I have a problem. And, if you usually host a first night of
Hanukkah celebration, I’m guessing you have a problem, too.
Hanukkah this year begins on Christmas Eve. So as I prepare
my menu for the first night, I find myself wondering: Latkes or kung pao?
Before we dive into the sweet-and-sour meat of my problem,
first let me be clear that I don’t think Hanukkah is something special. It’s a
weird little commemoration of a short-lived military victory that pales in
comparison to Yom HaAtzmaut in terms of pride and importance – and to Christmas
in terms of absolutely everything else.
And second, we’re all going to have to come clean about Christmas.
My rabbi, of all people, last year wrote a Facebook post about our tribe’s devoted
rituals surrounding the holiday that began, “I think we should stop pretending
that Jews do not celebrate Christmas. We do. Perhaps not with Christmas trees
and Jingle Bells. But certainly, we have created our own tradition…”
And yes, the rest of that line read, “Chinese food and going
to the movies.”
We Jews love our Christmas rituals. We love Hanukkah, too,
but only because of its proximity
to Christmas. Without the Christian holiday as a
counterpoint, Hanukkah is basically Veteran’s Day with hash browns.
So that brings me to my culinary quandary: If we’ve
developed a rich and wonderful ritual surrounding someone else’s sacred
holiday, does that necessarily have to take a back seat to our own
not-so-sacred celebration?
My yiddishe neshumah
says, “Yes.” But my yiddishe kop
says, “Eh.”
We’ve pretty much commandeered Christmas. Not the religious
part of it (though, you’re welcome for all your best carols, Christians), but the
party aspect of it.
We drive around to ooh and ahh over the neighborhoods near
us that go nuts with the Christmas lights. We delight in the giant trees at the
mall. We sip our cinnamon-flavored coffee beverages out of red Starbucks cups
and pick up a few fruit-shaped ornaments (you know, for Sukkot next year).
And most importantly, we gather around the table, as only
Jews can, together with our family and loved ones and dig into our festival
foods of sweet and sour chicken and veggie fried rice.
We’ve placed so much stock in our Christmas tradition that
it’s now a thing of federal record. Remember during Justice Elena Kagan’s confirmation
hearing, when Sen. Lindsey Graham asked her where she was on Christmas?
“You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese
restaurant.”
So, this Christmas, are “all Jews” going to be at a Chinese
restaurant? Or are we going to be home with our latkes and sufganiyot?
This problem is very different than Thanksgivukkah of three
years past, which found Hanukkah falling on Thanksgiving. With that mashup, we
could celebrate our American holiday with plenty of room on our plates for oily
Hanukkah foods. After all, doesn’t Thanksgiving commemorate America’s religious
freedom? Kinda?
But this collision of dear rituals unique to American Jewry
is vastly different. I wish I could ask Justice Kagan to deliver a verdict on
this: Traditional Jewish Hanukkah meal or traditional Jewish Christmas dinner?
Or should we split the difference and dollop sesame chicken atop latkes instead
of applesauce?
If you’re in the same Sichuan pickle I’m in, I wish you a
meaningful resolution and good fortune. May your holiday be filled with
light and laughter.
Lucky numbers 8, 19,
35 and 24.
This post originally appeared in OC Jewish Life.
Dear Mayrav,
ReplyDeleteI love your writing, and this piece had me smiling all the way to the end. I could hear the exact timbre of your voice in your words, although it was a big help to know what you actually sound like.
And now, a quick edit: You need to take the word "will" out of your last sentence.
Your pal,
Michael