It\u2019s the Christmas season. Even though today is Christmas Day, the\nseason will actually go on until about ten days after the New Year. I live in\nthe South, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One way you know that Christmas season has arrived is through the wild\nthings that sprout from the earth. Not far from where I live, for example, a multitude\nof lights forming figures, messages, and other decorative forms did exactly that\nright after Halloween. At night, \u201cGod Bless America\u201d twinkles next to two\nnutcrackers, the American flag and huge praying hands. \u201cRemember Jesus\u201d is not\nfar from a massive, 20-foot angel with a watering can. I am confused by her\npresence, but there may be time to figure it out before the season is over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other way you learn that it is Christmastime occurs when you have any\npleasant exchange with other human beings. I recently visited with two nice women\nin a tiny and overly frigid medical examination room \u2013 one, a doctor I had just\nmet, and the other her assistant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The doctor finished her instructions and got ready to leave. \u201cMerry\nChristmas!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, for me that would be \u201chappy Hannukah,\u201d I said brightly, \u201cbut if\nyou celebrate Christmas, merry Christmas to you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She smiled and left. The assistant handed me some paperwork to take to\ntake to the checkout desk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMerry Christmas!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, for me that would be \u201chappy Hannukah,\u201d I repeated brightly, \u201cbut\nif you celebrate Christmas, merry Christmas to you!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can guess what occurred at the checkout desk\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I used to find all this southern Christmas excess pretty annoying. I\ngrew up in a relatively urban setting where it was incumbent upon right-thinking\nindividuals to wish each other \u201chappy holidays.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, when I first arrived here, almost thirty years ago, Christmas was a\ntinch challenging. Predictable questions were always being put to my adorable young\nson at the checkout line. Either folks wanted to know if he had been good so\nthat Santa would bring him lots of presents or, if we were past Christmas Day,\nhe would be asked if Santa had recognized how good a child he was and brought\nhim lots of presents. We would be wished a merry Christmas for walking in the\ndoor, we would be wished a merry Christmas for passing along the aisles, and we\nwould be wished a merry Christmas as we left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, it\u2019s all a matter of perspective, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can prove it. Or rather, a colleague of mine, an ordained rabbi and\nformer professor of child development, will. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was living in Jerusalem,\u201d Rabbi Steven Silvern told me a while back,\n\u201cand one Friday morning I went out shopping. After all, what does one do Friday\nmornings in Jerusalem? Shop for Shabbos!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The supermarket was right across the street from a convent. While Reb\nSteven was shopping, one of the nuns came across the street to do her<\/em>\nshopping. She was dressed in nun habit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She was a large-ish woman, wearing an imposing cross hanging on a chain.\nMy colleague demonstrated the size of the cross with his hands. It appears to\nhave checked in at about eight by twelve inches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He ended up near the nun at the checkout line. The cashier wrapped up\nall her purchases, she paid, and as she got ready to leave, the cashier turned\nto the nun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGut Shabbos!\u201d he said cheerfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Human beings, God bless us all, are creatures of reflex, not\nreflection. We are rather inclined to focus on our navels and to presume that\nall other navels look like ours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they do, sort of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, that said, I would like to say something to anyone who has read to the end of this post. Happy Hanukkah! (And Merry Christmas, too\u2026).<\/p>\n\n\n\n This post is dedicated to my friend and colleague, Rabbi Steven Silvern, who never fails to help me laugh. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s the Christmas season. Even though today is Christmas Day, the season will actually go on until about ten days after the New Year. I live in the South, after all. One way you know that Christmas season has arrived is through the wild things that sprout from the earth. Not far from where I … <\/p>\n