.
It sometimes surprises me that people who know that I am Jewish ask if I celebrate Christmas. It is true that Christmas is an American national holiday. Christmas is also a religious holiday and it is simply not a holiday for Jews to celebrate. Obviously, I am not dumb enough to attempt to speak for all Jews, but Jews can enjoy Christmas without celebrating it. We can enjoy the music (Quite a few classic Christmas songs were written by Jews) We can enjoy the beautiful store decorations, we can enjoy the beautiful private homes lit up at night and we can enjoy cookies and other seasonal treats. It is just that Santa does not visit our homes, we tend not to lay our wrapped presents under our Christmas Tree which we also tend not to have. However, Jews do have some Christmas traditions. It is not uncommon for Jewish families to get together on this day simply because so many people have the day off from work. Growing up in Long Island, my family often zipped into Brooklyn to visit Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas Day simply because it was a convenient day for family to visit. Another tradition, is born out of reality. There are not too many restaurants open on Christmas Day. Like Jews, most Chinese people do not celebrate Christmas either. It is for this reason, that the tradition of going to Chinese restaurant for Jews on Christmas Day has evolved. Yesterday my family walked five miles downtown to Chinatown in Chicago and five miles back home. For the second year in a row ate dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Emperor's Choice.
This short paragraph from 'The Atlantic' was interesting.
It sometimes surprises me that people who know that I am Jewish ask if I celebrate Christmas. It is true that Christmas is an American national holiday. Christmas is also a religious holiday and it is simply not a holiday for Jews to celebrate. Obviously, I am not dumb enough to attempt to speak for all Jews, but Jews can enjoy Christmas without celebrating it. We can enjoy the music (Quite a few classic Christmas songs were written by Jews) We can enjoy the beautiful store decorations, we can enjoy the beautiful private homes lit up at night and we can enjoy cookies and other seasonal treats. It is just that Santa does not visit our homes, we tend not to lay our wrapped presents under our Christmas Tree which we also tend not to have. However, Jews do have some Christmas traditions. It is not uncommon for Jewish families to get together on this day simply because so many people have the day off from work. Growing up in Long Island, my family often zipped into Brooklyn to visit Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas Day simply because it was a convenient day for family to visit. Another tradition, is born out of reality. There are not too many restaurants open on Christmas Day. Like Jews, most Chinese people do not celebrate Christmas either. It is for this reason, that the tradition of going to Chinese restaurant for Jews on Christmas Day has evolved. Yesterday my family walked five miles downtown to Chinatown in Chicago and five miles back home. For the second year in a row ate dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, Emperor's Choice.
This short paragraph from 'The Atlantic' was interesting.
If there’s a single identifiable moment when Jewish Christmas—the annual American tradition where Jews overindulge on Chinese food on December 25—transitioned from kitsch into codified custom, it was during Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s 2010 confirmation hearing. During an otherwise tense series of exchanges, Senator Lindsey Graham paused to ask Kagan where she had spent the previous Christmas. To great laughter, she replied: “You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant.”
I am no fan of Elena Kagan, but I must admit that I found her response endearing.
Your Food Diary For:
| BREAKFAST |
Calories
kcal
|
Carbs
g
|
Fat
g
|
Protein
g
|
Sodium
mg
|
Sugar
g
|
|
| Quaker - Instant Oatmeal- Maple | 800 | 160 | 10 | 20 | 1,300 | 60 | |
| 800 | 160 | 10 | 20 | 1,300 | 60 | ||
| L U N C H | |||||||
| Post Great Grains Raisins Dates Pecans | 700 | 137 | 13 | 13 | 450 | 43 | |
| 700 | 137 | 13 | 13 | 450 | 43 | ||
| D I N N E R | |||||||
| Wonton soup - Soup | 200 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 850 | 1 | |
| Potstickers, 2 | 100 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 231 | 2 | |
| Generic - Crab Ragoon | 100 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 189 | 0 | |
| Sweet & Sour Pork | 300 | 41 | 2 | 27 | 225 | 21 | |
| Seafood Delight, squid & shrimp | 200 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 423 | 0 | |
| Fried Rice | 600 | 87 | 21 | 17 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1,500 | 170 | 51 | 76 | 1,918 | 24 | ||
| Totals | 3,000 | 467 | 74 | 109 | 3,668 | 127 | |
| Your Daily Goal | 4,033 | 504 | 134 | 202 | 2,300 | 151 | |
| Remaining | 1,033 | 37 | 60 | 93 | -1,368 | 24 | |
|
Calories
kcal
|
Carbs
g
|
Fat
g
|
Protein
g
|
Sodium
mg
|
Sugar
g
|
||
| *You've earned 2,103 extra calories from exercise today | |||||||
Your Exercise Diary for:
| Cardiovascular | Minutes | Calories Burned | |
| 99 | 1,017 | ||
|
Walk to and from Chinatown
|
150 | 1,200 | |
| Daily Total / Goal | 249 / 30 | 2,217 / 590 | |
| Weekly Total / Goal | 1177 / 210 | 12,101 / 4,130 | |
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