Today, we went to the Westlake Mall to take our kids on the carousel and Monorail. While taking a breather at one of the mall stores, a shop clerk wished my four year old a “Merry Christmas.” He dutifully replied: “We don’t celebrate Christmas. We’re not Christian.” Whenever this type of thing happens I momentarily catch my breath. First, because yet another Christian has made yet another assumption that we’re just the same as the 95% of Americans who are also Christian. Second, because Jews just don’t like to call public attention to their “otherness.” You just don’t know what will happen. But my third reaction toward my son’s response was: “Good for you. Give ’em what for. We’re not the same as the rest of you and proud of it too.”
It seems that every year around this time I write my anti-Christmas post. And today is that day. All this by way of introducing what is likely to be one of the strangest stories of this holiday season. This isn’t really meant to be a Christian-bashing post as much as a Christmas-bashing post. And not bashing Christmas as a religious holiday, but rather as a holiday of rampant consumerism.
No doubt you’ve already heard this bizarre story. If not, it will shock and horrify you. I simply don’t understand how 2,000 can become a frenzied pack of animals–and all in the search for Christmas bargains:
Shoppers started lining up late Thursday night at the Wal-Mart, at the Green Acres Mall on Sunrise Highway in Valley Stream…The throng of Wal-Mart shoppers had been building all night, filling sidewalks and stretching across a vast parking lot at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y. At 3:30 a.m., the Nassau County police had to be called in for crowd control, and an officer with a bullhorn pleaded for order.
Tension grew as the 5 a.m. opening neared.
By 4:55, with no police officers in sight, the crowd of more than 2,000 had become a rabble, and could be held back no longer. Fists banged and shoulders pressed on the sliding-glass double doors, which bowed in with the weight of the assault. Six to 10 workers inside tried to push back, but it was hopeless.
Suddenly, witnesses and the police said, the doors shattered, and the shrieking mob surged through in a blind rush for holiday bargains. One worker, Jdimytai Damour, 34, was thrown back onto the black linoleum tiles and trampled in the stampede that streamed over and around him. Others who had stood alongside Mr. Damour trying to hold the doors were also hurled back and run over, witnesses said
As if the story itself isn’t callous enough, the report continues:
Some shoppers who had seen the stampede said they were shocked. One of them, Kimberly Cribbs of Queens, said the crowd had acted like “savages.” Shoppers behaved badly even as the store was being cleared, she recalled.
“When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, ‘I’ve been on line since yesterday morning,’ ” Ms. Cribbs told The Associated Press. “They kept shopping.”
We all know that human beings are basically civilized animals and that at times the civilization is but a thin veneer. But even that knowledge doesn’t fully prepare us for animalistic savagery like this. How in heaven’s and Christmas’ name, can human beings behave like this? Don’t we have a soul? Where was it? It’s not like this was a European soccer match where people were killed in a mass stampede in narrow stadium hallways. These were people who deliberately mowed down the store doors and anyone who stood in their way.
It’s practically incomprehensible and makes me appreciate that as Jews we’re not part of this shopping frenzy. Yes, we do buy toys for our children. But we buy a lot less because we’re not buying for every family member as Christians do. I’ve always thought of this element of Christmas as slightly insane and these people have only confirmed my original impression. To kill someone for a Christmas bargain…what can you say?
And lest you think the shoppers alone were at fault, Wal Mart didn’t respond very admirably either. A mere eight hours after the horrible death of one of their employees they reopened the story so as not to miss out on an entire day of Christmas shopping season sales. Gee, you’d think they could, as a sign of respect, close down for an entire day. No, not Wal-Mart for whom the God of sales seems to reign supreme.
And don’t you just love a company which, when faced with a PR disaster, rolls up into fetal position and denies any culpability for the laxness of its procedures:
Hank Mullany, the senior vice president of Wal-Mart’s Northeast division, said in a statement that the company had hired extra security officers and installed barricades before the store opened, but “despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred.”
