I like xmas lights

seeker

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:14 pm

A lot of the lights and stuff around here are pretty generic. My kids get all excited by them. So I told them they are to make the city look light and pretty because it gets dark so early. Little white lie. Maybe by the time they are old enough to get it we will all be in Yerushalayim.

As for the trees, I love walking by the stands on the street selling them. The scent is heavenly. Like a slice of forest in the middle of the city.

mommy3b2c

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:18 pm

seeker wrote:

How old are your kids that they don't know what x-mas is? One of my sons is obsessed with x-mas and whenever we pass a house with lights he yells chris-tmas! (He also asked me if Santa Claus is real embarrassed

)

amother

Turquoise

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:20 pm

mommy2b2c wrote:

)

My 5 yr old son refers to Santa as "the Chrismas Man", clueless about his name being Santa

seeker

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:24 pm

mommy2b2c wrote:

)

They are 3 and 5. We don't have a TV. I think from various books they know that non-Jewish holidays exist, possibly know a little about the existence of xmas, but they don't have any association for the whole culture or its appearance in their lives.

Rubber Ducky

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:37 pm

singleagain wrote:

Also, interesting to note that a lot of the chris+mas songs were written by Jews. like, "I'm dream of a white chris+mas" irving berlin, etc etc.

Sorry, you're not allowed to mention that song. It's racist! http://www.washingtontimes.com.....chri/

naturalmom5

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:41 pm

Fascinating thread. Were all Americanized despite claiming to be frum

My totally secular mother who wasn't observant at all, never let me go to rockerfellar center or any parties in PS

She said that in Europe they used to hang Jews from x mas trees

amother

Mauve

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:45 pm

Funny memory. I was in the kids ward in a hospital many years ago. A wonderful yid who used to entertain the kids in the hospital would call Santa "דער רויטער רבי"...

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 3:52 pm

naturalmom5 wrote:

My father never let us looked at it. I have no interest now, the persecution and murder that was done to us in the name of that religion is beyond horrifying. I don't care if they make things pretty because the blood that they shed sure wasn't.

Peace on Earth, what a joke

FranticFrummie

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 4:09 pm

I remember when DD was little, every time she saw a Santa or a lawn gnome, she'd yell "Look mama, a rabbi!" LOL

DH is from London, and he misses Xmas terribly. It's that whole Charles Dickens experience over there. He loved it when the carolers would come around, and he'd promise them an extra 5 quid tip if they would leave out all of the Yoshke songs.

At one point we actually considered getting a ride over to one of the Arab Xian villages to see if they have any lights up, but things are a bit tense on the northern border right now, so we decided not to.

gp2.0

Thu, Dec 24 2015, 6:09 pm

I love the lights! So pretty. My kids love them too. They especially love the giant inflated snowmen or the globes with fake snow blowing around inside.

amother

Jade

Fri, Dec 25 2015, 3:14 pm

singleagain wrote:

Also, interesting to note that a lot of the chris+mas songs were written by Jews. like, "I'm dream of a white chris+mas" irving berlin, etc etc.

And this makes it kosher?
Not criticizing anyone, I happen to love the music though of course not the lyrics of the religious songs. The secular ones are just tinny and irritating. I entertain myself by seeing which melodies fit which shabbos zmiros. Try Silent Knight (the mute soldier) to Dror Yikra. Or Come all ye faithful to Adon Olam. Deck the Halls to Maoz Tzur. Handel's Hallelulah Chorus is sublime, and there's only one line that mentions That Man and it's the simplest thing to change to make it kosher.

It's my very small, very private rebellion against the Xmas flood.

DrMom

Sat, Dec 26 2015, 12:25 pm

I have been in Europe during xmas time and find the decorations and twinkling lights lovely. At least where I was, it was far less crass and commercialized that xmas in the US.

Ruchel

Sat, Dec 26 2015, 2:06 pm

You like what you like.
Some of the songs or lights are nice so they're lovely.
Me, it's all spoiled by the litres of Jewish blood spilt on Nittel/Sylvester/and even Valentine :'(
BUT there are restaurants with special menus for all New year and Valentine...

Amarante

Sat, Dec 26 2015, 9:08 pm

gp2.0 wrote:

I love the lights! So pretty. My kids love them too. They especially love the giant inflated snowmen or the globes with fake snow blowing around inside.

The snow globes I don't think are particularly x-mas since most tourist places sell them all year round and they even have off beat ones that are geared to the locale. I have one for Los Angeles that has brown snow because of the smog. LOL

And some Carribean places use stuff that looks like sand. Or there are ones with sparkle stuff.

As a child I was also enchanted by imagining the world inside the globe. There are also very elaborate ornaments that have a little world inside and many are just secular scenes.

The stores on Fifth Avenue have astounding x-mas displays that are an enchanted world. As a child, I knew it wasn't my holiday but it was fascinating and beautiful like seeing any other different culture and my parents would take us to see them just as they took us to zoos or museums.