Merry Mish-Mash!!!

Many of you may know that my wife, Denise, and I have created a mixed home. Not only do we enjoy many kinds of cheeses, but we were also raised with two different, though similarly flexible, religious traditions. I was raised Jewish, and Denise was raised Lutheran. So what better time of year to bring those ideas together than the first time since 1959 when Channukah and Christmas happen on the same day?!

Of course, many of you have heard of the war on Christmas (first drugs, then terror, now Christmas...), so I've been searching around for the right way to greet people. "Happy Holidays" has been deemed too inclusive, and therefore intolerable to those less tolerant. And unfortuately all of the other options have proven too...um...sectarian, to suffice. It was quite the conundrum.

Fortuntately, I opened the paper that morning, and found the answer to my woes. Apparently, a family in LA have come up with a catchy concept. Now, I'm not as down with their clumsy gutteral "Chrismukkah" (www.chrismukkah.com), but I did appreciate their way of wishing everyone a "Merry Mish-Mash!!"

So, I bring you warm wishes from the Zweig family...brought to you by our soon to be spiritually confused little girl...