I guess he’s implying Wal Mart did everything any reasonable person would’ve expected of them and that this was just a random crazy accident. 2,000 people could line up in front of any store and turn into a frenzied mob and mow down every employee in sight. Who could’ve foreseen it?
This is pure lameness. Exactly how many security guards WERE on duty at that store that night and where were they? Why wasn’t the police called when the mob-like violence began. If they were called, why weren’t they there?
@Richard
With regards to the stampede-right on! That is what America has come to now. This would not have happened 20 years ago. People become more and more animalistic as time goes.
“my anti-Christmas post…”
If a Christian wrote an anti-Hanukkah post, would he be an anti-Semite? Would people tolerate that? It’s understandable why a Jew would not like Christmas, but those are sharp words! If people called you an anti-Christian, would that be as defaming as being called an anti-Semite?
Even if Wal-Mart was going to give stuff away, I can’t for the life of me imagine waiting for its doors to open at 3:30 in the morning – I’m just a fuddy-duddy, I guess.
Why I am glad I *do* celebrate Christmas:
Christians (and secular Americans like me who choose to join in) don’t celebrate Christmas in order to make anyone feel left out. We do it because it’s fun.
Giving gifts to people you love feels good.
It’s our tradition.
It’s the absolute best time of the year.
The magic of Santa Claus is simply unparalleled. There is simply no greater joy as a parent than creating that for my kids.
Do some people go overboard? Sure. I’m sure there are Jewish families who spend a whole lot more on Hanukkah gifts for their kids than I do on Christmas gifts for mine. So what?
Truth be told, if I had to explain to my kid why Santa doesn’t come to my house I’d probably not like the holiday much either, but…. “Why I’m glad I don’t celebrate Christmas?” c’mon, Richard…. You should have titled your post “why I’m glad I don’t shop at Wal*Mart.”
@Barnaby Yeh:
You’re so transparent it’s ridiculous. No “animals” in Israel, eh? No Border Police who’ve forced shepherds to have sex w. their donkeys. No Border Police who shoot 10 year old Palestinian girls point blank blowing the backs of their heads off like they did to Bassam Aramin’s daughter.
Pls. there are animals everywhere. That was the point of the post. Human beings are animals with a thin veneer of civilization. It’s true here in the U.S. & certainly no less true in Israel.
Typically clueless I’m sorry to say…I write my posts about Christmas because it is America’s holiday despite the fact that not all American’s celebrate. I write it because I am a minority & they the majority. Why would a Christian need to write an anti-Hanukah post when they hardly know anything about the holiday?
B”H
Today, we went to the Westlake Mall to take our kids on the carousel and Monorail. While taking a breather at one of the mall stores, a shop clerk wished my four year old a “Merry Christmas.” He dutifully replied: “We don’t celebrate Christmas. We’re not Christian.” Whenever this type of thing happens I momentarily catch my breath. First, because yet another Christian has made yet another assumption that we’re just the same as the 95% of Americans who are also Christian.
If this really bothers you why not put on a yarmolka and tzitzis (on yourself and your son too) and grow a full beard so that you look like a proud Jew and stop being mistaken for a goy?
@Ariel: Maybe because someone would mistake me for you & I wouldn’t wish to be mistaken for someone with such intolerant, insulting Jewish views as yours.
“…a shop clerk wished my four year old a “Merry Christmas.” He dutifully replied: “We don’t celebrate Christmas. We’re not Christian.” Whenever this type of thing happens I momentarily catch my breath. First, because yet another Christian has made yet another assumption that we’re just the same as the 95% of Americans who are also Christian. Second, because Jews just don’t like to call public attention to their “otherness.”… my third reaction… was: “Good for you. Give ‘em what for. We’re not the same as the rest of you and proud of it too.”
This paragraph brought back memories of my college roommate, Alice. She was a mix of Chinese, Japanese and native Islander from Hawaii. A Buddhist. Just over five feet tall, she liked to dress dramatically in reds and black. We used to go to the mall together in the suburban Midwest community near our school. She was usually the only Asian, often the only non-white (and probably non-Christian) we saw during our trip. People stared at her, particularly kids who were known to even forget about their ice cones when she walked by. He reaction always amazed me. She would get a big smile on her face and walk over to the starer and say “Hi. I’m Alice. I’m from Hawaii.” While some of the starers turned and fled at this point, many were simply curious and would ask questions about her culture while telling her about their own. This led to some interesting conversations. We always had a good time going to the mall. Alice taught me a lot.
