JTF.ORG Forum
Torah and Jewish Idea => Torah and Jewish Idea => Topic started by: Tag-MehirTzedek on December 23, 2013, 04:53:57 PM
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http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm
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Yes. You should always go to a Jewish website for the history of CHRISTMAS. ::)
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I should have also said the reason I put this up- for the Jews either in America or in Israel (celebrating "sylvestor" or "New Years) to desist from celebrating this holiday and learn what it is that they are upholding.
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Yes. You should always go to a Jewish website for the history of CHRISTMAS. ::)
That's what I have always heard, but would like to hear a different version if you have one. Maybe in pm... Thinking about this stresses me out, beings my wife and kids are Christians, and I don't know how to handle it. It's hard enough talking about Jesus. I did hear someone talking about this the other day on Rush though.
Tag, my father's side was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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I should have also said the reason I put this up- for the Jews either in America or in Israel (celebrating "sylvestor" or "New Years) to desist from celebrating this holiday and learn what it is that they are upholding.
I'm Jewish but when it comes to New Years Eve, Sylvester, Tweetie or anything else I'm up at midnight blowing my horn and welcoming in the New Year, this is 2013 and we don't live under rocks.
And yes when it comes to Thanksgiving as an AMERICAN I celebrate with the biggest turkey I can find and right now I would be celebrating with you.
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I'm Jewish but when it comes to New Years Eve, Sylvester, Tweetie or anything else I'm up at midnight blowing my horn and welcoming in the New Year, this is 2013 and we don't live under rocks.
And yes when it comes to Thanksgiving as an AMERICAN I celebrate with the biggest turkey I can find and right now I would be celebrating with you.
Celebrating with me? Don't know what you mean but ookay.
Why "celebrate" new years? It just seems very silly for me. Now in 2013, what is their to celebrate? blowing your horn and doing what?
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I'm Jewish but when it comes to New Years Eve, Sylvester, Tweetie or anything else I'm up at midnight blowing my horn and welcoming in the New Year, this is 2013 and we don't live under rocks.
And yes when it comes to Thanksgiving as an AMERICAN I celebrate with the biggest turkey I can find and right now I would be celebrating with you.
Jenny is probably a fake.
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Why 'celebrate' New Years? It is a pagan custom based on a pagan system. Real Jews do not observe that day, especially the way the gentile nations do. We do not drink to get drunk and disorderly, make a lot of noise,etc.
I think the Jewish view is the correct view. Jews who observe this day are traitors to their people.
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The primary reason we don't celebrate it is because the Christian calendar is based on the birth of their so-called messiah (which we believe is fake).
The Jewish people have our own calendar and we mark our Holidays on that calendar, and there is no holy day which falls out on the Christian new year.
Remember that Jews around the world were especially persecuted on this day, and this is why we don't consider it a special day...
http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/newyearshistory/
A History of New Years
In 46 B.C.E. the Roman emperor Julius Caesar first established January 1 as New Year’s day. Janus was the Roman god of doors and gates, and had two faces, one looking forward and one back. Caesar felt that the month named after this god (“January”) would be the appropriate “door” to the year. Caesar celebrated the first January 1 New Year by ordering the violent routing of revolutionary Jewish forces in the Galilee. Eyewitnesses say blood flowed in the streets. In later years, Roman pagans observed the New Year by engaging in drunken orgies—a ritual they believed constituted a personal re-enacting of the chaotic world that existed before the cosmos was ordered by the gods.
As Christianity spread, pagan holidays were either incorporated into the Christian calendar or abandoned altogether. By the early medieval period most of Christian Europe regarded Annunciation Day (March 25) as the beginning of the year. (According to Catholic tradition, Annunciation Day commemorates the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would be impregnated by G-d and conceive a son to be called Jesus.)
After William the Conqueror (AKA “William the Bastard” and “William of Normandy”) became King of England on December 25, 1066, he decreed that the English return to the date established by the Roman pagans, January 1. This move ensured that the commemoration of Jesus’ birthday (December 25) would align with William’s coronation, and the commemoration of Jesus’ circumcision (January 1) would start the new year - thus rooting the English and Christian calendars and his own Coronation). William’s innovation was eventually rejected, and England rejoined the rest of the Christian world and returned to celebrating New Years Day on March 25.
