and Happy Hanukkah to YOU!

The War on Christmas has sparked conversation even in the most Jewish of forums-- in this case, Israpundit. Reading the comments to the post are more enlightening than reading the actual post-- you have Christians questioning "Who gets offended at being wished a Merry Christmas?!?!" (I do)-- you have Jews rooting for the Christians and wishing them a Merry Christmas-- you have conservatives agreeing that it is a made-up culture war that shouldn't be paid attention to-- you have older Jews recalling when "Merry Christmas" was all that they heard.

My mom's family is Baptist the way most people are Baptist- they go to church until they're old enough to skip services and then busy themselves replacing Jesus with Santa or the Easter Bunny for the rest of their lives. My father's dad was a closet Jew who hated the holidays, never took his kids to any religious institution, and complained to no end about having to put up a sap-leaking pine in the living room every year, just to be like everyone else. I was raised as a Jewish believer in Yeshua. NOT a Christian, NOT a traditional Jew. I went to church until my mother couldn't take it anymore, because she realized what a farce Christianity really is. I went to a couple Messianic congregations until they became waaaay too Christian for us to take. Instead of being loved and accepted by our family, we were told at the outset that they would not have any part of our newfound faith. In fact, for nearly 10 years, my family believed that we were brainwashed by a cult. My uncle and aunt no longer come to our house for holiday events because our Jewishness offends them. When I told my cousin's Catholic fiancee that we were part Jewish, she tried her best not to cringe. Every freaking Christmas we have to endure a holiday gathering where not only are we not allowed to celebrate Hanukkah, we aren't allowed to express our Jewishness. When I asked my mother's father if he wanted a nice yarmulke for Christmas, he shot me a look and I said, "Wait, I know what you're thinking-- 'don't give me any of that sh*t'--right?" And he answered with an unequivocal 'yes'.

The next person who asks "Who really gets offended by being wished a Merry Christmas" is going to get a stake of holly driven into their heart by Judah Macabee's hammer.

DON'T WISH ME A MERRY CHRISTMAS.