What a pathetic story!! Your banner above the title is “Make the world a better place”? Rather, you should call it: “Make the world a more divisive place”.
No, I am not hip on the consumerism aspect of Christmas either, but to make the world a better place I adjust to the world around me while putting in my two cents of modesty and preferably a lot of organic food.
It is unbelievable how intolerant you are.
Regarding what you said to your son “Good for you. Give ‘em what for. We’re not the same as the rest of you and proud of it too.”
What? You’re better than the rest of the world or something?
What does that mean? “We’re not the same as the rest of you and proud of it too”? Does that mean that the rest of the world is no good and you and your family are proudly not part of that? And you instill the same arrogance in your son as well?
You must be suffering from an inferiority complex to have to put yourself on such pedestal.
As much as I dislike Christmas, after reading this story, I want to really start celebrating Christmas with a vengeance just to let ‘the rest world’ know that I’m not like you and proud of it too!
B”H
Dear Richard
Your sites spam blocker just killed a few comments of mine that included links .
You have to change the settings so that you can moderate comments like that not simply waste commentors time by having them disappear without warning , or if you don’t want any comments that have links in them you should say so clearly next to the comment form.
@Ariel: My spam filter is set to allow 3 URLs. If you need to include more than that then send me the comment & I’ll publish it for you & in yr name.
People should await the autopsy report before assuming that he was trampled to death.
This is the first year my family and I are not celebrating “christmas”…because we are Christians. The word christmas in latin means the dismissal of Christ or death of Christ…definitely not the birth…it’s not really great…Jesus was born in either september or october…not december 25th…that is actually a pagan holiday…everyone just labels us as nuts and Jesusfreaks instead of doing research on their own and conforming to this world…so, we are getting judged and gossiped about as well…”christians” really make you feel great, huh?…I actually think Jewish people are right on…except for one thing…they don’t believe in Christ…it’s not for me to judge or bash anyone…God will be happy when the people of this world put down their “christmas” and start loving Him, as well as each other…God bless you all…KEISH!
Christine:
What kind of adversity have you faced? Or has it been an easy transition by those close to you? I remember at first that I tried to get my parents and siblings not to celebrate it with me, and I felt terrible with how upset it made them.
Even if someday they realize I am right about the fact that Christmas has nothing to do with Yeshua, it is not my place to condemn them. It is between me and G-d why I don’t celebrate, and it is not their problem. Even if my reasons for choosing to overlook christmas in my life, i shouldn’t judge others because they don’t take the journey with me.
Anyways, I was just wondering how it was for you that first year? I kind of feel lame since I am reading this post two years after it was written.
In His name, keep fighting the good fight! We don’t make decisions to be popular because our reward is in Heaven.
@verbeek:
I may reject the crass consumerism of Christmas and the overweening presumption by Christians that they’re the only residents of the U.S.A. But that doesn’t mean I think of myself as better than anyone else. On the contrary, I’d like Christians to be more sensitive to the minorities in their midst. If I’m not proud of my identity then why should they acknowledge it?
My son is proud of his Jewish identity and insists that it be respected by others. If you call that arrogance then it’s yr problem, not mine.
Now isn’t that a telling comment & mighty Christian of you–celebrating Christmas with a vengeance. Maybe you’ll start by beating up a few arrogant uppity Jews? Would that be in keeping with the spirit of the holiday?
B”H
Richard I have to agree with you on this
also I hope our Christian friend puts this in perspective by watching the following video:
Muslim Saves Jews from Anti-War on Christmas Attack?