About five hundred years later, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII (AKA “Ugo Boncompagni”, 1502-1585) abandoned the traditional Julian calendar. By the Julian reckoning, the solar year comprised 365.25 days, and the intercalation of a “leap day” every four years was intended to maintain correspondence between the calendar and the seasons. Really, however there was a slight inaccuracy in the Julian measurement (the solar year is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds = 365.2422 days). This slight inaccuracy caused the Julian calendar to slip behind the seasons about one day per century. Although this regression had amounted to 14 days by Pope Gregory’s time, he based his reform on restoration of the vernal equinox, then falling on March 11, to the date had 1,257 years earlier when Council of Nicaea was convened (March 21, 325 C.E.). Pope Gregory made the correction by advancing the calendar 10 days. The change was made the day after October 4, 1582, and that following day was established as October 15, 1582. The Gregorian calendar differs from the Julian in three ways: (1) No century year is a leap year unless it is exactly divisible by 400 (e.g., 1600, 2000, etc.); (2) Years divisible by 4000 are common (not leap) years; and (3) once again the New Year would begin with the date set by the early pagans, the first day of the month of Janus - January 1.
On New Years Day 1577 Pope Gregory XIII decreed that all Roman Jews, under pain of death, must listen attentively to the compulsory Catholic conversion sermon given in Roman synagogues after Friday night services. On New Years Day 1578 Gregory signed into law a tax forcing Jews to pay for the support of a “House of Conversion” to convert Jews to Christianity. On New Years 1581 Gregory ordered his troops to confiscate all sacred literature from the Roman Jewish community. Thousands of Jews were murdered in the campaign.
Throughout the medieval and post-medieval periods, January 1 - supposedly the day on which Jesus’ circumcision initiated the reign of Christianity and the death of Judaism - was reserved for anti-Jewish activities: synagogue and book burnings, public tortures, and simple murder.
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I'll admit that it makes me plenty angry to think about the persecution and oppression my forefathers (only 100 years ago) experienced at the hands of the 'gentle' nations...
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Why 'celebrate' New Years? It is a pagan custom based on a pagan system. Real Jews do not observe that day, especially the way the gentile nations do. We do not drink to get drunk and disorderly, make a lot of noise,etc.
I think the Jewish view is the correct view. Jews who observe this day are traitors to their people.
It is unfair to insinuate that all people Jewish or Gentile celebrate New Years Eve by drinking to get drunk and disorderly.
Yeah, the goal of celebrating the New Year is creating a ruckus. ::). Give me a break! Every year my family had a lovely dinner and a sip of champagne at midnight. This year will be different because two of our ruckus creators have died. I wish I could get drunk with them and create a ruckus in celebration of the end of a sad year.
This is a free country. (That unfortunately you were born in.) Don't celebrate a holiday if you don't want to. Isn't it that plain and simple?
What is the point in ripping apart the holidays celebrated in this country?
Don't worry! There are others on the same track as you. When they are done eliminating holidays or taking G-d out of Christian holidays....they will come for yours.
For a month now, people on this forum have taken great joy in writing XMas and Xristianity. Especially, if they could get it into a thread title. ( I know...you shouldn't be writing Christ. There is always an excuse to be disrespectful.)
I think the point of this forum is to be respectful to each other, in an attempt to work together, to defeat evil.
So, I hope all your holidays are joyous or meaningful. I will never begrudge you the observance of your faith, patriotism, or likes.
And Muman...this post is not just for you. But you come out with such crazy assumptions, and being that you are a great genius and good deed doer... I expect more of you.
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I think the Jewish view is the correct view. Jews who observe this day are traitors to their people.
No one said they are traitors, relax. Many people are just ignorant about it and just want an excuse to party.
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Why 'celebrate' New Years? It is a pagan custom based on a pagan system. Real Jews do not observe that day, especially the way the gentile nations do. We do not drink to get drunk and disorderly, make a lot of noise,etc.
I think the Jewish view is the correct view. Jews who observe this day are traitors to their people.
Dear Sir
Being that you live in Israel I guess you wouldn't celebrate New Years on December 31st/January 1st but in America everything runs by the so called disorderly New Years, I can just picture going to work and saying "sorry that's not the right day and year on these documents and me crossing them out and putting the Jewish year in, if I was in Israel I would do that but even there the real people who do business with the outside world must use the disorderly New Years.
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It is unfair to insinuate that all people Jewish or Gentile celebrate New Years Eve by drinking to get drunk and disorderly.
