Comments on: Hanukkah, Now Available With More Orrin Hatch!

By: bellacoker

bellacoker — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:22:42 +0000

I’m not sure why I feel compelled to mention this little piece of personal hypocrisy, but I’m really okay with Bob Dylan making a Christmas album.

I mean, I don’t know whether or not he is a practicing Jew and all of the royalties are going to a charity, so it’s not a perfect comparison, but I don’t have the same negative reaction.

That’s all.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:59:21 +0000

@bellacoker: I agree. It is sort of odd to decorate a structure that’s supposed to represent a temporary dwelling, but it’s fun to do anyhow.

By: bellacoker

bellacoker — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:16:17 +0000

mm:

I’ve heard parallels drawn between decorating the sukkah (sp?) and Xmas tree decorating.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:08:06 +0000

@ Ph.Dork: You know that this isn’t the only 8 day holiday we have. Sukkot and Passover are also 8 days, because they were originally pilgrimage festivals, when you went to Jerusalem to sacrifice at the Temple.

I’ve been arguing for a while now that we should shift our gift-giving time to Sukkot, since it’s already a joyful time. So far it hasn’t caught on.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:54:43 +0000

Oh, and Orrin? Keep your hands off our ritual objects. Man, that burns me. Don’t display or wear mezuzzah, don’t buy a tallit because you think they look pretty, don’t co-opt our holidays. We’ll do the same for you. It’s not okay, no matter what self-appointed Best Jew In The World Joe Lieberman says.That is all.

By: mischiefmanager

mischiefmanager — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:43:20 +0000

Orrin Hatch, don’t do us any favors. We’ve got enough tsuris without you and your fundie right wing friends.

I agree that the phrase “mock Torah” isn’t especially tasteful.

I had a revelation this weekend about all those asinine menorah-mobiles. For those of you who may not have had the privilege, the Lubovitchers, a particularly virulent right-wing sect, strap huge wooden menorahs on their cars during Chanukah. Around here, they insist on having a motorcade during the holiday that ties up traffic all over this part of town, makes people laugh and point, and mortifies me completely. I realized that half the people who are now Lubovitchers are converts from some more liberal form of Judaism, and they’re still smarting about having to sing Christmas carols or not having a tree or whatever it is they feel shortchanged about. So this is their revenge. It’s totally “mine is bigger” and “look at meeeee!”.

The thing is, though, that for people who claim to be the real Jews, they’re acting in a way that warps the Jewish calendar beyond recognition. We are centered around our fall and spring holidays. Forcing all this attention to a holiday that isn’t even biblical in origin and has no real role in the ritual year is a twisting of the way we live and see the world.

But they probably love Orrin Hatch.

By: sarah.of.a.lesser.god

sarah.of.a.lesser.god — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:22:50 +0000

@Shauna: One of the big differences, especially in the case of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, is that particular song was geared as a marketing device by people (Marks Department Store) who clearly were not interested in the religious topicality of the song. And I actually do celebrate Christmas because my father is not Jewish, and love Christmas music. The thing that irks me about Hatch is not that he wrote the song per se, but his attitude towards Judaism, which seems to be paternalistic and viewing it as a faith that will aid the goals of his religion.

By: bellacoker

bellacoker — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:16:11 +0000

@Shauna:

Isn’t it different since that was his job? I mean, Orrin Hatch makes laws which apply to Jewish people all the time, but it’s not usurptatious because it’s what he’s paid to do. In his spare time he likes to write holiday songs for religions in which he does not participate? That’s odd.

Also, you should hear my kick ass new Davali song. It’s a lot like Hannukah, with the lights, but set on a different continent.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:54:02 +0000

I actually think that the blame for the absurd inflation of Hanukkah into a BFD can be laid at the feet of the God of Capitalism. I mean, an EIGHT DAY observance? “Come, Chosen People! Bring us your gelt!”

And s.o.a.l.g., please write lyrics to “Grandma Got Run Over By a Dreidel.” (Or would that be “Bubbe Got Run Over By a Dreidel”?)

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:04:16 +0000

@KathleenB: OMG, you win the internets with that Monty Python reference!