Cecelia Siegal, Interviews with Jews in Utah, Accn 998

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Cecelia Sigel p.ll LF .. it was more like a winter celebration .. CS That's right. Like a big party and that was a very ideal time to give gifts and eceive gifts and have a nice big brunch and those things that we did too. LF When you were a child, did your family stress religious practices in home. CS Oh, we never had christmas. LF That would hive neve rhappened ... CS No . We wouldn't have had christmas and as far as hanukah is concerned, I guess we just received what you callhanukah gelt, that is money at hanukah time. When my husband came into the thing, he told me that his e~eRF=Rad=a~Feady=~== mother had always put up a stocking. So there was a little bit of more of that introduction of gift sort of thing. But when we were engaged - I remembered that he came over to the house and he carried-- do you remember these big laundry bags they used to put the laundry in and send it out, and this laundry bag was just filled of all kinds of things and he came as santa claus and he brought me some gifts when we were engaged. Well, it was an exciting experience. LF Did youfeel you had to i hids this a little bit ... CS No. I only felt the need to hide it when my son was getting some repercussio-s fromit but prior to that, I never felt that I was doing anything wrong. And of course, after we were married, my folks started having christmas celebration too. We went right allout for it because it was an ideal time of the year to be giving gifts andhaving fun. I remember one of the first gifts I got after we got married, myhusbandbought me, we had a little coupe, I don't remember now whether it was a Chevrolet or an Oldsmobile coupe and he sent me on a treasure hunt and it ended up with the key to the car. And these wre fun things-\fhere is the religious significance of anything like that. I never felt it. Now, I know that many and maybe most jewish people wouldn't agree with me about it. LF I've heard it -- one family telling me they were concerned about the~r family. Some ¢! have built up the chanukah celebration a little bit more and for some it doens't seem to suffice enough since christmas is such-es a big deal!! Well,it's a bigger deal here in United States than it i~ in ny .!:'lace in Et_trope. And oh, I presume if I were Jiving in Israel, it wouldn't ever.occur tom to have any part of it. But today, we've Jived long enough so that today we don't do anytring to observe christmas per se.