When I think of Valentines Day I immediately think, jeez what a great excuse for women to ask for more gifts and men to be pressured into getting them because we have to “declare” our love or some cheesy, consumer driven garbage like that. I also think of all the good deals that stores will have on leftover candy, heart shaped items and cards. I also wonder if celebrating a day that is named after a saint is in fact a bit on the avodah zara side of things and is better left as an ordinary work day with a lot of flowers being brought to your office, with cheesy love letters hanging off to the side, comparable to shalach manos being left outside your door on purim, with similar cheesy notes reading this is from the Mermelsteins instead of “I love you my honey bunches of oats”.
To me Valentines Day is a big business sponsored holiday in order to get those people back into the stores who haven’t been shopping since the other corporate sponsored holiday known as Thanksgiving-New Years- after new years sale- to the slow time between the week after new years until valentines day. What better excuse to get men off their butts and down to the mall to spend some money before everyone goes into tax mode, then by making their lovers think that if things are not bought for this specific day, then all is off and they are not in love. Oh and just because it has a heart on it, don’t mean he loves you, it means that he doesn’t want to take the couch if you know what I mean.
I wish I could abbreviate valentines day, but then it becomes VD, so I passed that opportunity up. But anyway, is this holiday for Jews. Some may argue that its tradition like Thanksgiving- which is more of a farming related holiday to give farmers a boost before the winter slowdown. You know people loading up on root veggies and turkey. So any way, valentines day, actually its kind of funny that the abbreviation is VD- being that many babies are conceived on valentines day and lots of other nookie is going down undoubtedly causing much VD.
So back to the point, should valentines day be celebrated as tradition, or should it be treated as a religious holiday and be forsaken by the Jews similar to things such as Easter, or maybe it will take on the status of Halloween, one of those holidays that yeshiva urban legends are passed around about and everyone assumes that Jews were burned at the stake in honor of that holiday. I am quite sure that Jews were burned at the stake on Valentines Day as well as Halloween- just because prior to 1900 they didn’t really need an excuse to start a pogrom. Ah, those Europeans just loved the Jews back in the day, I hear they still do.
I personally do not celebrate Halloween and Valentines Day, nor do I eat Chinese food on Christmas. It just doesn’t seem right to me as an orthodox Jew to try and become one of them- nah its not that bad- its semi philosophical and mostly economical, though I love Thanksgiving, stuffing and cranberry sauce with walnuts in it- give me warm fuzzy feelings.
I know it will get rough with the comment slinging, but don’t worry I am “working” a job today which puts me with unrestricted online access all day long.
With that said what do you think about Jews celebrating Valentines Day or general feelings?
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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
I think Valentine’s Day is a Christian holiday (how convenient that we leave out the Saint in St. Valentine) that has been exaggerated by the greeting card and other consumer industries to get us to spend money (yet again). This is NOT our holiday.
Agreed!
I think the teddy bears and pajama gram ads show to what a pathetic state the world has fallen, or evolved to.
Ah do I smell a Darwin fan?
New Years is also highly christian but 99% of jews don’t know about that. It’s pretty bad that so many celebrate it. Just wikipedia new years and you’ll get so much shit on Jesus.
As for valentines day, I guess I’d say I have nothing to do with it. But you never know what can happen, I may end up being a doesn’t-celebrate-until-oppurtunity. But in general, just like the mother’s day argument you can say it’s quite rude to just brush off the whole year with one stupid made up day. Shouldn’t everyday be somewhat valentines/mothers day?
Hallmark holiday.
Yes a true Hallmark holiday indeed. Well logic would say that New Years is celebrating a day in which the Roman Calender began, it is also celebrating days AD ” after death” or as the say the year of our Lord 2008A.D.
I once learned in school from the sefer Hachinuch about the mitzvah of not to follow in the ways of the goyim, mitzvah 262. The reward for this mitzvah is to get good things from Hashem and Eretz Yisrael.
A girl asked if men wearing rings is a problem if its copying the goyim. So my teacher said no, your allowed to, it shows that the husband is loyal, just that in our circles Jewelry is considered feminine so men don’t wear one.
Anyways, we learnt that u can’t have an x-mas party since x-mas is saying G-d needs a helper, so you can’t say Happy Holidays either. Holiday is from the word Holy day, and your saying that x-mas or any other non Jewish holiday is a holy day. But your allowed to say enjoy your holiday because then your specifying that for them its considered a holiday and not for you.
