Mr. T...I certainly don't pity da fool

Of course I loved "The A Team" growing up in the 1980s, but I am not talking about that Mr. T.

Over the NYE run of shows, this holiday magnet card landed in my hands from a member of the Whole Phamily, Ms. A.  This is her son, let's call him Mr. (or, really, since he is a young boy, Master) T.

Thank you for this lovely message.  The dancing stars, the cute boy with the long hair (my very own Wolfman used to also have long hair), the purple.  Ms. A has known the original PurpleGirl for years and years.

However Reba and I were just having a discussion about how the classic "Happy Hannukah" has devolved into the more generic Happy Holidays.  There was a discussion on Kveller  regarding the sending of cards by Jews at this time of year rather than at Rosh Hashana, which is the more traditional time to send cards.

For Stango and I personally, we have made it a custom to follow the Jewish calendar and send out a card with a phamily photo in September.

By saying Happy Holidays, there is a watering-down of the message.

Trust me, Ms. A, I am not blaming you, it is just a sign of our culture.  Even my alma mater (for Junior year abroad), The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, sent out an end-of-year solicitation with the words "happy holidays" in the subject line. I was pretty appalled that an overtly Jewish institution would be so generic, but Stango justified it by stating they didn't want to offend anyone (particularly their big donors).

I fully understand that we all have phine phine phriends, many of whom don't celebrate Hanukkah and therefore why would I wish them a happy hanukkah?  Yet, on the flipside, pretty much everyone out there wishes everyone a "Merry Xmas."

Isn't that a double standard?

Time to step up to the plate as proud, educated and identified Jews!  You, Reba, are clearly one of them.  And how nice it was of you to order a Shabbes dinner for Phluffhead's dad who is currently hospitalized.  Can you pass on a refuah shlaima to him from Stango and me?

Maui X-Mas

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that December 25, 2011 is now long past, but if you still are in the holiday spirit you will be 100% entertained by Jeremy Safron's latest and greatest.



For entertainment sake, Mr. Safron is fully there, but if you start to think about it on a deeper level, there is much greatness to his message. Spread more rainbows, remember the promise, and always smile, smile, smile. Oh, and of course always Speak Nicely.

Surely, Mr. Safron is somehow familially connected to Jonathan Safran Foer. Oy, still must finish Eating Animals.