For the last couple of years, some conservative Christians have been claiming that there is a “war on Christmas” being conducted by those who send “Season’s Greetings” cards, or wish their friends and customers “Happy Holidays,” or call the school vacation over Christmas and New Year’s “winter break.” On the other hand, many Orthodox Jews not only refuse to have anything to do with Christmas but decry the fuss being made over Hanukkah, which, they insist, is only a “minor holiday.”
As a Jew, I have some rather strong opinions on the institutionalization of a Christian holiday so that all of us have to celebrate it in some way, whether we like it or not. But I’m also an American, steeped in the culture of Dickens, Peanuts and Georg Friedrich Handel–not to mention heavy-duty British holiday cooking (I like fruitcake, plum pudding, mince pie and hard sauce, the harder the better).
Even more significantly, I live in a Northern climate. By late December, what I see and feel around me is cold, gray, damp and depressing. Like many Northerners, I get at least mildly depressed by the long nights and short days.
The wisdom of our Northern ancestors, I think, has to override the traditions of our Mesopotamian and Northern African forebears, for the sake of our own sanity. All of us, Jew and Christian and Muslim and Buddhist and Hindu, who now live in the cold North, need a winter holiday! That holiday should emphasize light and warmth and companionship and family and good food and music. It should give us an excuse to shut down from work for a while and stop fighting the elements. It should give us a chance to recognize that we are all in this together, regardless of the religious or cultural gloss we put on our individual celebrations. Giving presents to our fellow workers, dropping money into the red kettle at the mall, sending cards to friends and family, are partly a way to touch bases every year and reassure ourselves that we have made it through another year.
So I like Winter Solstice celebrations, since all of us recognize this cosmological event. I like celebrations involving fire and light and good food and good music. I found a bunch of Happy New Year cards that said, to my friends who do not observe Hanukkah, what I really want to say: I am glad you have been in my life this year, and I hope next year is better for all of us. Keep warm. Peace and light.
