| Comments: |
| From: |
![[info]](http://www.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tues
|
| Date: |
11/25/2002 5:32:31 PM |
|
|
|
|
I think of xmas as more of a "family" holiday than anything else. I do love presents! ^_~
ME TOO!!! And my mom gives the COOLEST presents (plus she gets bonus points for presentation), and Rusty always gives me jewelry (ooh, shiney!). If people gave me socks and stuff, I might not mind giving it up... ;)
| From: |
artmomz
|
| Date: |
11/25/2002 7:08:52 PM |
|
|
|
|
For me, it's all of the above... ;o)
Although, I have lived on different extremes of celebrating christmas. One being spending a day in church before opening any presents (a tree? what's that?)...to skipping church altogether, and go straight for the presents (and Santas dancing nude! Well no, not really..) Too much of anything is not good...one of these days, I'll find a healthy mix.
We (my parents and grandparents too, even my grandmother, who is our family's sole Christian) have always celebrated a secular Christmas. The closest we ever got to Jesus is when my mother (a Pagan) painted a ceramic nativity scene in the early 70's. Of course, at the time, she was painting ceramic EVERYTHING, so I don't really count that. LOL
| From: |
catmoran
|
| Date: |
11/25/2002 8:40:02 PM |
|
|
|
|
I didn't let becoming pagan stop me from doing all the Christmas holiday stuff. I tend to avoid anything that's destinctly Christian, but that still leaves the tree, most of the decorations and Santa. Along with about 90% of the rest of it.
Yeah, that's it, exactly. There is absolutely *nothing* religious about my decorations or in the way my family celebrates. There is no nativity scene, no prayer, nothing. NOTHING to do with Jesus, or even G-d. So I kinda feel like I'm being asked to give up my birthday, or Halloween - something that has NOTHING to do with my religious beliefs, because of my religious choice. /sigh
You celebrate Halloween, but it's not a religious holiday for you. You celebrate St. Patrick's Day, even though you're neither Irish (I'm assuming) nor Catholic...
so what's wrong with celebrating Christmas? I still celebrate it. I even celebrate the "Birth of Christ"... regardless of validity, it's a helluva cool story. Seriously! Imagine the concept of it... out of nowhere, just when the world needed one, poof, there's a savior, born in a manger, under a bright and shining star. Certainly more entertaining than the idea of some saint chasing snakes out of Ireland, eh? ;)
If you want to celebrate Christmas, go for it. Celebrate it as what is IS, not what people attach to it. It's a celebration of the birth of hope, love, and kindness. Just because one story calls those things Jesus doesn't mean that you have to.
| From: |
catmoran
|
| Date: |
11/26/2002 6:10:47 AM |
|
|
Re: |
|
So, why do you *have* to give that stuff up? Rusty isn't converting, is he? So it seems like you can use him as an excuse, if you need to.
No, he's not, and he DOES love that tree... =)
| From: |
cellio
|
| Date: |
11/26/2002 9:55:34 AM |
|
|
|
|
Whatever you decide to do, you don't have to do it in one fell swoop. It'll take you a while to figure out where Xmas fits into your new religion, and that's ok.
Some of the aspects of Xmas that appeal to you can transfer easily to other holidays or occasions. Perhaps you can play up birthday gift-giving and reduce the December gift-giving proportionally. You can have a lot of fun decorating your sukkah, and depending on what you've got, you could even use your existing ornaments. Purim provides another gift-giving opportunity (focused on food), along with a very festive meal. The Pesach seder, of course, is another opportunity for family togetherness.
I may be the lone voice saying the following, but I feel like I need to say it:
Because you have kids who will, presumably, be raised as Jews, I think you do need to draw some kind of line between Xmas and Judaism. Never mind that Xmas is really the merchandise holiday and not a religious one; your kids will still be bombarded with "Xmas is about Jesus" more than you'd like. They need to learn that Xmas is a secular thing or a Christian thing, but not a Jewish thing. That doesn't mean don't do it, but it would be a good idea to try to contain it at "grandma and grandpa's house", and make it clear that this is their holiday but not yours.
Sorry if I've just crossed a line.
| From: |
topi
|
| Date: |
11/26/2002 10:42:20 AM |
|
|
|
|
'Nessie,
I'm in agreement with Cellio. I hope I haven't crossed any lines either.
YS
There are no lines here, silly! I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't want opinions. I responded to Cellio's comment below. :)
That's true; I tend to jump ahead (I was worrying the other day about not being buried in a Jewish cemetary, so sometimes I jump WAY ahead, lol). And with my grandmother getting older, X-mas has naturally diminished some, from what we used to do.
As for the kids... that's part of the problem. Sarah is only 2, and will be raised as a Jew. The boys (who live with their father) however, are 12 and 9, and are already Christians (they go to Catholic school, anyway). I am not going to tell them they're wrong, and "we're all gonna be Jewish now, because Mom wants to be". I have already confused them enough with divorces, moving, changing schools - I don't want to mess with their concept of G-d to boot. I will let them observe my Jewish lifestyle, and participate if they choose, but that's about the extent of it. I DO understand your point, but their are extenuating circumstances in this case.
As for Sarah, my little Hebrew pricess, I do play up the Jewish holidays (as *I* learn them, of course) for her benefit - we're going all out for Hanukkah this year, and I am hoping that if I do that, X-mas will be more of an afterthought. My mother orders a dinner for X-mas (as my grandma is getting too old to cook), but Mommy only cooks for Hanukkah! The fact that I will actually go into the kitchen (!) and stand there frying latkes (!) sets it apart as spectacular. ;)
I may be dreaming, but I think Sarah will be safe (at least during childhood) from the X-mas is about Jesus thing... No-one in my family or Rusty's would bring it up, and they can't say much about it in public schools, when she goes there. To her, Jesus is a gecko. :)
| From: |
cellio
|
| Date: |
11/26/2002 11:22:15 AM |
|
|
|
|
Ah, I had forgotten that the boys are (1) older and (2) living with their father. That does complicate things. But I think that Sarah will be fine if you do up things like Chanukah and Purim, and don't do Xmas in your house, but you still all get together with your and Rusty's parents to do Xmas there. After all, it's their holiday, so visiting them for it is fine. But it's not your holiday (I mean you; can't comment on Rusty), so you ought not do it in your house.
I think you're right to not try to change the boys' religion. Sarah is 2; that's a different case.
The fact that I will actually go into the kitchen (!) and stand there frying latkes (!) sets it apart as spectacular. ;)
:-)
|
|
[friday five]
