Jen, I wonder whether you're serious about being mystified about what's hard for Jews at Christmas-time? ("She also writes, "What Badzin seems to have forgotten is that sometimes begin a Jew during Christmas time in America is hard". Really? What's so hard?")
Just in case you are serious, I'd like to answer you seriously.
Many Jews find Christmas hard because -- for the month of December -- we cannot escape feeling like a minority.
Now, of course, American Jews _are_ in a numberical minority. But, if we choose not to focus on this statistical fact, our daily lives do allow us to ignore it. We are not persecuted, and not even shunned. Unlike some other racial or ethnic minorities, we can feel like we're not visibly identifiable (or, at least, if we are identified, very few non-Jews ever say so). In our daily lives, we can feel like we're not different. We feel like our Jewishness doesn't limit us. After all, we are sucessful in a broad variety of endeavor. In every way, despite our minority status, we're equal.
Not different. Not "the other." Most of the time we can reassure ourselves of that. And we do need reassurance. Because we know well what can happen to those who are different, to those ho are "the other."
But in December, we _are_ different.
And we can't avoid it.
This cribs from my recent post on this subject at TCJewfolk. If you want to read more, go to http://tcjewfolk.com/love-thy-... (see "Mike")
Jen, I wonder whether you're serious about being mystified about what's hard for Jews at Christmas-time? ("She also writes, "What Badzin seems to have forgotten is that sometimes begin a Jew during Christmas time in America is hard". Really? What's so hard?")
Just in case you are serious, I'd like to answer you seriously.
Many Jews find Christmas hard because -- for the month of December -- we cannot escape feeling like a minority.
Now, of course, American Jews _are_ in a numberical minority. But, if we choose not to focus on this statistical fact, our daily lives do allow us to ignore it. We are not persecuted, and not even shunned. Unlike some other racial or ethnic minorities, we can feel like we're not visibly identifiable (or, at least, if we are identified, very few non-Jews ever say so). In our daily lives, we can feel like we're not different. We feel like our Jewishness doesn't limit us. After all, we are sucessful in a broad variety of endeavor. In every way, despite our minority status, we're equal.
Not different. Not "the other." Most of the time we can reassure ourselves of that. And we do need reassurance. Because we know well what can happen to those who are different, to those ho are "the other."
But in December, we _are_ different.
And we can't avoid it.
This cribs from my recent post on this subject at TCJewfolk. If you want to read more, go to http://tcjewfolk.com/love-thy-... (see "Mike")