6 January 10 • 2019
jn

N

ow remember, 
Dad,
” my son 
warned me, 
“you’
re going to be 
walking into quite a 
Christmas scene. You 
need to be prepared.
”
“I know. It’
s totally 
cool with me,
” I said 
unconvincingly.
My son was picking my wife and me 
up at the airport where we’
d be going 
to his house in Washington, D.C., 
and spending Christmas with his wife 
and newborn baby along with other 
members of her family. My son knows 
me well, so he was working overtime to 
get me in a good frame of mind. 
“But don’
t forget, Dad; it’
s not a 
religious thing for me and I promise 
we’
re raising our daughter Jewish.
”
“I’
m fine. I’
m fine,
” I try to assure 
him and myself.
The house was indeed decked out in 
full holiday decor. My daughter-in-law, 
half-Jewish, loves Christmas and had 
insisted on having a Christmas tree as 
part of a pre-marital deal with my son 
(she gets a tree and they raise the kids 
Jewish — a superb deal in my book). 
The decorations — the tree, lights, 
poinsettias, stockings — were very 
festive, the food was delicious and the 
Christmas music was … well, there was 

a lot of it.
It was a truly beautiful Christmas 
celebration, and everyone was very 
kind, warm and welcoming to us. I 
tried my best to seamlessly fit right in. 
But I had to admit that the sight of 
this misfit Jew at a Christmas party 
is a source of humor, awkwardness 
and confusion. There are the lovely 
moments of pure fun and enjoyment 
when you feel like everyone else, 
but then there are those times when 
you feel obsessively aware of your 
Jewishness, a bit like when Woody 
Allen visited Grammy Hall’
s home for 
Christmas dinner in Annie Hall (“Great 
ham, Grammy!”).
Unfortunately, things did not initially 
go well for me. In no time, I clumsily 
knocked into a porcelain Christmas 
house that was neatly placed upon the 
mantel, shattering it and leaving me 

embarrassed and apologetic. 
Shortly after, I somehow kicked over 
the shrimp platter with the cocktail 
sauce, which resulted in people 
scrambling to quickly clean the sauce 
off the couch and rug. At that moment 
I realized I needed a stiff drink, so I 
went to the kitchen, poured myself a 
vodka and started to cut up a lime, 
whereupon I almost sliced off my 
thumb and started bleeding all over the 
cutting board.
It was not my finest moment, and 
while my antics had nothing to do with 
my religion, I was keenly aware that I 
— the Jewish guest — was probably not 
making the greatest impression. Things 
were not going well for me. Maybe I 
was just a bit out of sorts.
A little later in the evening, things 
had markedly improved. I was sitting 
around, happily taking in the festive 

essay

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regardless of your feelings toward our 
current president, we all must realize 
that Netanyahu has to work with 
President Trump, given the amount of 
aid Israel needs to continue receiving 
from the United States. To take out 
one’
s hatred felt toward any president 
on Israel is simply shortsighted, in my 
opinion. Of course, I am fully aware 
of the division caused by Trump, but 
please let’
s not allow feelings toward 
any president to dictate where we ask 
Federation to give dollars. 
In the last survey I filled out, I 
selected Israel as a top priority. If 
Federation is now changing its tune, 
then maybe I need to give only to 
organizations that truly support 
Israel. Needless to say, I am extremely 
disappointed with the drop in support 
Federation is giving Israel. 
Alter said it best: “Do we take Israel 
for granted?” If so, heaven help us. 
 Let’
s make this a bipartisan issue and 
let’
s all continue to support Israel. 

Linda Cohen

Franklin

views

Mark Jacobs

continued from page 5

continued on page 8

Correction

Michael Schulman, who wrote the letter 
“You Can’
t Have it Both Ways” (Dec. 
20, 2018, page 8), lives in Trenton, 
Mich., not Bloomfield Hills. 

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