And While We’re on the Topic…
Photo: iClipArt
He’s making a list, checking it twice.
Gonna find out who’s naughty or nice.
~lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town“
Poppyseed: You know, if I were Christian, I wouldn’t be getting any Christmas gifts either.
FrumeSarah, choking down a bite of lunch: And why is that?
Poppyseed: Because sometimes I am naughty.
Before I discovered that Santa Claus wasn’t real (and by real, I mean that the presents attributed to Santa are typically from one’s parents), this notion really bothered me. On several levels. All people have the capacity for both “naughty” AND “nice.” In Judaism, we call these inclinations the Yetzer HaRa and the Yetzer Tov. So while we are intrinsically good, we sometimes do things that aren’t. The idea that gifts are given only to those who are good was upsetting to me as a child. What about those kids whose parents couldn’t afford toys? Would they then understand themselves to be naughty and, therefore, undeserving of Christmas gifts?
He sees you when you’re sleeping,
he knows when you’re awake.
He knows if you’ve been bad or good
so be good for goodness sake!
~lyrics from “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
He sees you when you are sleeping? Was I the only one who found this creepy?
Frume Sarah is Shabbos-observant -- in a Reform way, that is. Please note that from Friday afternoons until one hour after sundown on Saturday evenings, Frume Sarah will be unavailable, in observance of the Jewish Sabbath.
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Thank you for your understanding...and gut Shabbos!!! 
Frume Sarah's World 
Log on to the “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” site (I think it’s NBC) and check out Michael C. Hall’s appearance from 12/7/10. He sings, “Santa Clause is Coming to Town” from the perspective of “Dexter.” It’s really funny, and I think you’ll appreciate the way he ends it!!
Nope, definitely not the only one.
I don’t know if this really happened, but years ago, I heard about some kids that called 911. They thought Santa had died because they didn’t get any toys.
I got it as a very young child that the legend of Santa Claus making it around the world delivering gifts to millions of households was totally impossible (not to mention the thousands of Santas in all the malls), so I always thought believing in Santa made you kinda stupid. Come on, really? There are nice parts and strange parts of the whole legend.
It is a creepy song. What was the song writer thinking?
I never believed in Santa – many religious Christians refuse to teach that (not that my family was religious, they just pretended they were). That said I always thought that song was super creepy! I always refused to have anything to do with Santa whatsoever. I didn’t get it them and clearly I don’t get it now.
I was the kid every christian parent hated. Being raised a jw, I was told by my parents at the first mention of santa, that he was make believe. They left out the fact that I shouldn’t tell anyone at school. I made an announcement to the whole class. I have friends that are still mad at me over it.