By New years you can’t have a party cause its celebrating Yushkas bris. You can’t go see the ball drop.
Can’t compliment that the x-mas lights are pretty, its painful to Hashem.
Don’t bring flowers to cemetery.
If its for something loyal and you have to put on kingly clothes like the white wig your allowed to, its not considered chukas hagoyim.
About Valentines Day, I believe its Christian, like you said its named after a St.
This was a really good post.
Girl who sits next to me just got flowers and a singing telegram -:( Its sweet
I’m Jewish — love and gratitude is for every day.
My mom and grandmother live together. Last night (so they’d be there today), I brought my grandmother a dozen red roses (’cause she misses my grandfather [z"l] a lot, and when he was in the navy in WWII, he sent her valentines, and I know she’s feeling extra lonely today).
I got my mother a plant with purple flowers on it that she can plant outside in the spring (I’m bringing Bub something, I’m going to bring Eema something. She’s single and not feeling lonely any day, but I love her, and I’d get her a plant any day).
And I got me some orange gerber daisies (there are some lilies that haven’t opened and some other things, too. I don’t know what they are. I like orange and yellow flowers, even dandelions.)
I deserve flowers, and if I waited for a guy to buy me something every time I want something, I’d have run out of caffeine a long time ago. I’ll create my desired reality, then find someone who wants to share the one he made with me, too.
Valentine’s day? Nah. Happy Thursday.
Flowers for Shabbos? That would be awesome!
And one day, someone who isn’t me will bring me some.
Until then, I think getting a flowering plant to put on the table on Shabbos would probably be the most cost-effective route to go for that. Maybe a weeping pussy willow (I saw those at Trader Joe’s last night, too. My other grandmother [z"l] liked pussy willow, and so do I. (wow, that was a bit of a ramble.)
For the sake of
TGIT- Thank God Its Thursday!!!
To the babysitter: The problem with going that way with not being like goyim is how far do you take it. Everything is being like the goyim besides Klezmer. If black hats came back in style would they be banned.
How could we eat regular bread- we should just eat challah. I mean you can really go over board.
Not saying happy holidays is extreme to me- I mean arent we trying to set an example. You can be nice without believing in Jesus.
One good thing for me. My wife’s birthday is the day after Valentine’s Day so there are ALWAYS flowers on clearance somewhere!
I know this is restating some of the comments that have already been made, but for those lucky enough to have found true love, they should be celebrating it everyday.
And yes, isn’t it convenient that the St. is left off all of those kitchy cards?
So yes, it is a Christian holiday even if there is alternate-side-of-the-street parking.
Hesh, your last comments are spot on!
I usually wish people a “Happy Commercialized-Love Day.”
In all seriousnes, though, if people want to celebrate it as a tradition like Thanksgiving, let them waste their money on the mindless spending for chocolates and candies and hearts and cards and stuff.
In a religious viewpoint… I don’t know. I guess since it’s named after a saint it’s not kosher. If there’s a halacha that says clearly don’t follow it then great, don’t follow it. If not… Then I don’t see a problem it would just depend on the person if they’d want to or not.
I like the chocolate on sale after
To me, Valentine’s Day registers as : big shiny things and traffic, otherwise does not even register on my radar I’m afraid.
Heshman:
yea, its hard to draw the line of what came from where and what’s called from the goyim or not.
About the Holiday part, that’s why your allowed to say “Enjoy your holiday” (specifying its their holiday and not yours) and that’s still being nice. Although I’ve never heard of this before last year, in a way it does extreme, I guess everyone has to judge their situation. Like for the people who’s work makes those parties they have to attend to for business reasons then they can go, I believe.
btw, how come the time is off? it says 2:18 am, when its really 9:18 pm. Is it something on my side? or is it the website?
For me, it’s more like Mother’s Day, actually than either Thanksgiving or a religious holiday. A made up holiday to make people feel good about themselves, or on the contrary, quite miserable, depending on their status. The less one obsesses about the religious aspects of it, the easier to take it lightly and not make a big deal.
Valentine’s day? Gevalt!
A commercial holiday promoting traif chocolate hearts.
Recently, the past few years, it has come to Israel. Anything for a buck no, a shekel, which is stronger.
Yes, please put my blogs up, and I’ll do the same.
I celebrate Thanksgiving as it is the tradition in our family.