Yeah, the goal of celebrating the New Year is creating a ruckus. ::). Give me a break! Every year my family had a lovely dinner and a sip of champagne at midnight. This year will be different because two of our ruckus creators have died. I wish I could get drunk with them and create a ruckus in celebration of the end of a sad year.
This is a free country. (That unfortunately you were born in.) Don't celebrate a holiday if you don't want to. Isn't it that plain and simple?
What is the point in ripping apart the holidays celebrated in this country?
Don't worry! There are others on the same track as you. When they are done eliminating holidays or taking G-d out of Christian holidays....they will come for yours.
For a month now, people on this forum have taken great joy in writing XMas and Xristianity. Especially, if they could get it into a thread title. ( I know...you shouldn't be writing Christ. There is always an excuse to be disrespectful.)
I think the point of this forum is to be respectful to each other, in an attempt to work together, to defeat evil.
So, I hope all your holidays are joyous or meaningful. I will never begrudge you the observance of your faith, patriotism, or likes.
And Muman...this post is not just for you. But you come out with such crazy assumptions, and being that you are a great genius and good deed doer... I expect more of you.
Shalom BC3,
If you read what I write I am only speaking to Jewish people. What non-Jews do concerning the date does not matter to me. As a matter of fact I do wish you and all you know a very Happy and Healthy New Year. There is nothing wrong with your celebration from my perspective, you have your beliefs which although in some areas run contrary to mine, for the majority of issues I believe we are on the same page. I have no need to persuade you or any non-Jew to not enjoy this season (so long as it does not become as it has in the past an occasion to beat up and oppress Jews).
The reason Jews will not accept these days as holidays is because a Jew has a command from the Torah to not be like the nations around him. This is called being a 'separate nation' a 'holy nation' which does not follow the majority in their customs and rites. This is why the Jewish people have survived to this day while for all these 2000 years living in exile in foreign lands. The oppression of the host nations (including the pogroms, expulsions, and crusades & inquisitions) have provided the Jewish people with the desire to remain apart from the ways of the nations.
I fully admit I was brought up with these holidays and participated in their observation. But as I grow older I realize how important it is for the Jewish people to remain a nation 'which is not reckoned among the nations'. I hope you realize that my (and others here) desire to to keep the Jewish people alive by preventing assimilation and losing the Jewish faith. We are a very small people and every soul we lose is worth millions of future souls.
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Dear Sir
Being that you live in Israel I guess you wouldn't celebrate New Years on December 31st/January 1st but in America everything runs by the so called disorderly New Years, I can just picture going to work and saying "sorry that's not the right day and year on these documents and me crossing them out and putting the Jewish year in, if I was in Israel I would do that but even there the real people who do business with the outside world must use the disorderly New Years.
Jenny,
Are you trying to be funny here? Nobody is saying that we have a need to tell the gentile nations about the wrongness of their year. And no I don't live in Israel, I live in the San Francisco bay area and yet I manage to keep my Jewish identity strong. And my Bosses do know about the Jewish calendar. I happened to mention it to him yesterday as a matter of fact. Our calendar is something to be proud of, and our Holidays are also something to be proud of.
Non Jews are not obligated to observe our holidays. So long as they recognize that it is important for us to observe them, and give us time off for these holidays, this is adequate.
But as I stated in my reply to BC3, it is very important for Jewish people to retain their Jewish identity otherwise we melt into the host nation losing our heritage. The Torah clearly says many places that he wants the Jewish people to be a 'Holy Nation' (Am Kedosh) and a Nation Apart from the others. How can you do this if you are observing their holidays?
People at my company observe the Chinese New Years in January (it always falls near my birthday). I will never celebrate Chinese New Years with them (they hold a big company party for it) with big Roast Pig (Pork) and other Chinese delicacies. I will not go... Because I am a Jew and I do not observe the holidays of the nations (especially when the main celebration calls for eating pork).
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http://ohr.edu/1362
Dear Rabbi,
Many of the seemingly simple things leave me wondering. We use the word "kadosh" or "holy" often in our prayers, as in the Kedusha or in the third blessing of the Shemone Esrei standing prayer. But what does it mean? I have asked a number of people over the years, but Ive never received a clear answer. I would appreciate your thoughts. Thank you.
Dear Jeffrey,
You assume "kadosh" means holy. However, the Torah calls a harlot "kadesha" (see Gen. 38:15, 21), even though a street-walker doesnt exactly fit most peoples definition of holy. The commentators explain that kadosh means separate or set aside for a specific purpose. In the example above, then, kadesha refers to a woman who has separated herself from moral behavior and has designated herself for prostitution.
