I have to agree with Alice in Texas about this sentiment:
Christmukkah. Jewsweek writes about it here and the fourth rabbi here.
I cannot stand religious pick n' mix, mix n' match, free sampling and easy dealing. If you believe in something, then act like it. Don't hand it over for another one similar that seems just as good. That's called not believing in anything. Don't reduce religious ideas to the secular level: if you think festivals are just collections of bells and ribbons, then have the decency to admit it. Otherwise, why stop at two, why not join in Diwali and Ramadan and the Druid solstice as well? It's just some cheerful fun that doesn't mean anything, right?
Okay, for most Americans, Christmas and Hanuka ARE just reasons to party, but still, it seems disrespectful to both to combine them. I can just hear pseudo-tolerant fake-diversity lovers saying, "Combine Diwali and Ramadan and the Druid solstice as well? Great Idea! We just love all this spiritual stuff!" I think of it as the 'Imagine' syndrome. It really annoys me that those who most loudly proclaim their love of diversity seem to feel that diversity, like beauty, is only skin-deep.
UPDATE: None of the above keeps me from laughing at this (via Amritas):
What is the true meaning of Christmahanukwanzaka? Getting stuff like... phones as low as $39.99, 20% off our new Camera Phone, free Friday & Saturday night calling, plus fast, free shipping and a free gift bag!
Ellipsis in original.
Posted by David Boxenhorn at December 15, 2004 09:44 AMUnfortunately too many people miss the whole point of Chanukah which is the opposite to how it is generally celebrated. Gifts and presents and latkahs and singing, none of which are wrong, but if one does't understand that the holiday was against secularization, what is being celebrated? Not Chanukah.
Posted by: Rachel Ann at December 16, 2004 10:51 PM PermalinkHmm. Observations of holidays in the modern western world is generally an issue of personal taste. That people are celebrating Hanukah at all should give some comfort.
Mixing and matching holiday traditions in the West is not such a big deal, nor is it necessarily a sign of the dread influence of multiculturalism. Rather, it more often than not is simply a sign that people see themselves between traditions rather than exclusively in one camp or the other. Sure, a hunukiyah on top of a Christmas tree looks funny, but so what? And what's the big deal if Santa brings the kids a dredl a Hanukah geld (urk; aweful, aweful stuff).
Lighten up.
Posted by: Elhanan at December 20, 2004 05:35 PM Permalink