Bill O’Reilly on Fox News took his rhetoric in fighting against the imaginary “War on Christmas” a step too far last week and his timing could not have been worse as I show with the clips in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90KVt2NzYQI
PS. On the other hand Christians who do truly understand
( http://wikinoah.org/index.php/Yaakov_Emden_on_Noahides#View_on_Christianity ) and follow the teachings of Yeshua would probably avoid celebrating Christmas alltogether (as many Nazarenes and Messianics do already and Puritans have done) because it is ahistorical (it is not celebrated anywhere close to the mans actual birthday) has a collection of pagan customs and thus
does demage to the souls of those who observe it.
Although I agree with the top poster, he is NOT me. I do not remember writing that post, nor do I write under my own name.
JW, if that is you, CUT IT OUT.
Richard,
You’re right there in Seattle, maybe you might want to give this lady a jingle (pun intended) and wish her a Berry Merry ,Christmas (since “mas” means dismissal, this lady sure did capture the spirit LOL)
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/art/archives/155913.asp?source=mypi
Merry Bushmas!
Just a note there are respectful Christians out here in the world. As a Catholic I have always wished people Happy Holidays during this festive time of year because I realize not everybody is the same religion as I and I respect that. We have instilled a belief in our children to respect others no matter their race or religion. My daughter’s best friend is Jewish. They have been friends for over 6 years and during this time my daughter has had the wonderful experience of spending the Jewish holidays at her house. In turn her friend has always been welcomed to our celebrations. Her parents are good friends with us and we share common beliefs and morals for our children. So please know that there are ignorant people out there and we have to enlighten them just like your son did. He should wish them a “Happy Hanukkah”. Lastly I hope you and your family have a wonderful Hanukkah.
@Lynn: Thanks for yr lovely and thoughtful reply. With Christians like you in the world, it makes it that much easier to be a Jew in the minority in a country like ours. Respect is a wonderful thing.
I don’t blame the people or Walmart for what happened. I blame the spirit of christmas. This is the time of year that brings out the worst in people by default. People LIE to their children about santa, elves, and raindeer. People are filled with GREED to see how much they can get. People are DEPRESSED about their money, bills, etc,. Statistics show that there’s always a rise in suicides and domestic abuse at this time of year. Statistics also show that there’s a huge rise in house fires due to defective christmas trees and lights. And the list goes on and on. Yeah, even though those people and Walmart do bear some responsibility for what happened, the real culprit is that old christmas spirit.
Verbeek said:
No, the world is already a diverse place. He’s just suggesting that sensitive people acknowledge that reality.
Huh? That illogical leap makes no sense at all. “Not the same” does NOT mean “better than”. It just means “different”.
Richard’s point is worth thinking about: “to kill someone for a Christmas bargain…what can you say? … How can human beings behave like this?”
This should shock all caring people of all faiths, Christmas observers or not.
He’s not bashing Christians, just people who celebrate the Christmas holiday with rampant consumerism to the point of DEATH!
Merry Christmas!!
@Fred Howard: Thanks, Fred, for putting my post in a more reasonable, balanced perspective.
To Fred Howard,
Fred, you wrote this in response to my prior posting:
Regarding what you said to your son “Good for you. Give ‘em what for. We’re not the same as the rest of you and proud of it too.”
What? You’re better than the rest of the world or something?
Fred wrote: Huh? That illogical leap makes no sense at all. “Not the same” does NOT mean “better than”. It just means “different”.
Fred, Obviously, I know what “not the same” and “better than” mean. It is however the context of “not the same” and the intonation, that make a person sound arrogant.
If someone says to me: “I am not the same as you and proud of it too”, I would feel belittled and shoved aside.
Why does it even matter what religion one practices, what one looks like? I can’t tell you how many different races, religions etceteras we had walking through this house, even married into the family. None of us would ever make it a point to emhasize the differences (“we’re not the same …” as you).
To Richard:
For goodness sake, someone bestowed a nice wish on someone.
Why freak out so much and get mad because someone assumed you were a Christian? Then dwell on one unfortunate event and pin that on all Christmas celebraters, making them all responsible? That is really a stretch of the imagination.
I have also noticed, Richard, that you didn’t post anything about the many times I have been wished and celebrated Hannukah, even though I am not Jewish.
