Jew With Christmas, & Hanukkah. I married a non-Jewish woman and as such we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. That makes me a lucky man! And it makes for lucky kids too! Since we celebrate both holidays I’m often asked about my thoughts…here are a few…
Two Sets of Gifts. Yes, even though my wife is a shiksa, she is the one that buys all the Hanukkah presents…you gotta love that! In fact, she even bought my Dad a Hanukkah present this year. And, she buys all the presents for Christmas too…you gotta love that even more! The only one I shop for is her, which believe me is difficult enough for me. Now, even though my kids get two sets of presents, we try to keep it somewhat under control. But make no mistake, my kids get a ton more presents than I ever got as a kid. In fact, as a kid I don’t recall a focus on the gift aspect of the holiday. And now that I think about it, there isn’t much focus or attention given to Hanukkah regarding gift-buying by advertisers. Think about it, how many commercials do you see that focus on Hanukkah? None come to mind. Maybe it’s because advertisers don’t feel there is enough Jewish shoppers to make an advertising campaign part of their holiday budget? Hmmm, when I think about some of my Jewish friends and their families, it seems to me they’re missing out on a huge market opportunity….
The Menorah & The Christmas Tree. I love the menorah. Each night we light a candle to represent the 8 days of Hanukkah. It’s a nice tradition that even our neighbors, whom are not Jewish, like to share with us. Then we get out the dreidels and chocolate gold coins. This year we were fortunate to be in Minneapolis and had a Hanukkah party with my whole family. I love the Christmas tree too.
Every year we dedicate one day to going out and buying a tree, setting it up, and then decorating it. As a Jew this is something I never had as a kid, but man it’s fun! The thing I love the most is the memories it triggers since all those ornaments were collected over the years of our marriage. We even have Jewish ornaments such as dreidels and Stars of David on the tree. Each year I find myself studying the tree…remembering when we bought a particular ornament…I love it. And let’s face it, the tree is just nice.
Two Celebrations. The best part of being a Jew with Christmas is we get to celebrate two sets of holidays, and the more reasons to celebrate life is fine with me. In fact, one of the reasons I fell in love with my wife is her desire to celebrate as many holidays as possible. Celebrate life! Hey, that’s catchy (wink wink to my brother). In case you didn’t see my post last week, I love this ad from Apple entitled “Misunderstood.” The ad is smart, and it connects whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever…
HAVE A WONDERFUL RELAXING JOY-FILLED HOLIDAY!
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Phil Grossfield's Blog 
I have a friend who is Jewish and she was so upset when her adult son came home with a Christmas tree. Her son decorated with decorations he and his girlfriend bought who is Catholic.
His mom came home and made him take the tree outside, she was not going to have it in the house. When she hosted her holiday party a lot of us walking up the sidewalk saw the decorated tree out in front with a sign on it saying free to good home. When she was asked about the tree she told the story I just told you. One of my other friends walked outside, grabbed the tree and brought it back in her house. He laid the tree on its side and moved all the Jewish decorations on the side of the tree that was facing up. My friend who was hosting the party had a horrified look on her face. Her son was seriously trying to hide his laughter. My friend who had pulled the tree inside took the sign she wrote “free to good home” flipped it over and wrote Menorah bush. The laughter that echoed across the house was contagious. My very smart @$$ friend who pulled the tree in the house, walked up to the hostess and gave her a kiss on the cheek and said Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me…..It was so cool….
Love it!