Frd e cember S," 1969
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Nine
DECORATING THE CHANUKAH BUSH
On celebrating the joys of a Jewish Christmas
By LAURIE HARRIS
WE DIDN'T really celebrate
Christmas; but we did cele-
brate Santa Claus and that was
fun.
Every year as Chanukah and
Christmas time would approach
the mad hunt for presents into
the upper reaches of our house
and into the corners I hadn't
looked into since last year at the
the same time.
And sometimes I found those
presents and sometimes I didn't.
But when I did, there was an-
other dilemma to face: Do I
open them and ruin the sur-
prise for a select night of
Chanukah or the morning of
Christmas. Or 4; I leave them
closed and just glory in the idea
that mommy didn't hide them
as well as she thought she had.
I suppose every child goes
through a similar feeling at the
holiday season, whether he is
Jewish or Christian. But per-
haps for me it was a little dif-
ferent. I got gifts on the eve-
nings of Chanukah and also on
the morning of Christmas. Not
because my parents were con
fused or indulgent; we were
definitely Jewish. But they liked
the myth of Santa Claus. There
was no Christ in our Christmas
-just a lot of fun and Santa
Claus.
We still have the photographs
of Santa holding me on his lap
in one of the big downtown de-
partment stores. And my sisters
told me that all the Santa
Clauses that appeared in the
different stores war RS tc
was Jewish and we celebrated
the restoration and miracle of
a temple in Jerusalem. And that
was why we lit a menorah and
made blue and white stars and
candles to decorate the house.
And then they told me about -
this jolly old fat man named
Santa Claus who came around
on the 25th of December dis-
tributing gifts to everyone.
Christmas eve my sisters and
I would hang our stockings out
over our brick fireplace. (One
year I greedily hung a pair of
tights.) We'd put out cookies
and milk for Santa and lots of
carrots for his reindeer and
we'd go to bed really early.
Whether Santa ever really
came or not didn't matter be-
cause I'd wake in the morning
and there would be a few gifts
from non-Jewish family friends.-
and one or two from Santa.
Then I'd get all bundled up
and go out with all my friends
into the deep piled snow and
play on the hill in front of the
Presbyterian Church. And we'd
all get wet and tired and go
home and show everyone else -
what we had gotten from Santa
Claus.
And that was all Christmas
ever was tome.
It wasn't a "Chanukah bush"
or parents avoiding being Jew-
ish. It was a family time when
everybody--everybody--it seem-
ed was happy. And it was cold
outside and warm inside. It was
celebrating a wonderful myth-
Santa Claus.
Books, in our opinion (we may be slightly
prejudiced) make wonderful gifts.
We have many titles for all ages and a large
selection for most fields of interest.
Come in and browse.
SLATER'S
336 S. STATE ST.
HOURS: Mon. thru Sat. 8:50-5:30
U11C1C1t s41"C5 eC an as
helpers out gleaming informa-
tion tor the Big Santa Claus at The Michigan Daily
And I believed them. Winter Holiday Supplement
During the week befare Supplement Staff:
Christmas I wauld ga araund ta
all the neighbors' houses and Marilyn Heiser-manager
help them decorate their Christ- Alison Lang-asst. mgr.
mas trees. I always had one bulb Janet Engl-ass't. mgr.
of my own-usually one of the Barb Weber-cover design
larger gaudy ones.
But we couldn't have a Christ- Models for the Fashion
mas tree or Real Christmas dec Pictures:
orations. My parents said that Traci, Cathy Babcock
was celebrating the birth of Cathy Wirth, Janet
Christ and he was the god of and Sue.
the Christians.
They would explain that I
for TIE conversation piece
or the highly UnIqUe
exotic gifts & decorations
INDIA ART SHOP
330 MAYNARD (across from the Arcade)
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OPEN 9:30 A.M. to 9:00 P.M.
From Now 'til Christmas
Flute a
mushroom
tonight!
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to your
menus with
fluted mushrooms
-served under
glass or as a garnish
to your platter.
Don't worry about
the time! With Kitchen
Port's mushroom fluter,
only 984, you can flute
mounds of mushrooms in minutes:
We have countless other
time-savers, too. So visit
us at the Kitchen Port, in the
Arbor-A Building, Fifth and Deroit -
across from the Farmers' Market.
-
500 E. Liberty Street
0 osac ,iM ttmmfiIms I" -
SHOP IN ANN ARBOR
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