Happy Holidays --- or Not

Happy Holidays. Okay, let's get real on this thing once and for all. That two word sentiment needs clarification. I don't have any problem with the first word. I'm all for the idea of being happy, so wishing happiness for others is a good thing. My main kick is with the word holidays. Just what holidays are we speaking of?

Irving Berlin wrote a song for the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn" called Happy Holiday. The song was celebrating all (American) holidays throughout the year, in keeping with the plot of the picture. Bing Crosby decided to quit the daily grind of show biz and had an idea to buy an inn and produce musical shows at it only on holidays. In the movie many American holidays were featured including Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Washington's Birthday, the Fourth of July, and New Year's.

But when people wish you Happy Holidays today it's in December. We generally don't hear the phrase "Happy Holidays" in springtime. Happy Holidays isn't about Easter and Passover. So what holidays are we really talking about here? For most Americans it traditionally meant Christmas and New Year's. In today's all-inclusive "leave nobody out" mentality it has been argued that Happy Holidays encompasses winter solstice, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and whatever holidays are celebrated by Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or what have you. The phrase is so all encompassing that it becomes meaningless.

In America (and that's where we live, right?) the official December/January holidays are Christmas and New Year. If you happen to be Jewish then Hanukkah is also your holiday. Kwanzaa is a fake made-up holiday that some black liberal professor created in the 1960's. And attempting to throw all other religions into the American December holiday time is just as silly and a real stretch.

So let's just get back to Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and for Jewish people Happy Hanukkah. Clarity. I'm always on the side of clarity.

By the way, Hanukkah should never be considered the Jewish equivalent of Christmas. It is the festival of lights and yes, there are small gifts given for each night, but actually the entire point of Hanukkah is that it's not Christmas. It celebrates a time when a small band of Jewish resisters in now-Israel succeeded at stopping the ruling Greeks from forcing Jews to drop their religious beliefs and assimilate.

In their resistance, the rebel Maccabees reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which had been defiled by the Greek army, and miraculously succeeded in keeping the temple's menorah lit for eight days with just a little bit of remaining oil. A miracle to be sure. That victory is what's celebrated today, through both the lighting of candles and the eating of foods like potato latkes and jelly donuts (sufganiyot) that have been fried in oil. You might say that the Hanukkah holiday is the opposite of the Christmas holiday in a way.

So Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Seasons Greetings to all.

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