Our neighborhood was fairly diverse in terms of religion, and I don’t recall feeling left out at the holiday season.
I recall we also watched endless Christmas specials with Perry Como or Dean Martin (or maybe even Jack Benny), but I don’t recall a lot of discussion about us not celebrating Christmas. We always sang our Chanukah songs after lighting candles. I quickly learned that while Santa Claus was coming to town, he wouldn’t be coming down our chimney. But why we went to see Santa, I’m just not sure. I still went to Hebrew school and learned all the Chanukah songs and always knew that we didn’t celebrate Christmas. I think my mom had a strong wish to break away from the “Dexter Davidson shtetl” of her extended family and push our little family toward assimilation with mainstream American culture. I recall my mom taking my siblings and me downtown to Hudson’s for a visit with Santa, but I’m not sure how she explained it to us or whether it felt weird. I just made sure that I substituted (in a soft voice) “You know who, NOT the Lord!” There … that showed ’em where I stood! I didn’t discuss it with my teacher or parents or classmates. So, I decided I just wasn’t going to sing those words. I’m sure we had sung the same songs previous Decembers, but it somehow felt different this time. Another song ends with the phrase: “Oh come let us adore him, Chri-ist, the Lord.” Dr. We were singing “songs of the season,” and I started to think about what I was actually singing: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” It’s a beautiful melody about the birth of Jesus.
M y first recollection of feeling uncomfortable about Christmas occurred in music class in the fourth or fifth grade. Jeff London discusses making peace with Christmas and provides a song parody for the holidays.
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