Alef: The NEXT Conversation

04: The Holiday Season

This week we introduce Issue #4: The Holiday Season

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The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is over, the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center has been lit, and the tourists are out in full force. It can only mean one thing: the winter holidays are upon us. It is a time of eating and drinking and a time of embracing family (or avoiding it). But for the Jews – a people who have always had the task of juggling tradition with their status as “outsiders” – it’s also a time of multiple identities. While Hanukkah (regardless of how you spell it) remains reserved for members of the Tribe, there is no question that secular versions of Christmas have pervaded some Jewish communities, and provided a nice celebratory stepping stone between the festival of lights and the New Year. After all, Jewish composer Irving Berlin didn’t have to reject his status as the cantor’s son to dream of a “White Christmas.”

So how do we juggle our Jewishness with our love of Christmas carols? From evergreens and poinsettias to dreidels and gelt, our traditions seem to run the spectrum of ways in which we celebrate the holiday season. In this issue of Alef, we’ll hear stories about everything from Kosher Turkeys on Christmas to New Years resolutions made not once, but twice. Join our discussion about how we celebrate being Jewish during this – in the words of Andy Williams – “most wonderful time of the year.”

-Alef

Photo by Rob Blatt, licensed under Creative Commons.

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The Holiday Season Posts:
Hanukkah Music: A Video Tribute
Growing up with Chanukah in (718)
Waiting for Adam Sandler
My Guilt-Free Holiday
Happy Holidays, From Alef
Kosher for Christmas
Tropicana Christmas
‘Tis the Season
Tangled up in Bad
The Jew Who Loved Christmas
Italian-Jewish for the Holidays
The New Years Tree
New Years Resolutions
A Decade’s Send-Off
The Importance of Lights in Winter

Tags: Hanukkah, Holiday Season, Music

Posted by Emily.Comisar@birthrightisraelnext.org, Friday, November 27th, 2009, 8:56 am, Holiday Season.