In just a few days the holiday of Channukah is going to start, but that also means that we are in the thick of the Christmas season. In the modern world, Jews have the opportunity to experience Christmas as a time when people all across the shared culture of our national identities choose to hold the virtues of kindness and peacefulness in especially high regard. Though it is still a Christian religious holiday, there are ways observant Jews can appreciate many of the sentiments of the Christmas season.

I vividly remember the holiday season from my childhood years. From my adult perspective, I have come to see those days differently than I saw them then. I grew up in an overwhelmingly Christian part of town, such that it often felt isolating to be Jewish. My house was the only house on the block that didn't have lights, I never believed in Santa and I never tasted most of the traditional Christmas foods that everyone seemed to enjoy so much. For a small boy, Channukah often isn't a sufficient consolation for missing out on what everyone calls the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

But when I think about those evocative images, the house without lights, never carrying a Christmas tree with my father, never waking up early on Christmas morning, I don't really see a kid missing out on the fun. Instead, I remember being a neighbor and a friend who got to learn about the traditions of another area of life. To be one of few Jews in a modern town is to frequently educate others about your rituals, so it feels foreign to be the one in need of education. I honestly don't recall very much regret or loneliness in the holiday seasons of my early years. Rather, I think of those times when Christmas traditions were made meaningful to me by being invited into the personal customs of individual families.

My favorite example is the first time I ever witnessed the decoration of a Christmas tree. I was 15 and I joined my friends at one of their houses to help them place tinsel and ornaments, many of which had histories to them. From afar, Christmas trees look like little more than decorations, but many of them are lovingly constructed chronicles of a family. An ornament may represent a loved one who has since passed, or a vacation to a special place. There is so much potential for meaning in the Christmas tree that doesn't really have to be religious at all. I still didn't want to have a tree in my house, but I developed an appreciation for that custom I never would have understood without the intimations of my friends.

The lesson here is that being a Jew on Christmas doesn't mean you're left out or supposed to be resistant to the holiday any more than Christians ought to be left out of Jewish traditions. It is an opportunity to learn and to see life from the perspective of a neighbor. There's beauty in the process, even if the spiritual impetus for the customs don't mesh with Judaic philosophy. Join your friends on Christmas and share their joy.