The dilemma of the December Dilemma<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It happens about the time shopping malls hire their Santas, schools schedule "Winter Concerts" and televisions start radiating even more images of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The dilemma of the December Dilemma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It happens about the time shopping malls hire their Santas, schools schedule "Winter Concerts" and televisions start radiating even more images of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Mattingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1998-12-09T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-30T18:33:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/\",\"name\":\"The dilemma of the December Dilemma\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"1998-12-09T13:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-30T18:33:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\"},\"description\":\"It happens about the time shopping malls hire their Santas, schools schedule \\\"Winter Concerts\\\" and televisions start radiating even more images of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The dilemma of the December Dilemma\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Mattingly\",\"description\":\"On Religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\",\"name\":\"tmatt\",\"description\":\"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. 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{"id":1056,"date":"1998-12-09T08:00:00","date_gmt":"1998-12-09T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/09\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/"},"modified":"2013-01-30T13:33:16","modified_gmt":"2013-01-30T18:33:16","slug":"the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/1998\/12\/the-dilemma-of-the-december-dilemma\/","title":{"rendered":"The dilemma of the December Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

That\u2019s when Jewish groups hold \u201cDecember Dilemma\u201d forums to help parents survive \u201cthe holidays.\u201d In isolated segments of society, the season continues to be called Christmas.<\/p>\n\n

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg thinks this is all really strange.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI always feel like an outsider, but not because it\u2019s Christmas,\u201d said the veteran editor of the Intermountain Jewish News in Denver. \u201cI feel like an outsider because so many Jews are talking about their \u2018December Dilemmas\u2019 and I don\u2019t have a \u2018December Dilemma.\u2019 In fact, I think the whole \u2018December Dilemma\u2019 concept is strange because it presupposes that what\u2019s going on in some other tradition is automatically going to take up a lot of space in a Jew\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

In other words, Goldberg believes Jewish groups actually need to hold forums asking why so many Jews feel such strong conflicts this time of year. Ironically, the true \u201cDecember Dilemma\u201d is that Jews need to talk about a \u201cDecember Dilemma\u201d in the first place.<\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s especially poignant, said the rabbi, that so many Jews fear that their children will \u201cfeel deprived\u201d if they miss the commercialized and quasi-religious parade that dominates popular culture in December. He said this usually means there is a \u201chollow place\u201d in the lives of these families, a place that should be filled with Judaism\u2019s own daily, weekly and seasonal cycle of traditions and teachings.<\/p>\n\n

A child in a family that enjoys Jewish life and faith is less likely to crave a Christmas tree. Here\u2019s another irony: children who have, December after December, been taught the true meaning of the modest holiday called Hanukkah are also less likely to try to coerce their parents into turning it into a Jewish super-holiday. This year, the eight-day \u201cfestival of lights\u201d begins at sundown on Sunday (Dec. 13).<\/p>\n\n

But if a family\u2019s life is dominated by television, pop music, movies, shopping and other activities that have little or nothing to do with their faith, then it will probably feel tension during these media-mad and highly secularized holidays.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t deny that many people truly feel conflicted and confused during this season,\u201d said Goldberg. \u201cBut I believe that this is evidence that something is radically wrong in the lives of many Jews. This is very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Truth is, millions of Jews no longer practice Judaism and many others blend elements of other religions \u2013 such as Buddhism<\/a> \u2013 into their faiths. Of America\u2019s 4 million to 6 million Jews, a 1990 poll found that 1.1 million claim no religious faith at all and another 1.3 million actively practice another faith. Researchers found only 484,000 American Jews who regularly attend synagogue or temple services.<\/p>\n\n

Obviously, the \u201cDecember Dilemma\u201d also affects millions of homes in which one parent is Jewish, to one degree or another, while the other is Christian, to one degree or another.<\/p>\n\n

Here\u2019s how Ellen Harris of Palo Alto, Calif., described December with Santa Claus and a menorah: \u201cMy husband and I aren\u2019t sure about faith, but we do feel that cultural and moral educations are important for our kids. They don\u2019t identify themselves as Jews or Christians, although they talk about both faiths openly. I think it is healthy for them to know the differences and for them to know about things that don\u2019t have answers.\u201d She offered her views on \u201cMelding The Religions\u201d in Disney Online\u2019s \u201cDecember Dilemma\u201d pages.<\/p>\n\n

That says it all. However, Rabbi Goldberg is convinced that a small, but fervent, minority will avoid spinning in the holiday blender by turning to quieter celebrations built on Jewish tradition. And for the majority, its sense of season schizophrenia will probably fade.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe whole concept of the \u2018December Dilemma\u2019 is based on the idea that people still feel some tension between their Jewish faith and what\u2019s going on around them,\u201d he said. \u201cOne would have to conclude that, as more Jews lose any real sense of Jewish identity, we will hear less and less talk about a \u2018December Dilemma.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"