#1043 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Wednesday December 25)

Good morning,

Wishing all of my Christian friends a blessed and joyous Christmas!

And to my Jewish friends, Happy first day of Hanukkah!

CHRISTMAS TO ME

Christmas is a holiday that can be complicated for Jews. We revel in the spirit of the season, its lights, its songs and its spirit. Yet, it is not our holiday. As a proud American who celebrates the diverse traditions of my fellow citizens, I welcome and share in the celebration of Christmas in the same way as I respect and celebrate Muslim and Hindu friends celebrating Eid and Diwali. But the Christmas season is something more, as it is a ubiquitous part of the American experience. The music begins right after Halloween and continues to the beginning of the new year. There are Christmas displays in all the stores, and lights festooning many streets. Some people go to great lengths with their intricate lighting displays. As much as this is a Christian holiday, it seems fair to acknowledge that this also is a national holiday. Whatever one’s beliefs, at this time of year, the holidays offer a welcome reminder to everyone that we can all celebrate different traditions, respecting them all, and sharing in their joy and spirit.

When I was a kid, my parents drove my sister and me down streets we knew would be adorned with Christmas lights. I’ve always found it particularly apt that the Hanukkah—the “festival of lights”—occurs around the time of Christmas, celebrated with beautiful lighting displays. The love many Jews have for Christmas extends to the music. Back when I was a kid, our school chorus learned a lot of holiday songs, even some that were explicitly religious, which were not “off limits” for fear of offending someone. I still can sing (well, my version of singing) any number of Christmas carols that I remember from grade school choir.

As much as non-Christians celebrate the season, on the day of the event, it is not the same for us. As a Jew on Christmas, one is used to jokes about our “special” ways to celebrate—like going to an uncrowded movie theatre followed by a visit to the local Chinese restaurant.

One need not celebrate Christmas—or Hanukkah—to revel in the spirit of the holidays. They come at the darkest time of year and bring a sense of shared celebration and good feelings and a much-needed “breather” to count our blessings and commune with family and friends.

MY FATHER, SANTA

A couple of years ago I shared one of my favorite Christmas memories. It’s worth sharing again. As a child, there was a holiday assembly for the kids of our age (I’m guessing around second grade) to which parents were invited. The kids got to meet Santa. My father played Santa—he did this more than once. When I walked up to meet Santa the first time he did this, I whispered to Santa, “Hi, Dad” and told him that he didn’t fool me. Later I asked him why he played Santa. He smiled and said, “I do it so that someone else doesn’t have to do it. This way, all the Christian fathers get to enjoy meeting Santa with their their kids.” From him I learned to enjoy the Christmas season, both for benefits I experienced and because it brings such joy to other people. This is but one of the many lessons in life I learned from “Dr. Bill.”

FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES

Over the years there have been a variety of movies around Christmas. I have two favorites. The first is A Christmas Carol, in its various incarnations. My favorite versions of A Christmas Carol remains Scrooge, the Leslie Bricusse version starring Albert Finney, from the 1970s, and Scrooged, with Bill Murray The second is Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life, a classic that brings a tear every time I watch it (particularly when Jimmy Stewart’s brother shows up at the end and toasts him—“to my big brother George, the richest man in town”).

OTHER GREAT CHRISTMAS MOVIES

• Miracle on 34th Street is cute. It poses the dual prospects of “well, maybe there is magic in the world” and “even if there isn’t magic, maybe we can pretend there is.”

• Elf. Will Ferrell’s madcap, over-the-top elf in search of Santa. Some don’t go for his humor but I do. A wonderful way of celebrating and laughing out loud.

• Love Actually. Corny, but clever and comforting without being cloying. Hugh Grant in one of his early career loveable roles (the dancing scene on the stairs of 10 Downing Street rival

• The Nightmare Before Christmas. Maybe not the best movie but a great Tim Burton imagining of the holidays—from Halloween to Christmas, with the proper amount of creepiness for which he is known.

• White Christmas. Not a particularly great movie but a great vehicle for the talents of Danny Kaye/Bing Crosby and the eponymous song.

• The Holdovers. A recent entry. Paul Giamatti playing a part for which he is known—crusty on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside. Very cute.

• National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Another comedy classic…

Then, of course, there are Die Hard, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Home Alone, for their peculiar spins on the season.

If Capra or Dickens brings a tear to your eye and you’re looking to feel good while watching a beautifully filmed movie, try Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, starring Dev Patel and a multi-racial cast. In the end it all “comes together,” as most Dickens does, in a delightful fashion. As for Capra, there hardly is a more apropos movie in these fraught times than Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

A very Merry Christmas to all and a happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous new year!

And in the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us all, every one.”

Glenn