Golublog: An Anthropology Blog

From “Baraita”:http://www.baraita.net/blog/archives/2005_12.html#000561

It is really f***ing offensive to claim that this conjunction of December holidays constitutes a Jewish “dilemma.” You want a real dilemma involving Judaism and American culture? Try “whether or not to run errands on Shabbat.” Or if you are too immersed in a certain kind of Jewish world for that to be even be a question in your mind, try “what (if anything) to eat at a non-kosher restaurant, and how to explain it to your lunchmate(s) and/or waitperson.” These dilemmas run up against Jewish fundamentals. What you tell your kids about the white-bearded, red-suited guy in the mall is probably not that kind of dilemma. Indeed, the extent to which Jew Q. Public participates in patently non-worshipful activities vaguely associated with the multilayered pagan-Christian-nationalist festival we call Christmas-And-New-Year is… well, really, a pretty minor issue in the greater Jewish scheme of things. [...] If anything, we Jews should probably be delighted that the midwinter celebrations of our neighbors today have little or no content which can be conclusively identified as _avodah zarah_, sparing us all sorts of nasty halakhic dilemmas. I mean, really, which would you rather find yourself humming songs about as you walk through the mall: the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun, or the Birthday of This One Nice Jewish Boy Who Some People Thought Was Anointed By God But We Think Otherwise?

(although personally I think the Hannukah socks stuffed with gelt is a bit too much)