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[michigander]

It's the day before Thanksgiving, and the Christmas decorations just went up in the lobby area of my department's office suite.  I'm Jewish, and I'm wondering how to raise my predictable seasonal issue of feeling excluded since I'm too new here (just three weeks) to have established a really trusting relationship with anyone.  I asked one of the clerical workers who was putting up the big decorated fir tree whether or not there are ever decorations for Hanukkah and Kwanza and was told that there never are.  I was told that the three evergreen trees with decorations, the wreath, and the other silver, green, and red decorations aren't seen as religious because nothing says "Merry Christmas" or has a picture of Jesus.  My institution is in an extremely diverse metropolitan area.  How would folks suggest that I raise how I'm feeling or is it time to STFU until I've been here for a while?  Scanning the names of the various threads and using the search function make it appear that this topic hasn't been discussed on this forum before.

[erzuliefreda]

I'm in the Deep South. When I saw our departmental Xmas display, I went out and bought Kwanzaa and Hanukkah decorations out of pocket and cheerfully gave them to the Department Secretary to add to the festivities. It was the best $20 I've spent here yet.

Best of luck.

[georgiaprof]

Mr. GP takes in some of his own Hanukkah decorations.  That works well and most have been receptive.  I have been at an institution where the response was there were to be no decorations anywhere and have been at one that would shoot you before taking down their tree.  At the latter, we had a faculty member who regularly decorated for Buddha's birthday and other similar occasions.  We had some complain about that and my response was to remind them they they put up the tree in December, so...

[michigander]

I provided a whimsical Hanukkah dreidel and a Kwanza kinara with candles at my previous institution, and they were happily incorporated into our departmental display.  I still have them and plan on bringing them in on Monday to display in my office if nowhere else.  I spoke up on this thread because of my feeling of insecurity at my new institution since I'm not yet a known quantity and I don't know yet who it's safe to ask about this.

[georgiaprof]

I think that putting these up in your office is a good plan - at least until you get a feel for how folks might take this offering.  But, I hope that you find that these offerings are well received in your new workplace.

[erzuliefreda]

I pitched my decorations in terms not of how I was feeling (which was along the lines of "Are you freakin' kidding me?") but in terms of making sure all the students feel included in the holiday celebrations. Best of luck, in any case.

[msparticularity]

My department doesn't have departmental decorations, per se. The administrative staff decorate their office, and individuals do things with their office doors and/or offices (or don't). My Jewish colleague typically puts up a menorah in her window and some kind of a poster on her door, for example. I am not of the decorating species, so my office will look the same.

I have several Chinese colleagues, too, and now that this discussion has come up I realize that they don't seem to do anything about decorations for their New Year--maybe I should encourage them to do something so the rest of us can be aware and enjoy their holiday when it comes around!

[zharkov]

If you are nice, then bringing in other decoration is a nice touch.

But when evil Zharkov worked in industry, he was know to hack Xmas decorations, such as putting Santa and elves in compromising positions, putting a faux joint in Santa's mouth, adding inappropriate items on the tree, and introducing characters such as Yoda and Mickey Mouse into Xmas scenes.

[hulkhogan]

When I saw our departmental Xmas display, I went out and bought Kwanzaa and Hanukkah decorations out of pocket and cheerfully gave them to the Department Secretary to add to the festivities.

This is your answer right here. I'm in the South, too, and I bet your decorations are more a matter of tradition than anything else. In my department, faculty always supplies a menora, a buddha, a ganesha, and a chalice with a candle to enhance the decorations, and no one has ever made anything of it.

[helpful]

What do people mean by "Chanukah decorations". Other than an appropriately lit menorah (after sundown) and the joking "Chanukah bush" of my childhood, I can't think of anything else that you would put up for Chanukah. Have I been missing something in my Jewish heritage? Chanukah is not the Jewish Christmas, after all.

[msparticularity]

What do people mean by "Chanukah decorations". Other than an appropriately lit menorah (after sundown) and the joking "Chanukah bush" of my childhood, I can't think of anything else that you would put up for Chanukah. Have I been missing something in my Jewish heritage? Chanukah is not the Jewish Christmas, after all.

I've seen posters that are along the lines of typical Chanukah cards--blue and silver, with appropriate wishes in English and Hebrew and sometimes pictures of dreidels and menorahs. What I think might be an even better thing would be more visual observation of the holidays that are actually holy and that are observed broadly by American Jews--Rosh Hashanah and Passover, maybe--for cultural representation and sharing. (The idea of doing something visual to note the observation of Yom Kippur seems kind of odd, though.) 

[concordancia]

When I had a Jewish SIL, I made sure to decorate the house in blue and silver holiday decor - during Chanukkah, I would add a menorah and at Christmas I would add a tree, but the decor itself was just festive.

As for "Chanukah decorations" you can commercialize anything!! However, I will point out that in attempting to prove this, Party City had a google hit, but when you followed the link, nothing could be found.

[glowdart]

When I had a Jewish SIL, I made sure to decorate the house in blue and silver holiday decor - during Chanukkah, I would add a menorah and at Christmas I would add a tree, but the decor itself was just festive.

As for "Chanukah decorations" you can commercialize anything!! However, I will point out that in attempting to prove this, Party City had a google hit, but when you followed the link, nothing could be found.

Michael's carries them around here.  Dreidel candles, dreidel garlands, star of David garlands, menorahs, silver & blue garlands, etc.  

[erzuliefreda]

For Hanukkah, I didn't feel comfortable doing a menorah in the office. Nor a Kwanzaa table, for that matter. So I filled a Happy Hanukkah coffee mug with a spray of blue and silver floral matter from Michael's. And for Kwanzaa I bought flashy hanging signs that have representations of the table and other symbols on them. The set of signs hang around the sitting area of the office, and the mug goes up on top of the storage cabinet with the tacky Xmas tree. I'm not going for authenticity here, just something to quiet the screaming of the Baptists. I want to do Winter Solstice, but haven't figured out to manage that yet.

[reener06]

Burn the tacky Xmas tree?