I would never think or say to any Jewish person: I am different than you and proud of it too.
I find the words you pick very unpleasant and I suspect that you enjoy all the fighting and arguing where there needs to be none.
Hopefully, next year you can write your post around Christmas on a happier note or in any event in a more pleasant tone.
Rave on, Jews. Enjoy your “otherness.”
@verbeek:
Only someone who is either an atheist or a member of a majority religion could make such a statement. There is an amazing amt. of presumptuousness in it. Millions of my people died for practicing their religion throughout history. So yes, it does matter that I be allowed to practice this specific one. And it matters to me that non-Jews show, if not respect for Judaism, at least recognition that there are believers who hold by diff. religions than they do.
It is precisely the differences between religions and human belief that make humans most interesting so yes, I believe in understanding & appreciating those difference.
In social interactions, it is important not only to take into account the intent of the party bestowing the wish, but also the person “receiving” it. The “wish” has no positive meaning to me since I reject the religion on which the wish is based (even if the person isn’t cognizant of the religious connotation of the wish).
My people have died throughout history because they either weren’t Christian or refused to become Christian. So yes, it means something to me when even innocently someone assumes that I am.
Jews never say “Happy Hanukah” to someone unless they know they are Jewish. So I don’t believe yr claim–at least not in the form you made it above.
My goal is life is not to write something “pleasant” enough for you to feel comfortable or good about it. My goal is to express my feelings & views about religion, politics, culture & other issues. If my writing is too sharp, grating or ungrateful or whatever, the issue is something you’ll have to deal with.
@Flootje:
Thank you, we do and we will.
Uh oh, I was trying to be benevolent and delicate, but Richard went and nailed the real issue:
“Millions of my people died for practicing their religion throughout history. So yes, …. it matters to me that non-Jews show, if not respect for Judaism, at least recognition that there are believers who practice different religions than they do.”
It’s the elephant in the room: way down deep, Christianity, especially this time of year when it’s everywhere, certainly does strike a raw nerve with me and probably most Jews, because of two thousand years of second-class citizenship, lies, myths, persecution, murder and genocide mostly at the hands of people who called themselves Christians. I wouldn’t use Verbeek’s word “arrogant”; “defensive” and “fearful” are probably closer to the truth.
Please don’t take any of this personally. I’m in no way suggesting it’s rational, or fair, or sensible, or healthy. The people who did this stuff are long dead. But whether it makes logical sense is beside the point. This sort of thing is deeply ingrained, at a very visceral level, passed down through the generations, shaped by history.
It’s taken me most of my life, and a good deal of therapy, to even be able to recognize it for what it is and put it into words.
I have no wish to rain on anyone else’s parade. I’m sure this is a wonderful time of year for Christians. I’ve progressed to the point that I can usually appreciate and respond in kind to nice wishes sent my way. Just please recognize that we would prefer not to participate in any of it, and allow us the respect and freedom to ignore it in peace.
@Fred Howard: Amen to that, Fred. My sentiments precisely.
I really appreciate your posting this. I can imagine the defensive nature that you face when you and your family say you don’t celebrate the holiday. I think people react this way because of a herd-like mentality. If you don’t do what everyone else does, you’re a freak!
Up until two years ago, I celebrated christmas. I am a christian, and although the “season” is associated with all sorts of wonderful memories, I started questioning it one day. Where did it come from? What does a christmas tree have to do with baby Jesus? I did some research and was shocked. It is definitely not Christian. It is rooted in deep paganism, and the original ancient disgusting rituals have been cloaked in merriment and Jesus. But really, it has no Biblical basis. So why do people celebrate it? Because it’s just what they’ve always done.
Even if I still felt that way, you are right about it now being driven by consumerism compared to 20 years ago. I don’t condemn people who do celebrate it, but I feel that for myself and my family, the reasons not to celebrate it outweigh the reasons for celebrating it. And that brings us to today. It maybe would bring me closer to the people around me, but it’s farce to say it brings me in closer communion with my G-d.