Chrismukkah - Shmitzmukkah.
The Chrsimukkah season is now half-way over, yet we're still reading about it all over the news. Todays' New York Times, US Today, NPR's "Talk of the Nation" Boston Globe, everwhere I turn they're talking about Chrismukkah. The phone has not stopped ringing. Arrrrgggggg.
However, today's news is a different - all the stories are leading off with The OC's" fictional Chrismukkah episode, rather than our real life interfaith holiday soap opera. The folks at The OC publicity are pulling out all the stops to publicize tonight's show. I read somewhere that Josh Schwartz said their ratings are down and they're trying to make-up for it with it with a lesbian plot line development. So for the moment, our humble little story is taking a back seat to the hype, and we're being accused of "copying", "cashing in on" and "making a buck" off the OC. The big spin.. not surprising, I suppose. We should be happy so long as they include our web site address.
I just got a call from the editor of "HEEB"... a Jewish humor magazine. She's doing a feature story on "Jewish Pets" and wanted to get a sample of our "OY JOY" doggie shirt. She wasn't in the leastinterested in talking about Chrismukkah. Go figure.
Earlier this morning I spoke with Rabbi Potasnik of the New York Board of Rabbis. Since last week, I'd been getting requests for reaction to the NYBR joining the The Catholic League's William Donahue to denounce Chrismukkah in a Press Release.. and I wanted to get the straight poop. Rabbi Potasnik and I had a great chat... I was relieved to find that he's funny and warm. He wanted to know where I was bar mitzvah'd and what I was doing in Montana. It turned out he knew the Rabbi of my youth... Rabbi Bernard Cohen. After a brief game of Jewish geography, he invited me to join him as a guest on his weekly show "Religion on the line" on 77 WABC Radio this Sunday morning. Listen in if you can... they have live streaming audio.
Whoops gotta go... Bob with the Herald Dispatch in West Virginia is on the line and wants to talk.
32 Comments:
Heeb magazine.
btw, doesn't Chrismukkah last all the way through December 25? seems to me it should begin on the first night of Hanukah and end on Christmas Day. Because it's an interfaith holoday, com bining both holidays, no?
make it longer! first night of Hanukah to sunset on Dec. 25........
or better yet, since some people say "every day is Christmas", why not tell the media "every day in Chrismukkah!"
love it.
2005 here we come!
The whole idea of the holiday of Chanukah is about the Jews fighting assimilation. Yes that is what the holiday about. It is not about eating potato pancakes or doughnuts. That only shows a major miracle that transpired on Chanukah. The very reason for the so-called necessity for such a holiday called Chrismukkah goes against every principle of Judaism and the Holiday of Chanukah. In Judaism a marriage of a non Jew is not even recognized as a marriage at all. All it is recognized as is a sin. Thus your wonderful Holiday that you made a nice and charming websites about is celebrating a sin. What is next? The Jewish pro-pork eating website? Or the Jewish Lets all eat on Yom Kippur website? The truth is, if the mother is Jewish, the child is Jewish. The father can be a gorilla, it makes no difference. The Truth is a Christian child does not have the right to celebrate Chanukah. Yes he does not have the right. It is a spit in the face to every Jew that actually cares about Judaism. I pity you all, who celebrate it, and for the Jews that do celebrate it, I wish you all a refouah shelaymah. I know, none of you know what it means, go ask your grandmother, if she is still alive. I am sure you all made her very proud by the way. (Note, it was not an insult)
I just happened to come upon your site in my daily mosying around people's blogs. I'm curious about this Chrismukkah. Is it an actual legitimate holiday or are you just jesting about the coincidental appearance of two relatively "famous" holidays? If it is the former, is it anything like the world-renowned festivus? Details man, details. Well, maybe it explains it in your past blogs. I'll peruse through them and report on my findings. Oh yeah, you should check out my blog. It's lacking the amount of comments I would find adequate. It's not too crappy, I just usually too lazy to tell anyone else about my blog so no one reads it but me and a few other equally satirical writers.
