I know that my
title is really a bit overdone, but the fact is that we (Americans, Israelis,
Christians, and Jews) have seemed to lose all contact with the essence of our
holidays.
Last week brought
all the "black Friday" sales in the US. With large lines. I heard that some stores were already open on
Thanksgiving (pity the employees…). And in Israel the gastronomic excess of the
Hanukkah holidays is already abundant.
As I pass the donuts display in our local grocery, I wonder who is already
willing, a week and a half before the holiday, to start downing jelly donuts.
Now I'm not saying
that giving gifts is bad, nor eating holiday delectables. But things have blossomed
entirely out of control.
This week I bought
the weekly woman's magazine, as I often do.
There was already a holiday recipe section, replete with fancy cakes and
exquisite decorations. And, naturally it
was a dieter's nightmare. I immediately vowed that I would not even try ONE
dish, they were all way beyond the pale as far as my eating plan is concerned.
But what bothered me more was the elaborate amount of work that nearly all the
dishes entailed. We are raising a generation of young women who not only have to be a size XXS, but who
work full time, raise a family, AND are expected to be able to bring gourmet
deserts to the family party.
At what price?
Is Hanukkah really
about fancy gifts, fancy chocolate petite fours, and designer tables? None of these
things are bad or evil in and of themselves. But taken together, the emphasis
on doing something that will "WOW" our guests, impress our relatives,
etc. can oh so easily be overdone. And I myself am not immune to this. But we
are taking this just way too far.
Wouldn't be better
to spend two hours baking cookies with our grand-kids rather than cooking up delicacies
that are way too fattening and cholesterol-ridden anyway?