Wednesday, December 14, 2011

I'm The Christmas Cinderella



When I was a child we didn't celebrate Christmas (much). Well in some ways you couldn't help but celebrate it. There was no school obviously, great TV - The Sound of Music, The Queen's Speech and Morcambe And Wise's Christmas Special - and the radio was full of wonderful carols. As it was a bank holiday we often had the family round for lunch which was absolutely not to be called Christmas Dinner, although my Aunty Rene made a mean steamed fruit pudding which we set alight with brandy. And my mum made her own mince pies.

After lunch we would play pontoon (21) with about eight people sitting round the table each with a pile of matchsticks to wager with. Did I mention that in the morning we were always invited round to our nextdoor neighbours for Christmas drinks and to see their amazing tree?

Of course we did it all at school. Swapping Christmas cards with friends, carol singing in music lessons. The Jewish girls were allowed to opt out of the school Carol Service and gleefully spent the day shopping in Brent Cross. What idiots we were to miss carol singing in St Martin's In The Field by Trafalgar Square. Later as an Old Girl I received an invitation but felt too ashamed to go after opting out all those years. Yes school is definitely wasted on teenagers.

We do Hanukkah. Same but different. I'm preparing to be shot for saying that but, on a superficial level regarding the feel-good factor it's similar. We light candles for eight nights to commemorate the miracle of the oil for the eternal light in the Temple lasting the eight day wait until more could be brought. We give presents because after so many years living alongside Christians we have adopted the custom. (Many diehard families only give the more traditional money - symbolizing the gold coins donated to the Temple I think.) We have our traditional foods of potato pancakes (latkes) and doughnuts (sufganiyot) because they are cooked in oil (see the connection?). The real meaning of Hanuka? Usual joke: they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat.

Yes we do Hanukkah, it's a family affair, it has its own foods and songs, we have Hanukkah Parties... and yet, somehow, at Christmas time I feel like Cinderella not going to the ball. There's a meme going round at the moment called: My Favourite Christmas Song. I was going to join in and offer 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas' which I love. I also love almost all the songs on my Kings College Choir Christmas Album which I listen to religiously throughout December. But only in December - other times it just doesn't feel right. However, I came across this on Youtube and it sort of summed up my feelings nicely so I hope you enjoy it.



25 comments:

  1. I feel even more cheated now just hearing what I missed by being brought up orthodox!!!!!

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  2. The Christian Christmas celebrations have spread far and wide. I am a christian and therefore have celebrated christmas all my life without a second glance, but when I moved here to holland 11 years ago, it wasn't a big thing at all, they celebrated Sint on 5th december and left christmas day as a family visiting day - now 11 year later, it's massive, present giving, brilliant food in the supermarket and has almost taken over from Sint, they say Sint is for the kids, Kerstmis is for the adults... thanks for teaching me something new anyway, Happy Hanuka

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  3. Anonymous - you haven't lived!

    AmsterdaMummy - I've been in Amsterdam for Sint. A bit sad really that it's been overtaken somewhat.

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  4. Thanks Rach. I have now looked up Six 13 - and listening to their music. Inviting you for one night candle lighting - not 26th. Let's talk. Guess who? Love S xxx

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  5. I love that you have loads of traditions too. I am completly oblivious of them - sorry!

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  7. Love S - thanks we'd love to. Booked up already for 2nd night (Wednesay) and Sunday 25th (Stevie's B'day). Any other time would be great. I'll call you.

    TheMadHouse - That's OK, I'll teach you...:)

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  8. Nice reflective post! I'm always interested to hear how different, yet similar, your like is! Thanks for sharing :-) And may I take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Hannuka :-)

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  9. DancingInTheRain:
    Can totally identify with your memories. Love(d) the carols and seasonal songs too. High school carol service - no, but Christmas party - yes. I can even remember the colour of the dress that I wore to my first one. Apropos adopting customs, as children we were always given Selection Boxes by various family employees, and when we lived in England for a while I simply had to buy one each for my children - together with the traditional bag of Hanukah chocolate money.

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  10. Jazzy - yes a lot of things are very similar because we have lived in Europe for 1000 years alongside the Christian culture. And I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas.

    Dancing - Selection Boxes! We used to get them from all my parent's Christian friends, aquaintances and colleagues. Brilliant!

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  11. Another interesting post, I always learn something new from you.

    Happy Eid, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Christmas etc. Say it with genuine respect and warmth to each other and we'll continue to live, love and share - coming together naturally because basically the 'religious' people on the ground are more similar than different; it's the 'Happy Holidays' greeting being hoisted on us in the UK by the politically correct which offends me! ;). Nadolig Lawen i pawb, xxxx

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  12. Lins, my Welsh is a bit rusty ;) but I agree with you and wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas. xxx

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  13. Great post that I can totally relate to - I was a Jewish girl brought up in the east end of London (1950s-60s) good mix of Jewish and Christian at school with a slowly growing immigration of Indian. So I chose to celebrate everything - mainly to get the time out of school on religious trips ;o)

    Totally agree with you Lins we should all respect each others beliefs, learning and understanding about their holy days and even joining in their festivals.

    Let's all go eat together!

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  14. Thanks for your lovely comment MumB and I wish you a wonderful festive season with all the trimmings. :)

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  15. When you're clear about your own identity, it's interesting to learn about other cultures and religions and especially to hear their music! Wasn't it great singing Wizzard's "I wish it could be Xmas every day" and Slade's "Merry Xmas" last night, Rach?!

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  17. PS My Mum of blessed memory, as a child in Edinburgh, used to love the Xmas carols she heard at school and all around so used to sing them like this: "Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little lord MMM MMM* laid down his sweet head..."
    *MMM sounds like when you smell something great or are about to eat something delicious and say "MMMMMM"

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  18. Leonie - interesting comment about being secure in your identity as I sometimes feel like I straddle two identities and don't want to let go of either of them entirley.

    LOL at Away in a Manger. I used to think it continued: No quid for a bed - because they didn't have any money for a hotel room.

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  19. So now you have Rabbi Leonie's psak that as a Jewess who made Aliya and lives in the Holy City, you know who you are so fear not about double identity, and enjoy it as part of your culture from birth. As for no quid for a bed, makes sense really!

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  20. Interesting post, I had wondered which bits you were celebrating. I think family traditions are pretty much as important as religious/cultural traditions but it can be difficult to reconcile them all.

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  21. Liveotherwise - I think one has to look on it as a blessing to be able to fit in with more than one culture. I hope it's character building :)

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  22. Love the video! I'm converted!

    My hubby is a scrooge (he thinks all holidays are commercial) so not a whole lot of holiday goings on at our house typically.

    Thank you for linking up to the holiday hop!

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  23. I loved this post and your sense of humor - especially this "Usual joke: they tried to kill us, we won, let's eat."

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    1. It's such an old joke that I'm thrilled to have a chance to air it among people who might not have heard it, LOL. Thanks for that.

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