Alef: The NEXT Conversation

'Tis the Season

By Stephanie Silberstein

As a child, I was fortunate enough to encounter only covert anti-Semitism, most of which was probably unintentional. Of course there were the Christmas concerts and the assumption that Santa visited my house too. But I never encountered people who no longer wanted to be my friends when they found out I believed Jesus was a man and not an object of worship.

Nevertheless, I was lonely growing up, especially around Christmas time when everyone else had this holiday that I didn’t share. I never wanted Christmas lights or a tree, but I wanted to belong. I wanted to look forward to getting gifts on Christmas morning and I wanted to believe those gifts came from Santa. At the same time, I was afraid that G-d would be angry at me for these thoughts. My childhood understanding was that Christmas was only for non-Jewish people, and that any Jewish person who paid any attention to it at all would be punished for having incorrect beliefs. I thought that I was like the Wicked Son in the Passover Hagaddah, who would not be redeemed because he didn’t care about Passover’s significance.

The word “holy” means “separate,” and in theory the Jewish people (the “chosen” people) are supposed to be separate from all others in the way they show their allegiance to G-d. Unfortunately, in modern America this translates to being left out of Christmas celebrations and other widespread traditions. It means being unable to worship as easily as those who belong to the more dominant religious tradition and it sometimes means being looked down upon, pitied, or hated for having a different religious belief.

It is really a shame that the holidays which are supposed to be fun for children, can be a time of such division between Jewish and non-Jewish children. Just as Christmas has become secularized and commercialized, Chanukah is being treated by many Jewish families as an equally secular holiday. As a result, many Jewish children grow up feeling like they are missing something instead of taking pride in the historical and cultural meanings of their holiday.

Stephanie Silberstein is the author of the Chanukah-themed novel Winter’s Silence.

Photo by Michel Filion, licensed under Creative Commons.

Tags: Anti-semitism, Christmas, Hanukkah

Posted by Emily.Comisar@birthrightisraelnext.org, Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009, 10:51 am, Holiday Season.