Some of my Jewish friends have asked my why I put up "Christmas Lights". Some of my Gentile (person who is not Jewish) friends have ask me why more Jews don't put up "Christmas Lights". The answers to both questions involve history, but not the history of the same time period.
I put up lights because they are not, originally, "Christmas Lights", they started out as lights for "The Festival of Lights" (e.g. Hanukkah). The celebration of Hanukkah dates back to the the miracle of the oil occurred in 139 BC. Hanukkah (the Hebrew word for dedication) commemorates the miracle that occurred when Judah rededicated the to God. According to the Talmud (one of Judaism’s holy texts), when the Temple was retaken, only one intact vial of oil, just enough to light the Temple's eternal flame for one day. But it burned for eight days, enough time for the victorious Judeans to secure more oil. The miracle became the foundation of a holiday to thank God and celebrate the victory of light over darkness. Hanukkah has always been celebrated with light. Candles are lit on ever night.
The earliest Christmas celebrations date back to 336 CE in Rome, when the Roman Emperor Constantine made it the official day to commemorate the birth of Jesus. By that time, 475 years after the earliest Hanukkah celebrations, the traditions of the Festival of Lights were well established. The celebration of Christmas borrowed parts of its festivity from the other holidays that occured at about the same time. Most notable of these holidays were the Solstice ("Christmas Tree") and Hanukkah ("Christmas Lights").
As to the the question of why more Jews don't put up "Christmas Lights" the lies in a far more recent piece of history. Just like Christmas becoming popular in the 4th century due to its proximity to the Solstice and Hanukkah, Hanukkah grew popular in the 20th century due to its proximity to Christmas. Hanukkah, according to Tatjana Lichtenstein (director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at The University of Texas at Austin), "offered an opportunity for Jews to participate in the holiday celebrations complete with gift-giving and merry-making without giving up their distinct religious and cultural identities." Since "Christmas Lights" had become part of the Christian celebration, many in the Jewish community chose to forego them to keep the celebration of Hanukkah distinct from Christmas.
I agree with not giving up my Jewish religious and cultural identity but at the same time I am not willing to give up the light of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights. These lights belong to the Jewish people and we should not be afraid to show them! For that reason I put up "Hanukkah Lights" and also make a Menorah and a "scroll" with to story of Hanukkah the most prominent decorations.