This entire post by is bullshite:
SORRY ANON, but sound like a fundamentalist Orthodox Jewish person, and you are brainwashed. face reality.
IGNORE HIM, everyone. My comments BELOW in CAPS:
HE WROTE:
"Anonymous said...
The whole idea of the holiday of Chanukah is about the Jews fighting assimilation. TRUE. Yes that is what the holiday about. It is not about eating potato pancakes or doughnuts. WRONG. FOOD IS PART OF THE HOLIDAY. That only shows a major miracle that transpired on Chanukah. The very reason for the so-called necessity for such a holiday called Chrismukkah goes against every principle of Judaism and the Holiday of Chanukah. WRONG. IT IS NOT A NECCESIOTY. IT WAS AN IDEA WAITING TO HAPPEN. IT DID HAPPEN. In FUNDAMENTALIST ORTHODOX Judaism a marriage of a nonJew is not even recognized as a marriage at all. ORTHO JUDAISM IS WRONG ABOUT THIS. All it is recognized as is a sin. NOT A SIN. ALL LOVE IS GOOD. YOU ARE STUPID BRAINWASHED FUNDAMENTALIST. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE. Thus your wonderful Holiday that you made a nice and charming websites about is celebrating a sin. NO SIN HERE. YOU ARE THE SIN, WITH YOUR STUPID POST. What is next? The Jewish pro-pork eating website? Or the Jewish Lets all eat on Yom Kippur website? The truth is, if the mother is Jewish, the child is Jewish. IF THE FATHER IS JEWISH, THE KIDS ARE ALSO JEWISH. YES. The father can be a gorilla, it makes no difference. The Truth is a Christian child does not have the right to celebrate Chanukah. YES HE OR SHE DOES. GET A LIFE. Yes he does not have the right. It is a spit in the face to every Jew that actually cares about Judaism. NOT TO ME, BUDDY, AND I AM A JEW! I pity you all, who celebrate it, and for the Jews that do celebrate it, I wish you all a refouah shelaymah. STUPID REMARK. SHOWS YOUR TRUE COLORS. I know, none of you know what it means, go ask your grandmother, if she is still alive. SICK SAD COMMENT. HAVE YOU NO CONSCIENCE? I am sure you all made her very proud by the way. (Note, it was not an insult) YOU, dear sir, ARE AN INSULT TO MODERN JEWS EVERYWHERE. I AM ASHAMED OF YOU.
8:58 PM
Haha .. the title of this post totally lured me to read it! I am from Holland and I have absolutely no clue what this Chrismukkah - thing is, but hey, I'll start reading your posts and I am sure that by the end of the day I can give a lecture on it ... wanna make it a bet? Haha .. Miles of smiles, Astrid.
Man, I didn't even think of people being offended by your blog when I heard about it. But people can be uptight about these things. I'm with you and the many other half-Jewish, half-Christian people who have posted here. We did Hanukkah and Christmas, Easter and Passover. My parents otherwise had a pretty hands-off approach for the religious stuff, though my dad sent me and my brother to Hebrew School on the weekends and had hopes we'd be bar/bat mitzvahed. I got a bit of the Jewishness stuff from that, and got some of the Christian stuff from my grade-school friend who was Christian. But in the end I turned out pretty atheist anyway. =) I'm not against the holidays we celebrated, I just see them more as family traditions than celebrations of religious beliefs.
Watch out for those Herald-Dispatch reporters. Around Huntington that paper is referred to as "the Herald-Disgrace."
Gee, we call it Hanumas at our house.....
