London, England with Premier Jewish
Singles. (800) 444-9250.

Tobin says no. "We do the same
--- if mine falls
thing wi
on a Tuesday, my f mily might not cel-
weekend," he rea-
ebrate it until
sons.
"When Jews are celebrating
Passover around the time Easter falls,
then we'll have something to talk
about."
Rabbi Steve Denker, of Chicagos
regation ICol Ami, points out that
more important than when
ukah is celebrat ed,

"It's fine to do a Jewish thing while
everyone else is doing a Christian
thing," Denker said. "But the Jewish
festival should be celebrated correctly
with latices made in oil, dreidels and
menorahs — to teach people what the
holiday is really about."
And so I will wake up this year on
Christmas morning to the wonderfully
familiar and pungent scent of my
mother's slightly burnt la.dces. We'll
prepare for the family Chanukah party
by displaying wrapped gifts along a
wall in the living room. Then we'll
debate as we do every year about why
we can't open them before dinner.
My cousins and I will reminisce
about the days when we would come
home from Sunday school singing
"Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel," and our
moms will get a little teary. We'll light
candles, say the prayers, and my dad
will recite his annual speech about the
significance of the lights and the
meaning of each of the eight nights.
That defines the holiday season for
me more than any candy cane, wreath
or shopping mall Santa ever could. 0

April 23-30

Cancun trip...for the unattached
(ages 25 40), sponsored by the
Jewish Community Center. All-
inclusive package for either three or
seven nights. Call Sharon, (248)
661-7721.

-

April 25-May 6

Israel's 50th anniversary with Premier
Jewish Singles. Cost: $2,850. (800)
444-9250.