Thank you, Josh, for taking it upon yourself through intelligent post after compelling post, to keep the flame glowing for all of Am Yisrael. Your Substack keeps my brain churning and my heart full through these dark times.
Why frame Jewish composers as "monetizing" Christmas through our genius at writing great music. Jews decided to assimilate to a nation that didn't actively persecute us....as far back as Washington's address to the Newport community. And we assimilate very very well....look at how Jews assimilated in Germany....where there was active persecution that led to...
I was afraid you were going to write about Jews and Chinese restaurants....that is news to me....maybe for a younger generation...My folks never went to restaurants of any kind. I'm lucky that they bought Kosher deli for our New Year's eve celebration at home....that's America to me...I never had an envy for Christmas or having a tree....I knew I was different and that was fine...my neighbors invited me in to see the trees and maybe add a strand of tinsel. We didn't give 8 days of gifts. We gave no gifts....maybe some Chanukkah gelt. I was told to stop singing Silent Night by my Mom....what did the words of the song mean to me? I liked the Coca cola Santa Claus and Macy's and Stern's Christmas lands....that was Christmas to this Jewish kid.
Thank you Joshua for all the enlightening essays over our times together as readers and learners. Wishing you a happy, healthy New Year. Also, have some fun! Go and dance in Tel Aviv by the sea. Fondly, Robbin🕺🕺🕺
Yes…Go for a swim… 🏊…I’m fondly remembering swimming the Mediterranean as I do chores in this freezing winter. Aliyah is getting closer…thank you for a year of truth in journalism.
Thank you so much for your emotional, brillant article.....Let's keep on praying for the prompt release of the hostages.....We do need another miracle.....Chag Chanukah Sameach !!!....
Must confess that since Oct 7th and its aftermath, everything does feel different, quite different, and certainly not in a good way. The country holidays are less patriotic and the Christian religious Holidays seem less festive and less inclusive.
The silent majority has dampened my spirit and I hope it will come back because I sure love my countries, both Canada and the US, and I sure love the spirit of Christmas. I still do but something is just not the same for me.
May the spirit of Chanukah — of resilience, pride, and feeling of being sustained by a rich and proud history — enrich this period and strengthen you to celebrate your ancient, profound, heritage.
Yes Jerry, October 7th and the aftermath were shocks, but it is time for you to move on and bring light into your life. Wishing you a happier, lighter New Year. Robbin Am Yisrael Chai❤️
Here is a very apropos exchange about Christmas several hours ago. It’s started with best wishes from an MBA Australian student I taught at Melbourne Business School, with whom we kept a very cordial and sincerely friendly exchange since the 1990s, when I was his professor. I very much appreciated his positivity, logic and goodwill:
Student X: “Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas Oscar to you and your family. May you have a joyous and safe 2025.”
Moi: “Thank you and wishing the same to you and your family from my heart X!
I am just completing an email to my son Y with a link to a site “The 25 things one should know about Judaism” from Substack, an essays by Joshua Hoffman. We belong to a very atheistic albeit spiritual, humanitarian and intellectual family, and have been like that for 3 generations (except, ironically, for my paternal grandmother, who was quite religious —she was murdered during the occupation of Western Ukraine by Germans and their local collaborators). Since then, my only brother’s 2 daughters (all in Israel) married more religious guys from other Diasporas (my late parents, buried in a Tel Aviv cemetery at mature ages or 84 and 93, had been Polish/Western Ukrainian and Ukrainian/Byelorussian USSR Jews).
Christmas and Jesus: I have always had a “soft spot” for Joshua of Nazareth, as my Jewish name IS Joshua. He always sounded to me as a very decent, humane person, an innovator and a socialist/communist in attitude of sharing and caring about the disadvantaged. He was not afraid of challenging the established order of the old dogma, keen on making it much more inclusive. But not being a politician, he left the new principles to be taken forward by his disciples, and the rest is (often terrible) history…
I’m hoping for the best, and one of my key wishes is that the 3rd “Abrahamic” religion — Islam — would follow the path of enlightenment that Christianity has mostly completed (for clarity, I do NOT consider Judaism a model to be followed, for me enlightenment is universal humanity, which focuses on the rights of the individual for safety and dignity).”
I also added the admission that I have been clearly influenced by “Western” democracy, which had been seeded by the ancestral land of Student X.
Correcting an erratum: the “25 things…” I mentioned in my item above was written by the Editors of “the Future of Jewish”, not by Joshua Hoffman, who writes often and rather well. My apologies! Oscar
I'm glad Jewish people celebrate Christmas, albeit without its religious significance. Let's not forget that Jesus Christ came to the Jews first. He wept over them. He was born, lived and died as a Jew, and all His early followers were Jewish. I am grateful to the Jews for giving us the Saviour of the world. It is entirely appropriate for Jewish people to be included in the celebration of Christmas.
Thank you, Josh, for taking it upon yourself through intelligent post after compelling post, to keep the flame glowing for all of Am Yisrael. Your Substack keeps my brain churning and my heart full through these dark times.
“In Israel, lighting candles feels less like a personal ritual and more like a communal heartbeat.”
This is a beautiful line
The Hanukkah story is deeply inspiring bc it’s about our survival as *who we are.*
Chag sameach חג שמח everyone
Why frame Jewish composers as "monetizing" Christmas through our genius at writing great music. Jews decided to assimilate to a nation that didn't actively persecute us....as far back as Washington's address to the Newport community. And we assimilate very very well....look at how Jews assimilated in Germany....where there was active persecution that led to...
