( CNN ) -- Way back in the winter of 1982 , I was a fifth grader at Lakeview Elementary -- and I was not happy . Because it was late in the year , and because I lived in a town , Mahopac , New York , with about six-and-a-half Jews , I was required by law to participate in the school 's annual holiday concert . It was , for a boy who always felt resentful over having to spend December 25 inside Ming 's Chinese Restaurant , the worst of the worst of the worst . Of the 11 songs we were told to sing , 10 were Christmas carols . Of those 10 , seven or eight evoked either Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary . Finally fed up , one day I swallowed my anxiety and approached Mrs. Hart , our fifth-grade teacher -- a woman who scared the living hell out of me . Jeffie : `` Ms. Hart , I have a complaint . '' Ms. Hart : `` What do you want ? '' Jeffie : `` I 'm Jewish . '' Ms. Hart : `` So ? '' Jeffie : `` I do n't think it 's fair that there are no Chanukah songs in the concert . '' Ms. Hart : `` Do n't be stupid . '' That was that . I put on my stupid white collared shirt and my stupid red tie , and when the special night arrived I crooned loud and proud about the miracle of Jesus Christ 's birth . OK , admittedly I stood there and opened my mouth a few times while gazing longingly toward Lori Raffa . Later that evening , I told my father that I would never engage in such an endeavor again . `` Why ? '' he said . `` What 's the big deal ? '' I was stunned . `` It is a big deal , '' I said , `` because these people act like Chanukah does n't even exist . It 's all Christmas , all the time , and we get no equal treatment whatsoever . '' `` You 're right , '' Dad said , `` and it 's an absolute blessing . '' It took me several years to grasp my father 's thinking but , with 41 Decembers now under my belt , I agree 100 % with his take : There 's no better time to be Jewish than December . I know ... I know . Christmas is sooooo-o-o awesome . Presents ! Ham ! A tree ! More presents ! As a Jewish boy in a Christian town , I heard these paeans over and over and over , and I even used to believe them . Why , oh why , could n't we celebrate , too ? Then , one Christmas Eve Dad took me into the city to observe the madness . We entered Macy 's ( ground zero for 1980s holiday madness ) with nary a care in the world , kicked back and soaked in the insanity . There were people fighting over the last Rubik 's Cube and Cabbage Patch doll ; folks nervously gazing down at their crumpled lists -- contained in their faces the looming stress of the emptying wallet , of the materialistic mayhem , of the pure , unadulterated holiday hell . `` Does this look fun to you ? '' Dad asked . `` Um , no , '' I said . `` It does n't . '' `` Is this what you want Chanukah to be ? '' `` No , '' I said . `` Definitely not . '' We returned home , lit the menorah , belted out our off-tune rendition of `` Rock of Ages '' and exchanged the regular sixth- or seventh-night gift . Probably socks . Maybe a Hall & Oates record . My father is a quirky guy : a Brooklyn-born Jew who spent his childhood attending Hebrew school and avoiding bacon . If anyone has pride in his religion , it 's Stanley Pearlman . And yet , Dad never seemed to mind Mahopac in all its Christmas splendor , or carolers standing at the front door , or the inane school concert . I 'd moan and complain and cry , and he refused to flinch . His stance was a simple-yet-wise one : Enjoy it . Enjoy it all . Take an evening drive to see all the lights . Buy eggnog at the supermarket . Walk into Dennis Gargano 's house and smell the pine needles . Study the ornaments , suck on a candy cane . `` I love Christmas , '' Dad has said myriad times , `` because it 's not my holiday . There 's no stress or pressure . You can embrace it without having to own it . '' Hence , this past Friday I took my daughter Casey out of school for our annual New York City fun day . We roamed through Toys R Us and the Disney Store , watched the Macy 's Christmas puppet show , walked past Santa 's village . The decorations were nice and the lights , while blinding , were pretty . But everything was overcrowded and excessively hyped . The materialism was painful . The anxiety was palpable . `` This , '' Casey said to me , `` is pretty crazy . '' `` No , '' I replied . `` This is fantastic . '' The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jeff Pearlman .
Jeff Pearlman lived in a town with few Jews , and had to sing in the school 's holiday concert . The Christmas carols evoked either Christ or the Virgin Mary or Christ and the Virgin Mary . `` Jeffie '' complained to his teacher and Dad that Christmas and concert were n't fair . His dad said enjoy it , take in the lights , and be happy you do n't have to experience the anxiety .