In the examples you brought, the third blessing of the shemone esrei (called kedushat Hashem) and Kedusha during the repetition of the shemone esrei, we are expressing the fact that G-d is entirely separate from the mundane world, as we attempt to raise ourselves out of materialism and cleave to Him. In this way we intend to mimic the angels, who are themselves separate from this world and designated to praise G-d.
The Jewish people are also called kadosh, as in "For you are an Am Kadosh to the Lord your G-d who has chosen you to be a special people to Himself, above all peoples of the earth" (Deut. 7:6). Here too, as explicit in the verse, the Jewish people are separate and set aside from the other nations to be G-ds special, chosen people.
Similarly, the Land of Israel is called Eretz HaKodesh, the city of Jerusalem is called Ir HaKodesh, the Temple is called Beit HaMikdash, and the most restricted area therein was called the Kadosh HaKadoshim. In all of these instances, the term kadosh expresses that these places are separate and more special than other places of their kind.
In commanding us to refrain from eating forbidden foods, G-d says hitkadashtem (withdraw yourselves from it) and you shall be kedoshim because I am kadosh (Lev. 11:44). Finally, one who sacrifices his life for his belief in God, the Torah or the commandments is also called kadosh. Such an extreme expression of faith repudiates the false beliefs of his tormentors, distinguishes him from among his people and relegates him to a special status in Heaven.
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Jenny,
Are you trying to be funny here? Nobody is saying that we have a need to tell the gentile nations about the wrongness of their year. And no I don't live in Israel, I live in the San Francisco bay area and yet I manage to keep my Jewish identity strong. And my Bosses do know about the Jewish calendar. I happened to mention it to him yesterday as a matter of fact. Our calendar is something to be proud of, and our Holidays are also something to be proud of.
Non Jews are not obligated to observe our holidays. So long as they recognize that it is important for us to observe them, and give us time off for these holidays, this is adequate.
But as I stated in my reply to BC3, it is very important for Jewish people to retain their Jewish identity otherwise we melt into the host nation losing our heritage. The Torah clearly says many places that he wants the Jewish people to be a 'Holy Nation' (Am Kedosh) and a Nation Apart from the others. How can you do this if you are observing their holidays?
People at my company observe the Chinese New Years in January (it always falls near my birthday). I will never celebrate Chinese New Years with them (they hold a big company party for it) with big Roast Pig (Pork) and other Chinese delicacies. I will not go... Because I am a Jew and I do not observe the holidays of the nations (especially when the main celebration calls for eating pork).
I feel very sorry for you, you only want to be with Jewish people, live a little, why couldn't you go to the Chinese party and just don't eat the pork, just have a soda, but I guess you are just not a social person.
You seem like a nice person just a little too high strung about things.
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I feel very sorry for you, you only want to be with Jewish people, live a little, why couldn't you go to the Chinese party and just don't eat the pork, just have a soda, but I guess you are just not a social person.
You seem like a nice person just a little too high strung about things.
:::D Do you go to Halloween parties?
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:::D Do you go to Halloween parties?
As a matter of fact I do, I guess you would just want me wearing black from head to toe waiting at home for my man to come home wearing his long stinky black coat.
I forgot I'm going to a holiday party today and wait until New Years Eve, this Jewish girl is going to have a hot time.
P.S. Happy Holiday to all my Christian friends. ;D
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Shalom BC3,
If you read what I write I am only speaking to Jewish people. What non-Jews do concerning the date does not matter to me. As a matter of fact I do wish you and all you know a very Happy and Healthy New Year. There is nothing wrong with your celebration from my perspective, you have your beliefs which although in some areas run contrary to mine, for the majority of issues I believe we are on the same page. I have no need to persuade you or any non-Jew to not enjoy this season (so long as it does not become as it has in the past an occasion to beat up and oppress Jews).
The reason Jews will not accept these days as holidays is because a Jew has a command from the Torah to not be like the nations around him. This is called being a 'separate nation' a 'holy nation' which does not follow the majority in their customs and rites. This is why the Jewish people have survived to this day while for all these 2000 years living in exile in foreign lands. The oppression of the host nations (including the pogroms, expulsions, and crusades & inquisitions) have provided the Jewish people with the desire to remain apart from the ways of the nations.