New Years Eve is my frickin birthday so you know dat we gonna get down widdit!
Valentines Day? Nah.
Take it from a former Christian. Valentine’s Day is NOT a Christian holiday. Not even just a little bit. There are no observances, prayers, respect… even a little. Outside of some flaky Catholics who insist on going to mass for every saint, even those which have been removed from canon, it is of ZERO consequence to Christians. Most of the Protestants don’t even believe in beatification, etc. Heck, most don’t believe in Jesus or G-d.
It’s a mass market secular holiday, and all those supposed Christians celebrating it with no qualms, I guarantee you if they thought it was a serious religiously-linked holiday in Christianity they’d not bother. There would be outcries from the Vatican rooftops against Frederick’s of Hollywood and crotchless pink panty sales.
My wife watches those commercials, she sees those women getting presents and attention, she wants to be like them. She wants to belong to something. Something where NO ONE gets to pass judgment, no one can say “you must be this pious to ride” or “you must be this (insert qualification here) to belong to (insert group here)”.
She was made to feel that she wasn’t something enough when she was being raised Jewish. Maybe the Conservative synagogue had poor teachers, maybe their sense of chesed was lacking. Maybe her relatives were just snooty because they were Orthodox shul goers and from New York and she wasn’t. There was always someone telling her she wasn’t something enough.
She takes part in the mass market holidays and doesn’t bother attending synagogue services anymore. She stays floating in the soft center of the superficial world that accepts her just as she is. I know what made this happen. I experienced it in the Catholic church. I was never something enough either. They wanted to separate themselves from the outside world with clear delineation. Do this, don’t do that, who cares if there’s truly anything moral or ethical to be made of it, it is because we say it is. That old crusader cry of “G-d wills it!” lives still.
One should place all due importance on those things which are important, and for the reasons they are important and no other. No right thing can ever be done for the wrong reasons, for the wrong reasons will make it a wrong thing in its time. The holidays of importance in Judaism deserve all due attention and respect. They should not be made commercial extravaganzas. After all, they are about G-d.
Those holidays which are not religious, and are commercial extravaganzas, and do not suborn your disloyalty to G-d, and do not draw you to idolatry, and make you seem to belong at least in that public shell we all wear in the greater world, what harm do they truly do?
I lived in that world for many years. I belong to that world. But it didn’t give me a connection in my heart to G-d. Judaism did. Have faith. People are not as dumb as society makes them seem and those things which are truly important will receive their due importance in their time. From us, and from G-d.
the only jewish thing i do on valentines day is choke the chulent.
Hey Suite Potato- that was a really great comment- can I publish it with a link to you of course? I would do it as a great response post. It definitely generate some interesting discussion.
wow. thanks for your perspective, suitepotato!
haha!!!
Choke da cholent!!!!!
LMAOF!
Feh on this holiday.
great way to get girls you just meet to give bjs. i think anything promoting bjs are friends of the jews.
Veru nice post, suite potato- it’s great to hear someone’s tue and deep thoughts. Wow.
Is your wife still like that?
Ok X-chester- I edited your comment- but it would be appreciated if you kept your fantasies inside your head.
“Everything is being like the goyim besides Klezmer.”
Well, not quite. Klezmer sounds a lot like Gypsy- Wedding-Band music from Eastern Europe.
I operate a personalized gift web site and our biggest sales season is the fourth quarter. In the fall I took a course on blogging to promote my site, which is not usually difficult and actually quite enjoyable. Still, well before the end of the holiday season I felt as if I’d either have to shoot myself in the head or dropkick my laptop if I had to write once more about trees, ornaments, presents, cookies, blah blah blah
oops — didn’t mean to send quite yet.
In any case, they’re all American holidays. there is no religious significance to Valentine’s Day, or Halloween, minimal significance to xmas way out of proportion to the attention it gets.
Maybe they aren’t practicing religous holidays, but you have to look at their source.
Especially xmas- I don’t think there’s any way you can separate that from religion, even with all the commercialization today.
Yeah, Halmark holiday, commercial holiday all the way, but its still nice to go out for breakfats/lunch/dinner and get and give presents to the person you love no? I agree, every day should be valentines day, you should tell the people u love that you love them every day, but its good to have a specific day to do it for those who’s schedules get so hectic and workaholicy thats they forget all else.
Who doesn’t ike getting presents and having a romantic dinner with their significant other, awwww