Imagine waiting for that time of year to come around. You come to find out, all the stores
you visit are filled with Christmas decor, and Christmas music filling up the halls, and even
Christmas movies are displayed throughout your entire TV. Leaving you nothing less than the
thought of Christmas time. But there’s one small problem to this all, you’re Jewish.
Growing up celebrating Christmas I’ve come to realize that it really is overrated. If you
think about it, do people do as much for Hanukkah as they do for Christmas? Having a Jewish
best friend, I was able to see through her eyes and notice the frustrated ness, disappointment,
and anger she had. Izabella Groysman, 11th grader at Neshaminy High School describes the
month of December, ‘annoying’ because all that is ever shown or said is about or relating to
Christmas. Groysman says, “it sucks when people tell me that it’s a shame I don’t celebrate
Christmas because it’s so popular it makes me feel left out.”
Of course, not everyone has the same opinion as Izabella, but a lot of them focus on the
same ideas. 11th grader at Neshaminy, Garry pozdnyakov describes it as, ‘upsetting’ in a way
were, “holidays like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are pushed off to the side.” Garry has a more
neutral approach to this although. Pozdnyakov explains, “it’s more biased depending on which
country you’re focusing on. Sure, they put Hanukkah and kwanzaa on a calendar, but it won’t
ever be as blown up as Christmas.”
Lillie Zielinski, a student from Neshaminy high school who is only half Jewish, grew up
attending Hebrew school for eight years, Lillie got the chance to hear the story of Hanukkah and
describes her approach on both Christmas and Hanukkah, “Christmas doesn’t bother me
personally because I was raised to appreciate both. Christmas is a beautiful holiday also, but it
just over shadows Hanukkah. I think if people sat down and listened to the story of Hanukkah
they would appreciate both and learn to accept that December shares two very beautiful
holiday’s,” Zielinski explains.
Not only is Hanukkah ‘brushed off to the side,’ but certain people put you down for it.
Martin Shafiro, 12th grader at Neshaminy says. Growing up, Martin got made fun of by a decent
amount of people for being Jewish. But, Shafiro doesn’t let that stop him from embracing that he
is Jewish and celebrating the holiday he loves. Shafiro describes, “It is annoying to be honest
it’s the time of year for you to celebrate, but all you’re surrounded by is Christmas stuff and
made fun of by other people because you don’t participate in Christmas.”
We come back to the question, is Christmas overrated? Or are we just not showing
enough recognition to Hanukkah? Or even other holidays as well like Kwanzaa? Like Izabella,
Gary, Lillie, and Martin, they’re all upset, mad, or annoyed that Hanukkah is presented in a way
so small nobody cares about it. Groysman says, “I just wish people would see that there are
Jewish people around them too so we could actually look forward to this time of year just like
they do.