I fully admit I was brought up with these holidays and participated in their observation. But as I grow older I realize how important it is for the Jewish people to remain a nation 'which is not reckoned among the nations'. I hope you realize that my (and others here) desire to to keep the Jewish people alive by preventing assimilation and losing the Jewish faith. We are a very small people and every soul we lose is worth millions of future souls.
All I ask, from you, is what you expect from me.
We should respect each other.
That doesn't mean I want you ( Jewish people) to assimilate.
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As a matter of fact I do, I guess you would just want me wearing black from head to toe waiting at home for my man to come home wearing his long stinky black coat.
I forgot I'm going to a holiday party today and wait until New Years Eve, this Jewish girl is going to have a hot time.
P.S. Happy Holiday to all my Christian friends. ;D
Wearing black is not a Jewish custom. In fact if possible it should be discouraged even in a funeral.
"having a hot time" - meaning dressing like a sl^t, getting drunk and possibly something else happening. Cheers.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UZeR3yV_Z8
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It is unfair to insinuate that all people Jewish or Gentile celebrate New Years Eve by drinking to get drunk and disorderly.
Yeah, the goal of celebrating the New Year is creating a ruckus. ::). Give me a break! Every year my family had a lovely dinner and a sip of champagne at midnight. This year will be different because two of our ruckus creators have died. I wish I could get drunk with them and create a ruckus in celebration of the end of a sad year.
This is a free country. (That unfortunately you were born in.) Don't celebrate a holiday if you don't want to. Isn't it that plain and simple?
What is the point in ripping apart the holidays celebrated in this country?
Don't worry! There are others on the same track as you. When they are done eliminating holidays or taking G-d out of Christian holidays....they will come for yours.
For a month now, people on this forum have taken great joy in writing XMas and Xristianity. Especially, if they could get it into a thread title. ( I know...you shouldn't be writing Christ. There is always an excuse to be disrespectful.)
I think the point of this forum is to be respectful to each other, in an attempt to work together, to defeat evil.
So, I hope all your holidays are joyous or meaningful. I will never begrudge you the observance of your faith, patriotism, or likes.
And Muman...this post is not just for you. But you come out with such crazy assumptions, and being that you are a great genius and good deed doer... I expect more of you.
Bullcat Xmas isn't a bad or secular word http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For the Italian frogman unit "Xª MAS", see Decima Flottiglia MAS.
A 1922 Ladies' Home Journal advertisement using "Xmas".
Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas . It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but it, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass,[1] while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός which comes into English as "Christ".[2]
There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas[3] by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.
Contents
1 Style guides and etiquette
2 History
2.1 Use in English
2.2 Use of "X" for "Christ"
2.2.1 Other uses of "X(t)" for "Chris(t)-"
3 In popular culture
4 See also
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links
Style guides and etiquette
"Xmas" is deprecated by some modern style guides, including those at the New York Times,[4] The Times, The Guardian, and the BBC.[5] Millicent Fenwick, in the 1948 Vogue's Book of Etiquette states that "'Xmas' should never be used" in greeting cards.[6] The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage states that the spelling should be considered informal and restricted to contexts where concision is valued, such as headlines and greeting cards.[7] The Christian Writer's Manual of Style, while acknowledging the ancient and respectful use of "Xmas" in the past, states that the spelling should never be used in formal writing.[8]
History
Use in English
"Xmas" used on a Christmas postcard, 1910
Early use of "Xmas" includes Bernard Ward's History of St. Edmund's college, Old Hall (originally published circa 1755).[9] An earlier version, "X'temmas", dates to 1551.[9] Around 1100 the term was written as "Xp̄es mæsse" in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.[2] "Xmas" is found in a letter from George Woodward in 1753.[10] Lord Byron used the term in 1811,[11] as did Samuel Coleridge (1801)[5] and Lewis Carroll (1864).[11] In the United States, the fifth edition of the Royal Standard English Dictionary, published in Boston in 1800, included in its list of "Explanations of Common Abbreviations, or Contraction of Words" the entry: "Xmas. Christmas."[12] Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. used the term in a letter dated 1923.[11] Since at least the late 19th century, "Xmas" has been in use in various other English-language nations. Quotations with the word can be found in texts first written in Canada,[13] and the word has been used in Australia,[7] and in the Caribbean.[14] Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage stated that modern use of the term is largely limited to advertisements, headlines and banners, where its conciseness is valued. The association with commerce "has done nothing for its reputation", according to the dictionary.[11]
In the United Kingdom, the former Church of England Bishop of Blackburn, Alan Chesters, recommended to his clergy that they avoid the spelling.[5] In the United States, in 1977 New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson sent out a press release saying that he wanted journalists to keep the "Christ" in Christmas, and not call it Xmas—which he called a "pagan" spelling of Christmas.[15]
Use of "X" for "Christ"
For the article about the χρ symbol, see Chi Rho.