Chrismukkah? I guess anything goes in america. Here's the what happens
generation (g) 0- off the boat - shomer shabbos, etc.., hanukkah included.
g1 (born here). okay, we speak english without accent, we're doing good here. a little less religious. hanukkah still counts.
g2- so, let's mix it up, let's do a chrismukkah of some sort.
g3 - let's celebrate christmas, oh hanukkah, what the heck is that?
this is a fairly natural progression. the only way to keep yourself who you are is to move to israel and to speak your own language and be the boss of your own country not an immigrant trying to fit in. otherwise you'll always feel like "it sucks, no christmas for me".
to poster above:
forget Israel. move to Asia. No Christians or Jews here. No anti-semitism, no anti-Christianism. Just sweet Buddhists and Taoists minding their own business and completely clueless about any of this Jesus stuff or Ten Commandments Burning Bush Yawyeh stuff.
I prefer CHRISTmas personally.
http://thepurposedrivenblog.blogspot.com/
Tis' the season, to visit this site . . . .
http://www.anonymouspoet.blogspot.com/
If you like it, drop a line as to why -- and tell all your friends.
Does it matter to anyone that Constantine the Great mandated that the birth of Jesus be celebrated on the day that the god Mithras was born or that our modern holiday celebration we call "Christmas," came into being during the 1840s?
What anonymous said about that whole story thing of how chanukka came about is totally true and he didnt mean to offend anyone he was totally telling the truth and there is no such a thing as modern jews its either jewish or not but its okay to be modern but even if you dont keep chanukka you should still know the rules! and that idea of chrismukkah is cute but there shouldnt be such a thing, chanukka is waaay more holier than christmas will ever be and should never be in the same name as christmas plus chanukkka is more fun and the food isnt the main part but its good anyway!
Of course, nothing beats Festivus.
Whats festivus?
I will try to listen in to your radio show.
Montana, wow. Matzoh ball rancher? Klezmer Cowboy?
Todd Vodka
www.blithelywego.blogspot.com
http://cloudhiddenwheraboutsmukilteo.blogspot.com/
A life begins......There is only one, and we are THAT.
Hi,
I only brought the Mithras thing up to make a point: The whole holiday stuff is an artifice, Jesus wasn't born on December 25th and there is no way we know for sure that the Maccabees held out against the Syrian Greeks at this time of the year.
http://historiansview.blogspot.com/
Your writting style is very appealing. This issue is very interesting to say the least. I didn't know such a holiday existed. I do however think it is somewhat sad, as Jewish people are desicrating their religion. (this comes from the stand point of a christian)Then again, what do I know... Ok, not much. Have a jolly Chrismukkah
ROTFLMAO!!
What a great blog idea!! -- There's an Adam Brody interview at vainquer.net
http://mooremarjo.blogspot.com
I think the chrismukkah can be seen from two perspectives:
First, we can think of it playfully as a fun new holiday. The combination of x-mas and Hanukkah is new an exciting and can also bring jews and christians together. Why not start something new, we can and should start new traditions, and even new religions if we so choose.
Second, this can point to how secularised religion has become or is becoming.
All religious holidays are becoming interchangable because in consumer driven capitalism, all are merely ideological modes to further consumption. As Marx said, Capitalism disolves all bonds, and all ideas are melted.
But, in this case isn't chrismukkah really just another excuse to buy things? And if that is the case that what is the point?
Are we merely consumers, or is there something more to human existance?
I'd like to think there is something more.
Wow I hope the O.C. Episode helps your popularity! That would be great for you! Good luck!
Hey if I moved to Italy and had kids would they be American-Italians? (It's an obscure comment but someone will get where I'm going with it.)
hi..u dont mee...but umm i like yer blog ! im kinda new at it but oh well..umm anyway..leave me a comment too aritez?! haha bye !
Chrismukkah... seems to me like another american, snobbish idea. take some parts here and there, mix them up to make something new while ignoring the essence of the original parts.
