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.

Shalom, Christmas!

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