Growing up in Duluth, Minnesota, I was surrounded by Christmas. I was one of five or fewer Jewish students during my years at our 1,000-person high school, where the choir led by sweet Mr. Mix always sang beautiful Christmas songs. I know every word to “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” (Sometimes, Mr. Mix…
Across America, families are struggling with how to cope with a holiday season without the traditions they look forward to all year long, and without those they love and are longing to see. Family gatherings for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve simply aren’t safe as COVID-19 cases spike across the nation. I have good…
The choice to die on the whether-or-not-to-say-merry-Christmas hill should be the choice to die abandoned on top of a hill. And yet, tens-of-thousands of people see fit to proclaim their feelings from atop Twitter mountains or Facebook molehills: How ridiculous is it that people say “happy holidays” because saying “merry Christmas” might offend someone. CHRIST…
Gwyneth Paltrow enhanced our dull little lives by letting us peek into her holiday celebrations with her family. For Paltrow, who famously “consciously uncoupled” from then-husband Chris Martin in 2014, “family” includes Martin, her new husband Brad Falchuk, and her two children, Apple and Moses. The only way I’d hang a stocking for an ex…
How do I feel as a rabbi during Christmas? I feel great. First of all, I love Christmas music. The innocent, hopeful melodies, the joyous diddies, the corny jingles — all of them bring smiles to my face. And when they become too cheesy or too much, I change the station. The fact that many…
For many, Christmas is the “most wonderful time of the year.” For some of us, it’s just… Tuesday, this year. But there are plenty of places for Jews to observe in our own way — by eating and laughing. Here’s a roundup of the coolest Jew-y Christmas happenings across the country: City Winery, Chicago citywinery.com/chicago…
It is a common practice among Hasidic Jews to abstain from studying the Torah on Christmas Eve. This tradition is remarkable, since for one thing, religious Jews do not usually have customs associated with Christian holidays. For another, studying of Torah is considered one of the most important things Jews must do, and they otherwise…
Forget Chinese food. While American Jews nosh on sinful servings of moo shu, their Russian-speaking neighbors indulge in a syncretic Christmas ritual of their own, preparing for New Year’s celebrations. Over 1.7 million Jews left the Soviet Union since the 1970s, with some 500,000 settling in the United States. My own family arrived in 1989,…
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