I was afraid you were going to write about Jews and Chinese restaurants....that is news to me....maybe for a younger generation...My folks never went to restaurants of any kind. I'm lucky that they bought Kosher deli for our New Year's eve celebration at home....that's America to me...I never had an envy for Christmas or having a tree....I knew I was different and that was fine...my neighbors invited me in to see the trees and maybe add a strand of tinsel. We didn't give 8 days of gifts. We gave no gifts....maybe some Chanukkah gelt. I was told to stop singing Silent Night by my Mom....what did the words of the song mean to me? I liked the Coca cola Santa Claus and Macy's and Stern's Christmas lands....that was Christmas to this Jewish kid.
Thank you Joshua for all the enlightening essays over our times together as readers and learners. Wishing you a happy, healthy New Year. Also, have some fun! Go and dance in Tel Aviv by the sea. Fondly, Robbin🕺🕺🕺
Yes…Go for a swim… 🏊…I’m fondly remembering swimming the Mediterranean as I do chores in this freezing winter. Aliyah is getting closer…thank you for a year of truth in journalism.
Thank you so much for your emotional, brillant article.....Let's keep on praying for the prompt release of the hostages.....We do need another miracle.....Chag Chanukah Sameach !!!....
Must confess that since Oct 7th and its aftermath, everything does feel different, quite different, and certainly not in a good way. The country holidays are less patriotic and the Christian religious Holidays seem less festive and less inclusive.
The silent majority has dampened my spirit and I hope it will come back because I sure love my countries, both Canada and the US, and I sure love the spirit of Christmas. I still do but something is just not the same for me.
papa j
Papa J,
May the spirit of Chanukah — of resilience, pride, and feeling of being sustained by a rich and proud history — enrich this period and strengthen you to celebrate your ancient, profound, heritage.
Happy Chanukah Puck and all the best to you in the New Year! Keep up the good fight. papa j
Yes Jerry, October 7th and the aftermath were shocks, but it is time for you to move on and bring light into your life. Wishing you a happier, lighter New Year. Robbin Am Yisrael Chai❤️
Thank you Robbin ... dont get me wrong, the light is still there, just not as bright. All the best to you now, in the New Year, and always.
papa j
Excellent entry, especially the first line ! I would love to be in Israel for the holidays - any of them - someday.
Bless you, Joshua!! Your words bring tears to my eyes on this holiday of lights!!
Chanukah Sameach!
In Melbourne on Christmas day the zoo was always open. It was a popular picnic excursion (summer rememɓer) for the Jewish and Asian communities.
My parents were in the toy business. Christmas was most important for sales and making a great living.
Here is a very apropos exchange about Christmas several hours ago. It’s started with best wishes from an MBA Australian student I taught at Melbourne Business School, with whom we kept a very cordial and sincerely friendly exchange since the 1990s, when I was his professor. I very much appreciated his positivity, logic and goodwill:
Student X: “Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas Oscar to you and your family. May you have a joyous and safe 2025.”
Moi: “Thank you and wishing the same to you and your family from my heart X!
I am just completing an email to my son Y with a link to a site “The 25 things one should know about Judaism” from Substack, an essays by Joshua Hoffman. We belong to a very atheistic albeit spiritual, humanitarian and intellectual family, and have been like that for 3 generations (except, ironically, for my paternal grandmother, who was quite religious —she was murdered during the occupation of Western Ukraine by Germans and their local collaborators). Since then, my only brother’s 2 daughters (all in Israel) married more religious guys from other Diasporas (my late parents, buried in a Tel Aviv cemetery at mature ages or 84 and 93, had been Polish/Western Ukrainian and Ukrainian/Byelorussian USSR Jews).
Christmas and Jesus: I have always had a “soft spot” for Joshua of Nazareth, as my Jewish name IS Joshua. He always sounded to me as a very decent, humane person, an innovator and a socialist/communist in attitude of sharing and caring about the disadvantaged. He was not afraid of challenging the established order of the old dogma, keen on making it much more inclusive. But not being a politician, he left the new principles to be taken forward by his disciples, and the rest is (often terrible) history…
I’m hoping for the best, and one of my key wishes is that the 3rd “Abrahamic” religion — Islam — would follow the path of enlightenment that Christianity has mostly completed (for clarity, I do NOT consider Judaism a model to be followed, for me enlightenment is universal humanity, which focuses on the rights of the individual for safety and dignity).”
I also added the admission that I have been clearly influenced by “Western” democracy, which had been seeded by the ancestral land of Student X.
So this is my dime on the theme. All the best!
Oscar
Correcting an erratum: the “25 things…” I mentioned in my item above was written by the Editors of “the Future of Jewish”, not by Joshua Hoffman, who writes often and rather well. My apologies! Oscar
Maybe I should read the rest before I comment, but even a bad kugel crushes any eggnog. CRUSHES!
Back to reading. Chag Sameach!
I'm glad Jewish people celebrate Christmas, albeit without its religious significance. Let's not forget that Jesus Christ came to the Jews first. He wept over them. He was born, lived and died as a Jew, and all His early followers were Jewish. I am grateful to the Jews for giving us the Saviour of the world. It is entirely appropriate for Jewish people to be included in the celebration of Christmas.