The labarum, often called the Chi-Rho, is a Christian symbol representing Christ.
The abbreviation of Christmas as "Xmas" is the source of disagreement among Christians who observe the holiday. Dennis Bratcher, writing for a website for Christians, states "there are always those who loudly decry the use of the abbreviation 'Xmas' as some kind of blasphemy against Christ and Christianity".[16] Among them are evangelist Franklin Graham and CNN journalist Roland S. Martin. Graham stated in an interview:
"for us as Christians, this is one of the most holy of the holidays, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. And for people to take Christ out of Christmas. They're happy to say merry Xmas. Let's just take Jesus out. And really, I think, a war against the name of Jesus Christ."[17]
Martin likewise relates the use of "Xmas" to his growing concerns of increasing commercialization and secularization of one of Christianity's highest holy days.[18] Bratcher posits that those who dislike abbreviating the word are unfamiliar with a long history of Christians using X in place of "Christ" for various purposes.
The word "Christ" and its compounds, including "Christmas", have been abbreviated in English for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern "Xmas" was commonly used. "Christ" was often written as "Xρ" or "Xt"; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as 1021. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ (Ch) and ρ (R) used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for "Christ"),[2] and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. The labarum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters rendered as ☧,[note 1] is a symbol often used to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches.[19]
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the OED Supplement have cited usages of "X-" or "Xp-" for "Christ-" as early as 1485. The terms "Xtian" and less commonly "Xpian" have also been used for "Christian". The OED further cites usage of "Xtianity" for "Christianity" from 1634.[2] According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, most of the evidence for these words comes from "educated Englishmen who knew their Greek".[11]
In ancient Christian art, χ and χρ are abbreviations for Christ's name.[20] In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons, Χ is an abbreviation for Χριστος,[21] as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma);[22] compare IC for Jesus in Greek.
Other uses of "X(t)" for "Chris(t)-"
Other proper names containing the name "Christ" besides those mentioned above are sometimes abbreviated similarly, either as "X" or "Xt", both of which have been used historically,[23] e.g., "Xtopher" or "Xopher" for "Christopher", or "Xtina" or "Xina" for the name "Christina".
In the 17th and 18th centuries, "Xene" and "Exene" were common spellings for the given name Christine. The American singer Christina Aguilera has sometimes gone by the name "Xtina". Similarly, Exene Cervenka has been a noted American singer-songwriter since 1977.
This usage of "X" to spell the syllable "kris" (rather than the sounds "ks") has extended to "xtal" for "crystal", and on florists' signs to "xant" for "chrysanthemum",[24] even though these words are not etymologically related to "Christ": "crystal" comes from a Greek word meaning "ice" (and not even using the letter χ), and "chrysanthemum" comes from Greek words meaning "golden flower", while "Christ" comes from a Greek word meaning "anointed".
In popular culture
In the animated television show Futurama, which is set in the 31st century, Xmas /ˈɛksməs/ is the official name for the day formerly known as Christmas (which, in the episode "Xmas Story," is said to have become an "archaic pronunciation").
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Thanks for the post, Mord.
It makes things crystal clear for me.
Treating each other respectfully costs nothing in my opinion.
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Midnight on "New Years" I will be sleeping since I don't celebrate Sylvester or any other holiday. Rabbi Tovia Singer and other rabbis have explained in detail the terrible treatment of Jews on xmas and new years back in the days where anti-semitism was glorified. (Jews being tortured, killed, forced conversions etc on both xmas and new years). While we don't live in those days anymore, I am not going to celebrate any of it. Nor am I remotely interested in halloween or ishtar or any day. The Jewish holidays are beautiful and filling enough for my soul on their own. Maybe if I were missing the Jewish holidays, I would try to fill the void with the non-Jewish celebrations.
But I hope people who do celebrate New Years/Sylvester remember to stay safe. Especially those who will be out. People like to drink and then they drive on these days, so please stay safe.
