6 | DECEMBER 2 • 2021
1942 - 2021
Covering and Connecting
Jewish Detroit Every Week
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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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PURELY COMMENTARY
essay
The Most Chanukah
Time of the Year …
Making Peace with
Christmas
M
y first recollection of
feeling uncomfort-
able about Christmas
occurred in music class in the
fourth or fifth grade. We were
singing “songs of the season,
”
and I started to think about
what I was actu-
ally singing: “Joy
to the world, the
Lord is come!” It’s
a beautiful melo-
dy about the birth
of Jesus. Another
song ends with
the phrase: “Oh
come let us adore him, Chri-ist,
the Lord.
”
I’m sure we had sung
the same songs previous
Decembers, but it somehow felt
different this time. So, I decid-
ed I just wasn’t going to sing
those words. I didn’t discuss it
with my teacher or parents or
classmates. I just made sure that
I substituted (in a soft voice)
“You know who, NOT the
Lord!” There … that showed
’
em where I stood!
I recall my mom taking my
siblings and me downtown
to Hudson’s for a visit with
Santa, but I’m not sure how she
explained it to us or whether
it felt weird. I think my mom
had a strong wish to break away
from the “Dexter Davidson
shtetl” of her extended fam-
ily and push our little family
toward assimilation with main-
stream American culture. I still
went to Hebrew school and
learned all the Chanukah songs
and always knew that we didn’t
celebrate Christmas. But why
we went to see Santa, I’m just
not sure. I quickly learned that
while Santa Claus was coming
to town, he wouldn’t be coming
down our chimney.
We always sang our
Chanukah songs after lighting
candles. I recall we also watched
endless Christmas specials with
Perry Como or Dean Martin
(or maybe even Jack Benny),
but I don’t recall a lot of discus-
sion about us not celebrating
Christmas. Our neighborhood
was fairly diverse in terms
of religion, and I don’t recall
feeling left out at the holiday
season. We had Chanukah; they
Dr. Jeff
London