Warm, Winter wishes

Recently I set out on a mission to find a fun, compact and perhaps even slightly elegant holiday card. Not a "Happy Holidays" card with a Christmas tree or Santa Claus on it. Because these cards are not holiday-neutral. Just like having a Secret Santa is still an extension of a Christian holiday. Or having a card scattered in green and red packages and stockings hung by a chimney means something special.

My parents came from different faiths (Christian and Jewish) and I remember early childhood with combo holidays; matzoh at Easter, dreidel under the Christmas tree. Having lived a majority of my life as having no specific faith I find it fascinating now to see the wide-reaching impact of Christianity. All the way down to secular greeting cards. Because I have celebrated Christmas all my life I have fond memories of the holiday. Because I identify as a Jewish woman I don't want Christmas iconography on my holiday cards. Plus, my pals are all over the place. So. The quandary.

I didn't have time to go with cards I found online. But I was amused by these none-the-less. My favorite was really the Underground-themed Happy Hanukkah from Brooklyn. Unfortunately the link to that was one dead by the time I found it. It's awesome.

In the meantime I also found a whole slew of Jewish penguin items I will be linking to a friend. For she loves penguins. Hardcore.