Life

Regular Christmas Vs. Jewish Christmas

by Rachel Krantz

At this point, Jewish Christmas is one of those Jewish traditions that Jews mostly learn about from pop culture, and perhaps, our cheesy parents. We hear bad jokes about Chinese food and going to the movies, and even if we can't recall ever actually partaking in these traditions, we know them so well that we begin to assume we have. Though there was once an even more stark difference between Jewish Christmas and Regular Christmas — before the goyim among us also started going to the movies and mostly stopped going to mass — these are cliches for a reason.

While I'm all for us recognizing our similarities over our differences, I have to say, I like feeling different from the majority of people in our society on Jewish Christmas. One of my fondest Jewish Christmas memories is of driving around with my Chinese friend Tony, the both of us desperately trying to find somewhere, anywhere, where we could go to grab a drink. We ended up at the 24-hour donut shop, the only place that was open. This became an annual tradition.

For the goyim among us, it's a beautiful day full of holiday cheer, christmas breakfasts, presents, and family. For us Jews and other non-Christians, it's a day off work, also often spent with our families — but a little different. Here's the breakdown between Regular Christmas and Jewish Christmas, in all its many differences and similarities.

Images: Fox; Bustle; Bordecia34/Flickr