Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

diatriose OP t1_j1mv7n7 wrote

Reply to comment by Cowboy_Yankee in Fellow Philly Jews, where are you eating Chinese tonight? by diatriose

Oh not just Philly Jews. Jews eating Chinese food on Xmas is a beautiful cultural tradition worldwide

166

[deleted] t1_j1n260i wrote

Okay…sort of a story but hang in there with me. Born catholic. Raised catholic. Always had a natural inclination towards getting Chinese on certain holidays (thanksgiving, Christmas etc). Got my Ancestry DNA kit for the holidays last year. Results comeback. I’m 47% Eastern European Jewish. 47%!!!

So either a parent lied, I was mixed up in the baby room, OR someone in the family made some huge moves in the game of survival.

Either way, super proud of my ancestry. Also, now having read this post, I feel vindicated in my wanting Chinese for the holidays.

44

Fat_Head_Carl t1_j1psicz wrote

That's wild... We did some genealogy work in my family, and my dad's uncle was actually his brother.

Apparently my grandmother got knocked up as a young woman, and her parents raised her son as her brother. Pretty sure it's because they didn't think she'd be able to get a husband back then.

Eventually she married, and had 5 more kids.

My dad passed away young, never even knowing he had a brother. Wild stuff!

2

felis_scipio t1_j1neehz wrote

I have to laugh at the title, I’m not jewish but years ago I was visiting a girlfriends family who was and we went out for Chinese where the Dad went on in exceptionally great detail how Chinese was the traditional Jewish food during Christmas season.

10

Mikemo05 t1_j1o90d6 wrote

Yeah it mainly comes down to the fact that we don’t celebrate Christmas but everyone’s off work anyways so a cheap low effort things to do is a big family meal at the only place that’s open (Chinese)

11

Cowboy_Yankee t1_j1mx6bs wrote

Well then almost every weekend is Xmas for me then hahaha

5

ThisHatRightHere t1_j1n8bo6 wrote

It’s because traditionally most stores and restaurants are closed on Christmas, leaving Jewish people who have a day off with nothing to do little options. Chinese places are always open so over time Asian business owners and Jewish people have created an unspoken holiday bond across the country.

Granted, might be a bit different this year due to Hanukkah overlapping.

27

Cowboy_Yankee t1_j1otueg wrote

Love Chinese, am a non practicing Hindu immigrant, Chinese food saved my butt during my first thanksgiving here hahaha.

4

youngbuck215 t1_j1q8zmw wrote

I once went to a wedding in Mumbai and at the reception they served Chinese Food!!!

0

Cowboy_Yankee t1_j1rjeg4 wrote

Oh so in India along with Indian food , Chinese food is the one of most sought after food. Sometimes people prefer Chinese over Indian and this is a huge topic of debate when people go out to eat . But this is not typical authentic Chinese , this is a indo Chinese mix which I have only found in one restaurant in Houston called Alings. Some Indian places in PA and in rest of US try to make Indo Chinese food but so far it’s been a disappointment lol.

3

tet3 t1_j1ny5ah wrote

Egg rolls, sweet & sour or sesame protein of your choice, venerable General Tso's - there are lots of Hannukah-compatible foods on Chinese menus!

3

Mikemo05 t1_j1o963k wrote

Yeah I’m pretty sure most big family Hanukkah events happen earlier on the holiday. At least for me

2

ThisHatRightHere t1_j1opi9z wrote

Yeah I wouldn’t personally know, but most of my Jewish friends are out of town seeing family this weekend. Probably just because everyone has extra days off work with Christmas here.

1

tipyourwaitresstoo t1_j1p7af3 wrote

We never celebrated Xmas and would take our kids out to Chinese for years while they were growing up. I didn’t realize it was a Jewish tradition until a few years into “our” tradition. We were just eating at the only open restaurants. Btw, we’re African American. P.S. We did Thanksgiving like this too but added a movie.

3