That being said, sorry to offend anyone but in the "Torah and Jewish Idea" section in the forum, I thought things were different. This is the place where we can come to not just discuss Judaism but feel more at ease. We obviously can't go to the general discussion thread and start writing "your religion is wrong" "yeshu ben ploni" or "yoshke pandre". And I don't go to the general discussion to write "xmas" or "xristians". Because that is the general discussion place where everyone is.
I guess what I am trying to say.... at least we're not saying this in the general discussion thread. I recall a few months ago, while there was a big controversy over Judaism and the other religions... people agreed that we could freely write here in the Torah section. And that we would AVOID these types of things in the general discussion section. In other words keep anti-missionary, "x in xmas" etc... only limited to the Torah section of the forum where we would be free to talk about it HERE only.
I'm not saying this is the "Jewish only section" (G-d forbid, since the Torah is universal) but honestly, if we are making an effort to keep these things AWAY from the General section, why come in here to tell us how offensive we are being in the Torah section. The only place in the forum where we can discuss these topics?
Maybe I totally misunderstood what we were going to talk about in the Torah section. Sorry if I did. I don't think people should be offensive, but if I believe in the Torah, and I don't believe that Jews should celebrate xmas or sylvester or anything else... do I have to apologize for talking about it in the Torah section? If someone posts "why Jews should not believe in jesus" in the Torah section, are people going to come here to tell us it's offensive? Even if it's in the Torah section and intended for the Jewish audience? I understand that we can't post that in the General section, but are we not free to do so in the Torah section?
I am sorry for those who were offended by the use of "xstians" in the general discussion section. I did not use that word myself, but I am sorry for the pain other people might have felt.
Anyways, to the Jewish and Noahide members, this is also a great lecture about the topic:
http://www.torahanytime.com/video/the-real-story-of-xmas-and-new-years/ (http://www.torahanytime.com/video/the-real-story-of-xmas-and-new-years/)
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Amen IsraeliHeart...
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I thought this was a forum for people to come together. I didn't think there were sections that I should not read. Thanks for the clarification, IsraeliHeart. Again, crystal clear.
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I thought this was a forum for people to come together. I didn't think there were sections that I should not read. Thanks for the clarification, IsraeliHeart. Again, crystal clear.
I don't know if you are being sarcastic. But in case you did not see it, I actually wrote:
I'm not saying this is the "Jewish only section" (G-d forbid, since the Torah is universal)
Did this part of my response go totally unseen or ignored?
I'm just saying that a few months ago, after much controversy in the General Discussion thread, it was decided that we would limit these controversial topics to the Torah section. I can even pull up the thread where it happened. The Torah is universal. Everyone can see it. But topics like "Why Jews should not believe in jesus" or "the real antisetimic history of xmas and new years" is intended for the Jewish audience for educational purposes. Just as "Why we should convert Jews" is intended for the missionary audience and "why we should advocate the 4 noble truths" is for the buddhist audience etc. Just because something is intended for an audience does not mean that people are forbidden to see it.
We agreed to limit some topics to this section only, so not to offend people in the General section.
All I am saying, if we are posting those type of things here in the hopes of not offending people in the General section, are we inviting those who will be offended to come look at it? I know that people will be offended if I write "the antisemitic history of New Years" so I would not write it in the general section so as not to hurt people there. But if I come here to the Torah section and wanted to share that with the Jewish and Torah believing Gentile audience as a warning/education, am I really twisting your arm to come see it so that you will be offended by it? No, I never said that people are not allowed to be in this section, G-d forbid. But what I was trying to say without being too rude was "no one is forcing you to see it". I just didn't want to say it that way.
I agree it would be wrong to post it in the General section. But in the Torah section? It won't be allowed in the Torah section? The only part of the forum where we can post about learning our history and Torah and anti-missionary activity, are you suggesting that even in this section we are not be allowed to talk about those topics that we believe concern the future of our people?
In NO part did I say "you're not allowed here" as you suggest. But when we are trying to keep controversial topics away from the general section out of respect for people there, it is kind of surprising to suggest that we can't even talk about those things here.
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I'm Jewish but when it comes to New Years Eve, Sylvester, Tweetie or anything else I'm up at midnight blowing my horn and welcoming in the New Year, this is 2013 and we don't live under rocks.
And yes when it comes to Thanksgiving as an AMERICAN I celebrate with the biggest turkey I can find and right now I would be celebrating with you.
