Jewish People, Are You Annoyed by Christmas?

Ha! I thought that title might get your attention.

If you'll indulge me and my ignorance for a moment...

I grew up in the American South, where, in a public high school of 2500 kids, we had one (1) Jewish person.

In grade school, when word got out that such-and-such was Jewish, I didn't know what that meant. I was told it meant she didn't believe in Santa Claus and didn't have a Christmas tree.

I became a little more enlightened in college, and now here I am in the Great American Northeast. I've got a small group of friends-- all of whom happen to be Jewish-- because the last one of this group just converted.

This weekend I'm hosting those ladies and their tots for a playdate. I want to make them comfortable and create a festive atmosphere without overwhelming them with the "Christmasness" of the house. Maybe this isn't even a concern??

Trying to figure out what would be appropriate got me wondering if those of you who are Jewish find this time of year annoying?

I was doing our quicky holiday/photo cards at CVS and was looking for a 'snowflake' background, and the only backgrounds the computer offered were highly Christian or highly Jewish. I ended up settling on a card with a snowman on it... but alas, the snowman was wearing a Santa hat. Grrrrrr. I did send it out to all my Jewish friends.... Would that bother you?

The house isn't overly decorated, we just have the tree up.

Anybody have any ideas on things to serve or ways to make everybody comfortable?

Waiting to be flamed for this,
Lugz

 

Make sure the gift bag includes the "Passion of the Christ" DVD with special commentary from Mel Gibson.

 

Dooley is thinking that Santa Claus as portrayed now is nondenominational, thus a snowman with a Santa cap should be no biggie.

 

I find Christmas kind of annoying....and I'm Catholic.

I think it's great you've even broached this subject and I'm sure your friends would appreciate it too.

 

I think it's annoying that Christmas is only one day and the Jews get like 12 days or something. Why are they hoarding all the days?

 

I don't think your house sounds "too Christmasey." I'm sure your Jewish friends will understand that you observe Christmas. Your real friends will have no problem with it.

 

I'm not going to say that wasn't hilarious. It was.

 

Luggy, for some reason unknown to me about 80 percent of our friends are Jewish. Most of them especially like to come over during the holidays just like we like to go to a Passover Seder at one of their houses. It's different and fun to experience another culture from the inside.

On the 27th we will have our annual holiday party and Jews will outnumber the Christians and agnostics. it will be awesome, as usual.

Mmmmm latkes.

 

To quote an old MTV show cast member, "it wasn't not funny."

 

I don't think your Jewish friends would be offended because you decorated your house for Christmas. It's none of their business what you do in your home anyway.

My mom might be upset with Santa snowman. But she's very picky about these things. I'd be happy to get the card. I'm also a fan of Christmas lights and all that, though I'm pretty sure they're about as relevant to the original purpose of the holiday as gifts are at Hannukkah.

Hannukkah's not a big-deal holiday, not like Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. It's a celebration of a miracle which has been blown out of proportion to compete with Christmas.

 

Passing up another Facebook construct to ensure that someone might actually speak to me again, and simply saying that many Jewish folk put up a tree and exchange "Christmas" gifts as a purely fun thing, with no notion of "Christ"