Letters to the Editor
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at first i didn't get this, AJS
"I find the jews who neurotically have to broadcast their jewness all over the place about as self confident and legitimate as those asscloens who have to get themselves noticed after they score a touchdown." Huh? what does one have to do with the other? but then i realized, the touchdown dancers are *black* and in america bigotry has acceptable forms and objects - that's why mrs noxon works so hard at her children's identity - good for her! and really, mr noxon, eating at your in-laws once a week, then calling your wife "Beverly Hills Jewess" in public is way too ayelet for me.
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Re: Sugarman
Mr. Sugarman:
The point made by many here is that the author's wife and family are demanding his participation in their culture without allowing him and his children to participate in his. That is prejudice, and it is disgusting. His wife and her parents are self-righteous, intolerant pinheads. Being Jewish does not give them a pass. Plain and simple.
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To: notre druide
There is no scriptural basis for placing the celebration of Christ's birth in December (in fact, it probably occurred in the spring); the reasons, rather, are astronomical/theological.
December 25 is just about at the Winter Solstice, when the days start to get long again (i.e., the duration of daylight begins to increase). Since Christ is the "light of the world," this increase of light corresponds to the Christ's "light" coming into the world.
Similarly, Easter occurs at about the Spring Equinox each year, when the amount of daylight becomes greater than the amount of nighttime (i.e., the light overcomes the darkness, a parallel to the theological understanding of Christ's death and resurrection).
That's why the early Christians appropriated the celebrations held at those times, and used their symbolism to make theological statements about Christ.
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I also agree with the PhD
The PhD's letter was thoughtful and contained insights from another interfaith marriage, and what to do about holidays/kids/etc. It should have gotten the "star of approval" from Salon's occasionally miopic editing team.
Also, to add another perspective to this issue: did you know that there are Christians who don't like Christmas? It is essentially a pagan solstice celebration reworked by the Catholic Church into "Christian holiday." Add generous dashes of European saint-lore, lovely trees, and plenty of American kitsch and consumerism along the way, and you've got the recipe for American Christmas.
On a daily basis, Christians live out and "celebrate" the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Savior. It doesn't require a kitschy pagan holiday.
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I bet Christopher Noxon is kicking himself
How DARE he write an essay--a personal opinion piece--to share his own particular, individual way of creating a special family activity?
Doesn't he realize this entitles everyone who doesn't agree with him--including those lovely, open-minded Salon readers--to tell him his domestic arrangement is a sham, his wife is a selfish, abusive shrew, his life is essentially devoid of real cultural depth or meaning?
Sorry about the tiresome naysayers, Christopher. Their entire lives are perfect, so they have plenty of spare venom to spew.
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Traditions
Fascinating. I can't get over that there doesn't seem to be any recognition by any of the letterwriters that these rituals are communication, between generations, as well as family "fun". What it means is, that those who celebrate their own made up traditions, are saying that , if no one else shares them, they are really celebrating a complete alienation, a separate language. Fine, its artistic, creative and fun, but what does it do to children? Not to mention "culture"? It is really a celebration of social confusion. disigny
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i wiki'd mr noxon
he's a writer who comes from a media family. his more famous sister, marti (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and wife jenji kahan(weeds, will and grace) are both television writer/producers. he must've thought this was going to be like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where the wasp male is also engulfed by an ethnic family. However, Hollywood isn't the world and Jews, though their ancestral home was Mediterranean like Italy or Greece, aren't Greeks. He still has a lot to learn.
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one must choose
'the author's wife and family are demanding his participation in their culture without allowing him and his children to participate in his."
Well, yeah. How could anyone raise kids in a home where Christ is divine every other weekend, and the rest of the time, the Messiah hasn't come yet?
In cases like this, the spouse who is more devoted to their faith, trumps the less devout. Then the kids get raised with a consistent religious message (which they can reject or not when they are older). And if the spouses can't agree on which religion to follow, they should agree to not have kids, or to go their separate ways, and raise kids with someone who shares their religious faith.
Mr Noxon, based on his writing, clearly is the less devout spouse. But he longs for traditions that aren't "Jewish," since he doesn't believe.
BTW, in response to the comment that Noxon is "playing house" with Judiasm, I respectfully disagree. Noxon attends services and Shabat dinners, but he doesn't say he "practices" Judiasm to accommodate his family. The actions he describes sound like respectful attendance, but not false practice. I, a non-Jew, have attended services, sat Shivvah, and attended a Seder or two, accompanying Jewish friends. I kept quiet when I didn't believe in, or understand, what was being said. But I don't "celebrate" Passover in my own home, with my Catholic family.
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What's with ol' Irving?
I enjoyed the "Irving the Snowchicken ..." column except for one minor grump: "It was a chicken, a Bantam rooster with pure white plumage and an impressive red crown and waddles" - roosters may waddle if they overeat enough, but they _have_ wattles.
Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, nitpicker extraordinaire