Jewish Christmas Mitzvah

Every year someone asks me...so what do Jews do on Christmas? The answer is not simple. Just as so many non-Christians in American celebrate the holiday in a secular fashion, there are Jews who have joined the Christmas frenzy. But many of us do not.

This year I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude for simply surviving the year. The final insurance for my Mom's move showed up the day before Christmas, so we have put that event FINALLY in the past. Somehow I managed to hold down my job, deal with the move, be a half-way reasonable friend and wife, continued to train my Newfoundland, and dedicate some time to my own spiritual growth, which includes writing, my fiber art, and studying Hebrew. The year was full...and I feel blessed that I made it through the rough times with my sense of humor and relationships intact. 

Actually, I have more to be thankful for than I can actually express. I am alive. When I was 25, after a wonderful day of skiing, my intestinal track performed two 360 degree loops around my appendix and turned gangrenous. By the time I called the paramedics, I was so swollen I looked like I was 6 months pregnant and I was writhing in pain. I remember bits and pieces of the next several hours, the exams that made me scream, the insertion of the NG tube, and then waking up after surgery. 

They asked me if I knew where I was and what had happened..and all I really knew what that I was not in pain. The doctor later asked me if I was a runner. When I told him that I was, he nodded his head and told me that it had just saved my life. He estimated that I had less than four hours to live when the surgery started. It took ten days in the hospital with an NG tube to come back from the edge of darkness...minus seven feet of intestinal track and an appendix.

I have gone through two major surgeries since, one to repair a weakness at the suture site, and each time awoke with a sense that I had been gifted extra days, and that each moment is special in some way. I do lose sight of this at times, but something always brings me back.

This Christmas it was volunteering at Shalom Park where my Mom now lives. I met a 100 year old woman who told me to make sure to live every minute of my life fully. She was spry and lovely and energetic and sharp and happy. She told me to give thanks for every gift, to take care of the needs of my body, and to have adventures. She said she was blessed by my visit...but honestly I was blessed by the time I spent with her. 

So, what do Jews do on Christmas? Well...some of us try to spread a bit of kindness, give something back to those around us, and...perhaps...find a miracle or two.

Wishing the best of this season of miracles.