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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nEveryone\ncelebrates Christmas. Jews, too, are celebrating Christmas. Even ordained\nrabbis are celebrating Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know,\u201d\nI said to my husband, Ralf, \u201cthe war against Christmas is not going well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all, where\nI live, Christmas ornaments and decorations fill the stores after Halloween. Christmas\nmusic sounds from every store speaker after Thanksgiving. Even a few days\nbefore the New Year, folks at stores are still so attached to the past that\nthey invariably ask me how my Christmas went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously, I\ntell myself, these are folks who don\u2019t know I am Jewish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I suppose\nany one of them could say, with some justice, that I don\u2019t \u201clook Jewish,\u201d\nthough that would cause all sorts of internal discombobulation in my head. But\nno matter. This is about the war against Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s going badly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ralf went\nshopping just before Christmas. This is a dangerous thing to do. Folks start casing\nthe aisles, desperately looking for items on their shopping list that they\nnever otherwise buy. This is due to mad attempts to make some new kind of cookie.\nThe recipes discovered in the newspaper or online almost always require exotic,\nunknown ingredients which might be located in the baking aisle but could just\nas well be found in the \u201cinternational\u201d aisle. The stress makes folk a bit emotional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be that as\nit may, Ralf remained calm. He found all the items on our list. At checkout, he\nmet an old student of his working at the grocery store. (This happens to both\nof us, which is worrisome, of course. One prefers to imagine one\u2019s students\nbeing gainfully employed after graduation and not struggling to make their own\nends meet in the produce section.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMerry\nChristmas!\u201d the student said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes,\nwe don\u2019t bother, but since Ralf knew the person in question, he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\ncelebrate Hanukkah,\u201d he said as his student continued stacking spinach. The two\nthen chatted about various items of interest. We like talking to sales people;\nthey are invariably the most cheerful folk we get to meet out in public. That\u2019s\nthe nature of capitalism: Make sure all your underpaid employees behave like\nhappy underpaid employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMerry\nChristmas!\u201d the student said again as Ralf wheeled away the cart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCrazy,\u201d\nRalf told me later. \u201cLike, I had just told him we were Jewish\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I can\ntop Ralf\u2019s experience easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On my desk are\nthose stickers we all get as freebies when people want our donations. You know,\nthe one with your name and your address next to some cute design? Animals, if\nyou donate to wildlife groups, flowers and fields for environmental one,\u2026 you\nget the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ones on\nmy desk feature Christmas ornaments, poinsettias, and other wintery motifs. And\nthis is what the text reads: \u201cRabbi Barbara Thiede\u2026.(plus address).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone\ncelebrates Christmas. Jews, too, are celebrating Christmas. Even ordained\nrabbis are celebrating Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n