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Apologies for this post being rather disjointed - it’s Christmas week, and I’m a little disjointed too. Anyway, some random stuff. Hope something warms your heart.
When it comes to Christmas music, there are some I like and some I really dislike. In last year’s holiday post, I wrote this:
Favorite holiday songs: I can’t pick one. It’s Hard To Be A Jew on Christmas has become perennial around here, but my personal favorites are Clarence Carter’s Back Door Santa, and Elvis Presley’s Santa Claus is Back In Town. They both rock. Let’s give props to Barbra Streisand’s rendition of Ave Maria, which in our house is called “Oy Vey Maria.” Bing and Nat King Cole play on and on in our houses – I enjoy Nat’s version of The Christmas Song recorded with the Trio much more than the orchestral version. And in case you didn’t know: White Christmas and The Christmas Song were written by Jews. You’re welcome.
By the way, there’s a version of “Oy Vey Maria” by Ian Michaels that I kinda like. Here it is.
Let’s not talk about the Christmas songs I don’t like. Why Grinch out now?
It’s Hard To Be A HinJew at Christmas
My world encompasses a lot of faiths, and one of the greatest things about having gone through several religions is that I get to celebrate all the holidays! I’m Jewish by birth and culture, I went through a Christian period (I still love Jesus, but I have problems with evangelicals beginning with Saul of Tarsus), glanced at Buddhism, have deep respect for Islam, know a few Ba’hai people, you get the picture.
But I do love me some winter solstice holidays.
My wife is an Italian-American, raised Catholic, so I’ve been having Christmas for a long time, including lots of fish. My daughters have been dealing with the “half-Jewish” thing forever; we light candles and say the blessings near the Christmas tree.
The second-most Christmas-y thing I ever did was singing in a Christmas chorus at St. Patrick’s in NYC.
And the first most Christmas-y thing was that I was a Mall Santa. I could only ho-ho-hold that job for three weeks - the kids were great; the parents were terrifying.
In 2006, Lil and I had the pleasure of singing Christmas carols in an ashram on the river Narmada in India. A great Christmas Eve, no fish.
Oh, yeah, Santa Claus
I don’t remember when my daughters stopped believing in Santa Claus, but it must have been around the time they started getting clothes for Christmas. My grandkids still believe, and they’ve also been saddled with believing in that Elf on a Shelf surveillance device. For those of you who aren’t around children, it’s this thing (see the picture below) that parents buy and place in various spots around the house, telling their children that this demonic little elf doll is Santa’s spy, making sure that the children are being good! Can you tell that I’m not a fan? I just want to be out of town when they learn the truth.
Where’s the Special?
I thought I’d share this Christmas card I made for friends and family several years ago. Enjoy!
Merry Christmas! Happy Kwanzaa! Hope you had a fine Hanukkah and Diwali!
And Good Yule to all you Druids.
great piece but funny..you don't look Druish.
Love your Christmas card!!!🥰💓
Can you catch Diwali on the Internet?💓🙏