Jenny you are obviously a self-hating a Jew if you can celebrate Yoshka's bris
>:(
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Tag, my father's side was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Does your family know that the Pilgrims banned X-mas from the Massachusetts Bay Colony? I'm sure they also would have banned the Secular New Year (January 1). England and the American colonies didn't even go by the Gregorian Calendar yet. I think the year began in March in the New World until the Gregorian Calendar replaced the Julian Calendar.
I don't celebrate "New Year's" and I don't say Happy New Year either. But I sometimes watch it on TV. For me it's all about numbers. The time changing and the month, date, and year. I've always been interested in the calendar and dates (Both Jewish and Secular). At the end of the civil year, I like to think to myself all the things I've done and all the places I've gone, etc..., in the outgoing civil year. Even in Israel, where all holidays are Jewish and by the Jewish Calendar and January 1 is not a holiday, the government still uses January 1 for the new budget. So it's all about numbers and summing up. Maybe you can call it the beginning of the new fiscal year.
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No, they really didn't know their own history and were not and aren't really religious. I started telling my dad things before he passed away...
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This is a free country. (That unfortunately you were born in.) Don't celebrate a holiday if you don't want to. Isn't it that plain and simple?
What is the point in ripping apart the holidays celebrated in this country?
Don't worry! There are others on the same track as you. When they are done eliminating holidays or taking G-d out of Christian holidays....they will come for yours.
As this was posted in the Jewish section, I don't think that was his intention at all. He probably doesn't care what any non-Jewish person celebrates. His point was to inform JEWS why NOT to celebrate the holidays of other people. You are taking offense but you could avoid reading the link he posted altogether. The link he posted is certainly not intending to combat the celebration of Xmas by gentiles in America. It's meant to combat JEWS celebrating Xmas or other non-Jewish holidays. And there shouldn't be any problem with combating that IMO. Our religion forbids us from celebrating your religion or its holidays. Do you have a problem with that in itself?
For a month now, people on this forum have taken great joy in writing XMas and Xristianity. Especially, if they could get it into a thread title. ( I know...you shouldn't be writing Christ. There is always an excuse to be disrespectful.)
I don't see what is offensive about "Xmas." When I was a boy, Xmas was one of the names gentiles used for this holiday when they were proudly celebrating it and displaying decorations with that written on it. If you think people are putting X into thread titles to take potshots at Christians, I think you are being paranoid.
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Yes. I am being paranoid.
Christians always greet each other with Merry X -Mass.
Thanks for the clarification Kahane - Was - Right BT.
I do stand corrected.
I would never expect Jewish people to celebrate non Jewish holidays. I know you know better than that.
Just as you would expect me to proudly celebrate my own.
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Yes. I am being paranoid.
Christians always greet each other with Merry X -Mass.
Thanks for the clarification Kahane - Was - Right BT.
I do stand corrected.
I guess this is sarcasm?
I have a Catholic relative who sends me a gift every year for the holiday. He is someone who is a religious Catholic and would never disparage his religion. He wrote on the check at the bottom left "Merry X-Mas". Apparently not everyone thinks that's offensive like you do. Growing up, I certainly had no indication at all that Xmas was a slur of some kind, and I was in public school where most of the classmates were Christians.
I would never expect Jewish people to celebrate non Jewish holidays.
And yet, many of them do. There are thousands upon thousands of reform Jews who celebrate non Jewish holidays. That is what prompts articles like these to combat their ignorance.
I know you know better than that.
Just as you would expect me to proudly celebrate my own.
This is not about me, personally. And likewise I don't consider this overall topic personal about you either.
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Ok Bullcat, I will be more sensitive when and if making such topics in the future.
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Merry Shitler's birthday. :robot:
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Merry Shitler's birthday. :robot:
Really... I could care less about the Jesus G-d, but come on.
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Really... I could care less about the Jesus G-d, but come on.
Fine Merry Mudhammed day.
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Ok Bullcat, I will be more sensitive when and if making such topics in the future.
Thank you for saying so, Tag-MehirTzedek.
I read the forum from the latest post link.
So, I don't actually enter the Torah and Jewish Idea section of the forum directly.
Taking G-d out of religion is a goal of many on the left.
Visitors to our site might be seeking an alternative.
I would never mean to say that we have to accept each others beliefs.
I just hate for us to turn on each other. It accomplishes the lefts goal in spades.
Most members on the forum are too polite and respectful to say anything ( and maybe it is okay with them)...but many Christians have left.