Christmas and the Jewish Single

B"H

[This article was originally published in the author's local Jewish newspaper]

Well, it's that time of year again ... Christmas. Yes, Christmas. Here I am, an Orthodox, or fairly so, young single Jewish woman writing about Christmas. And why, pray tell, am I writing about Christmas?

I'll tell you. Christmas for Jews is tough enough but Christmas for Jewish singles is even worse. You see, being that we live in a Christian society, most people who don't work for kosher (or Indian) restaurants, Yeshivot (Jewish Day Schools) or synagogues (etc.) have December 25th off. This is nice for most people with families. The family, or at least the husband and wife if the children go to Yeshiva, has a day with no extended family obligations like Thanksgiving or Purim, no barbecue like July 4th or Labor Day, and no stores open, so no shopping obligations. Families can spend the day on family projects, playing family games together, renting (and watching) a movie together or even baking cookies.

But for Jewish singles, there is nothing on TV, no malls to shop in, and no spouses to share a romantic dinner with. Some singles' organizations use this opportunity to plan singles' events while others volunteer at local hospitals or nursing homes for "Operation: Snowflake" performing non-professional work so Gentile staff can spend their holiday with family. But these are merely diversions between endless reruns of "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street".

So you pass the day doing one of several things: 1) watching really awful Christmas specials, 2) cleaning up your room/ apartment/ refrigerator, 3) calling every friend you ever had (back to kindergarten), 4) surfing the net, 5) looking through your Chanukah presents, or 6) watching yourself age. Somewhere during all this, you doze off in front of the TV with the familiar strains of "The 12 Days of Christmas" ringing in your ears. But in your current state, the words sound a bit different. "It's the 12th Christmas special, and all that's in my house is ... 12 Dumber specials, 11 Latkes piping (hot), 10 Lord and Taylor's gift certificates (I should be so lucky!), 9 menorah cleanings, 8 dates-a-planning, 7 hairlines thinning, 6 pizzas heating, 5 golden teeth, 4 calling cards, 3 French fries, 2 turtle necks and a Partridge Family LP."

Of course, if you find yourself overdosing on Christmas cheer, you can always stick in a video designed to make you remember your own heritage. Here are a few ideas: "Fiddler on the Roof", "Yentl", "The Chosen", "Schindler's List", "Exodus", "The Jazz Singer", "A Stranger Among Us", or even "Raiders of the Lost Ark". If that doesn't work, you can always try the Rugrats Chanukah Special on Nickelodeon. Or just curl up with a good book. Some of my favorites are "Jephthah's Daughter", "Sotah" , "The Sacrifice of Tamar" and "The Ghost of Hannah Mendes" all by Naomi Regan, "Snow in August" by Pete Hamill and "Acts of Faith" by Erich Segal. All have Jewish themes and I got them all from the local Library. They all are real page turners so don't be intimidated by the bulk. If these books don't suit your taste, be sure to load up on good books before the 25th since, like everything else previously mentioned, the Libraries are closed on that day. And keep in mind, once you get through the "Big" day, there are no more Christmas specials, Christmas parades and office Christmas parties. Everyone's just too caught up in New Year's!

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