8 Reasons why I hate Christmas (and it’s not just because I’m Jewish).
It’s that time of the year. Christmas is still a month and a half away, but the annoying Christmas songs have already started playing on repeat and shops have started stocking every Christmas related item under the sun. Adults as well as children are excitedly counting down the days until Christmas. Christmas really seems to bring out the big kid in many adults including most of my Jewish friends, but I’m not one of them. I’m perfectly happy being the Grinch.
Whilst there are undoubtedly some nice aspects of Christmas time such as the beautiful lights and decorations during such a gloomy and dark time of the year and a more relaxed and sociable atmosphere, there’s a lot of things that I find problematic. Here are the reasons below.
1. Excessive consumerism.
Christmas has lost much of its true meaning thanks to consumer culture. Christmas is an expensive time of year with people forking out a lot of money on presents, food, decorations and Christmas related events and activities. There’s a lot of competition and showing off from who gets the most expensive presents, which house has the best decorations and lights to who hosts the biggest and most extravagant Christmas. Kids only care about what presents they get- many have expensive items on their Christmas list.
No other festival seems to include so much consumerism, even Easter is fairly tame in comparison. Certainly no Jewish festival encourages such consumerism. It’s nice not to have the pressure of spending lots of unnecessary money and to actually enjoy and celebrate the true meaning behind the festivals. With little hype surrounding Jewish festivals, it’s nice not to feel the pressure to have a big and extravagant celebration or to get certain gifts.
Sometimes it’s the simple things that are more meaningful and enjoyable like lighting the Chanukah candles with my mum, eating doughnuts (the one time a year that I don’t feel guilty for having Krispy Kremes) and my mum making latkes. Many of my other Jewish friends don’t even celebrate Chanukah and much prefer Christmas instead.
2. Christmas is a festival that sends mixed messages to society.
Christmas has become a mostly secular festival although the religious elements remain such as the Nativity story and many people especially in the UK will go to church once a year on Christmas. On the one hand you get messages from movies and media telling you that Christmas is all about spending time with family and should be about giving not receiving, but yet at the same time people are encouraged to spend spend spend and focus on themselves not others. There are so many people that are alone for Christmas or families that can’t afford to have Christmas, yet these people are cast aside. Christmas is seen as time strictly for family only and only for enjoying yourself.
Christmas is meant to be about giving, but people just care about the presents. If giving presents wasn’t a tradition, I bet that people wouldn’t care so much about Christmas and there wouldn’t be this big hype. Christmas is meant to be a Christian festival yet people aren’t interested in the religious elements. I think that most people don’t care that it’s Jesus’s birthday (in fact Christmas Day isn’t even his real birthday!). I always find it strange that people are the ones expecting gifts when they’re meant to be celebrating somebody else’s birthday.
3. Christmas is actually quite boring when you think about it.
Christmas Day is like a wedding day. There are so many preparations and so much excitement that goes into one day. In the end it’s all over in the blink of an eye. Life returns to normal. Christmas isn’t even really that exciting. There’s not much involved other than eating, drinking and watching TV. I mean I do that on an average weekend. You can’t go anywhere on Christmas Day because everywhere is pretty much shut.
I actually like the period when Christmas is over. Boxing Day through to New Years is a good time. I like the Boxing Day sales and New Years Eve is always fun. Plus that in-between time gives you some time to relax before the January slump.
4. Christmas songs and films are annoying AF.
I feel like shooting myself every time I hear All I Want For Christmas and Do They Know It’s Christmas? Christmas songs are incredibly cheesy and annoying. There’s literally no escape. Christmas songs play in every shop and on practically every television advert. The Christmas films are just as bad. How many times can you watch Home Alone or Elf? With the exception of Bad Santa, most Christmas films are ridiculously cheesy and stupid. Elf and Love Actually are ridiculously overrated in my opinion.
5. Christmas can be a very stressful time.
Whilst many people look forward to Christmas, others dread it. Many people have to work much harder or scrimp and save for months in order to afford expensive gifts and Christmas related expenses. Parents are especially under pressure to buy the latest toys and gadgets for their kids. For those hosting Christmas, there’s a huge amount of work and preparation. Cooking for many people, entertaining them and tidying up after them is an overwhelming and exhausting task.