I find this Chrismukkah phenomenon rather ridiculous. Yes, there are a growing number of families that celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, but must we really merge the two? They are two completely separate holidays and to combine them is an insult to both traditions. Ironically enough, the whole point of celebrating Hanukkah is to remember the struggle of the ancient Jews against assimilation. It seems Hanukkah has now been dragged into the mire of commercialism. It's sad, really. Can't one celebrate the two holidays while retaining their integrity?
bull shit , ones a mirical ones about JESUS pick one
I am a Christian, I like to learn about Jewish customs and holidays and so forth. But I don't think we need another holiday created to blend Christmas and Hanukkah (Chanukkah) together. You can have fun during both holidays but you really cannot be both Christian and Jewish (you know Jesus as Son of God kind of separates the two camps). So respect each religion's traditions, but don't combine them as a new religion unto itself. That's blasphemy of some sort from either's orthodox followers.
I have Jewish friends that like to give and get Christmas gifts, that's a minor faux pas. But really, if they turn up in my Church wanting communion, that is going a bit too far. I myself, send Hanukkah cards at times, but I don't feel I understand the meaning of it as a real Jew would. I respect the Jewish faith, afterall it is the root of Christianity (Jesus was born to a Jew, lived as a Jew, and circumcised as a Jew boy). But I don't want a menorah in my Church and I don't think Jews want a Christmas tree (pagan symbol) or a creche in their temple/synagogue.
All holidays have symbols, and some have festivities revolving around food and gathering of community and so forth, but that is NOT what the meaning of all holidays are based on. Pesach or Passover has a seder meal, that IS food. But Christmas really is only about the birth of Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. The traditions of fruit cakes, candy canes, and egg nog have absolutely nothing to do with the birth of Christ. Easter is not about Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies, it is all about the Resurrection of Jesus. Some of the long standing traditions were born out of ignorance and idolatry, and paganism. What seems cute to you, can be offensive to orthodox Jews and Christians alike. So I suggest people go out and learn about the holidays of various religious faiths and respect their differences. But stop the secularization of Jewish holidays and Christian holidays.
"Anonymous said...
I find this Chrismukkah phenomenon rather ridiculous. Yes, there are a growing number of families that celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas, but must we really merge the two? They are two completely separate holidays and to combine them is an insult to both traditions. Ironically enough, the whole point of celebrating Hanukkah is to remember the struggle of the ancient Jews against assimilation. It seems Hanukkah has now been dragged into the mire of commercialism. It's sad, really. Can't one celebrate the two holidays while retaining their integrity?"
I agree with this post. It is a shame that commercialization of anything including religious symbols and whatnot has gotten way out of control. It's the idolatry of money, greed and power that has taken over the Western world, and mostly accutely in the US that sickens me. Most everyone simply calls themselves Christian or Jew but don't follow the tenets of their faith, and they are all wrapped up in buying decorations and gifts instead of truly understanding the meaning of their respective religions. That is secularism, plain and simple. And thanks to the secular humanists, and liberal progressives, it is gettign worse every year.
Rather than attempt syncretism I'd say just collectively celebrate Yule.
ok... a few things.
1) my ENTIRE exposure to Chrismukkah has been from the TV show "The OC". If someone is out there doing it "for real", then whatever. To me, its all hollywood - and from a show I like, so I'm ok with that.
Readers from non-US countries shouldn't think there's anything to this, IMHO. Its here now, and it won't be discussed next week. Its just from a TV show, geez.
2) reply to "historiansview":
one other thing a friend of mine told me a few years ago is that His name wasn't Jesus anyway, is was Yeshua. The letter J wasn't even invented until sometime after 1500 - a historian would have to fill us in more here.
So I find it rather odd when a particular praise chorus is sung: "Jesus... Jesus... Jee-sus, there's just something about that name. Kings and kingdoms... etc".
OK, His name wasn't Jesus.
Doesn't anyone find that odd?
jaymer...
Chrismukkah my ass. What bullshit. There is no link between the two holidays nor should any be made. It's a gimmick, and not a subtle one, reflecting Jewish media power centered in Hollywood. How many Jews are there in the U.S.? 8 million? How many Christians are there in the America? At least 150-200 million? Why isn't someone at the Christian Science Monitor calling the Holidays "Hannuistmas"? What a load of crap...
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