Renouncing My Former Favorite Holiday

For a while, Groundhog Day was my favorite holiday. I used to live in Pittsburgh, about 80 miles away from Punxsutawney, the home of Punxsutawney Phil. I went to Punxsy twice for Groundhog Day and, at the time, was enamored with the holiday.

I've since come to see Phil's side of things and can no longer support Punxsutawney's Groundhog Day celebration. I have an op-ed about Groundhog Day in this week's issue of The Tartan (the student newspaper of my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon). Click here to read the article. I conclude the piece by saying:

We must do away with cruel traditions and instead choose compassionate events that bring people together without harming animals.

If you need any suggestions for celebrations that bring people together without harming animals, I highly recommend Tu B'Shvat, which starts this Friday night. I'll be hosting a Tu B'Shvat dinner at my apartment, and you can be sure that I'll be writing a blog post about it afterward.