Not everybody enjoys it. A woman I once worked with told me she stopped hosting Christmas for her family because it was just too stressful and made her hate Christmas. I’ve also read about some people who charge their family members for hosting Christmas because of the sheer amount of work and preparation on top of personal expenses for food and drink.
6. Christmas is a lonely and unhappy time for many people.
Some people dread Christmas for reasons other than the stress of preparation and expenses. Some dread Christmas because it’s an extremely lonely time. Perhaps they have no family or are on bad terms with them. Some people are unable to be with their families for various reasons such as not being able to afford to fly home to see them. Christmas can also bring up bad memories especially as it can remind people of their dysfunctional families and unhappy childhoods where Christmas was not a happy time. Christmas was a time of the year that especially made me aware of how different, unhappy and dysfunctional my family was to other families.
The hype of Christmas and emphasis on family is really rubbed in your face; the cheeriness and excitement. It makes me angry because Christmas is not a happy and exciting time for everybody. Some people will spend Christmas alone or some fear disappointing their families because they can’t afford to give them a proper Christmas. Christmas can also be a sad time for people who have lost a loved one and the last thing they feel like doing is being cheerful and celebrating.
7. Christmas can cause a lot of conflict for many families.
Christmas can cause a lot of arguments and disagreements. It can bring up tensions that have been brewing under the surface. Not everybody enjoys spending time with relatives and extended family. Some people have to put up with in-laws and partner’s families that they don’t get on with.
Stress, alcohol and emotions can make people melancholic and argumentative. There can be spats about not liking gifts and overcooked turkey. I’ve had a few fall outs with my family over Christmas. My brother once got offended because he didn’t like my gift and my mum yelled at me for spilling wine. Whilst these things are relatively minor, having arguments on what should be a nice and relaxing day makes the day less enjoyable and puts you in a bad mood.
Some people have arguments that really escalate and create a huge rift. There can also be disagreements about who spends Christmas where especially for divorced and separated families or couples who have to alternate Christmas between their respective families. It’s a lot of hassle for just one day.
8. It can be a difficult time for people of different faiths.
Of course there are people who are not Christian that do enjoy Christmas. There are many Jewish people and even some Muslims I know that celebrate Christmas. Whilst some people of different faiths do embrace Christmas, some don’t feel comfortable celebrating a festival that isn’t a part of their religion.
Although many of my Jewish friends embrace and celebrate Christmas, I don’t care much for it. If I didn’t have interfaith family, I wouldn’t bother with Christmas at all. In fact every other year I go to a Jewish retreat over Christmas which I enjoy far more than celebrating Christmas.
I rediscovered my Jewish roots in my 20’s and before that I never had any sort of Jewish upbringing. I grew up celebrating Christmas. I don’t have particularly happy memories of Christmas as it is, but Christmas is also a reminder to me of a faith that I felt I never belonged to. I feel that I’m taking part in a festival that isn’t my own and that I have no connection with. It’s a reminder of my non-Jewish upbringing.
It’s also frustrating when people assume that you celebrate Christmas. Christmas is hyped up so much that other faiths are brushed aside and feel left out. I understand that we live in a Christian majority country and I respect that as well as the freedom to practice different religions, but Christmas really is shoved in your face and people assume that everybody celebrates Christmas. Although like I said other faiths might embrace Christmas, others don’t feel that it’s part of their culture and feel it’s not right to celebrate a festival that has Christian roots. For some people who are converts to another faith, Christmas can be a hard time as it can be a reminder of their past and make them feel uncomfortable. It also includes the struggle of compromising with interfaith family. Of course not every convert feels this way but some do.
If you hate Christmas you’re definitely not alone. There are many people out there who are counting down the days until Christmas is over. Let me know in the comments why you love, hate or feel ambivalent towards Christmas. Can you relate to any of these eight points? Are you a Grinch or do you get as excited about Christmas like Buddy in Elf? If you’re a Christmas lover I wish you a very merry Christmas and if you’re not a Christmas lover like me, I just hope you get through the Christmas season without going crazy.
