Requesting time off for the holidays is so frustrating

This is a rant, but if you have any advice, I’d greatly appreciate it lol

…especially as a frum Jew who observes it all, down to honoring chol hamoed restrictions. All in all, this means an additional 3 weeks off a year on top of the vacation I already receive, which is 2.5 weeks, plus sick time. I’m going to be honest. I don’t want to use my vacation time. Thank G-D I am in a position where I can take off work without suffering a huge financial loss. I know this puts me in a privileged position. However..

My manager already told me I had taken XXX amount of hours off this year, which really pissed me off considering it was all sick time, vacation, and religious observance days that are part of my compensation package. He told me “Just want to make sure it’s not going to be a habit” Um, excuse me? He’s from another country than I, so maybe there’s a bit of cultural difference or things are getting a little lost in translation but that was kind of hurtful and embarrassing. Now I’m going through HR directly to discuss taking unpaid religious absence days, but if I take off the entirety of Sukkot/ST/SA I’m scared about the retaliation or him pointing it out.

My previous manager, whom I was moved out from under due to company restructuring, didn’t bat an eye or raise any questions. So, going from that to this is hard lol. And I wish peopled realized Holidays aren’t a vacation.. because they are anything but. Sometimes I miss working on chagim because I’m tired/bored/burnt out lol

(PS yes I am in the states)