Today is the first time since 1959 that Christmas and Hanukkah are on the same day. And for an inter-faith family, that’s pretty cool.
Sometimes we joke that we’re Jewish in Brooklyn and Christian in California. That divides thing up pretty neatly. My Jewish family is here in New York City and his Presbyterian are scattered around northern California.
Latkes in Brooklyn. Baked ham, mashed potatoes, and scalloped oysters in California.
On the eight nights of Hanukkah we light candles and exchange small gifts. Some years, Husband makes latkes (he may be Presbyterian but the better cook around here). When Son was younger, we’d read I.B. Singer stories like "Zlatah the Goat."
For my kids, Christmas morning usually means waking up with their cousins in a big house on a farm in Northern California. waiting impatiently for the grown ups to wake up. They open their stockings and then have to wait until after breakfast to open their gifts.
The morning has a slow ritual to it. Timeless, really. Roaring fire in the fire place. Fragrant tree. Sweet rolls for breakfast. It’s the way they’ve been doing things on the farm for years and years.
So for our first Chirstmas in New York in nine years — we had to figure out how to approach things. For my daughter, this is her first Christmas ever in Brooklyn. For Son, only his second.
Getting a Christmas tree was a no-brainer. I knew it might aggravate my Jewish relatives but I also knew it would be the best way to honor the Christian side of our inter-faith family.
We owned no ornaments so I went to a 99 Cent store on Fifth Avenue and bought up a bunch of made-in-China decorations. In the past few days, friends have given up special ornaments, as well.
Colorful — non-flashing lights — were the way to go. I love sitting in the living room with the lights off looking at our tree almost as much as I love sitting in a dark room watching the menorah candles as they burn low.
Having celebrated Christmas for the past 17 years, a Chris mas tree doesn’t seem so foreign or alien. It’s part of my life too as I am part of my husband’s families and their traditions.
Luckily, Son and Daughter were thrilled to spend Christmas in Brooklyn. It’s novel and different. Son gets to hang out with his friends and Daughter can see her best friend — who lives in the building — and play with their presents before breakfast (what could be better?).
That said, I didn’t feel like I had to meet some impossibly high expectation of Christmas with a capital C (Christmas in California IS an impossibly high standard to match so why bother?). I knew that Christmas in Brooklyn had to be what it is and simply that.
The fact that Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same day — for the first time since 1959 — makes me feel centered and whole. The bringing together of both traditions is making things so much easier for all of us inter-faith families.
Being able to celebrate both parts of our family on the same day is a treat, really. And something we are thrilled to do here in Brooklyn. This morning we opened Christmas presents, tonight we will light the first candle for Hanukkah.
The presents are done. Enough is enough. No reason to keep on giving. We have too much already. And for that we are grateful.