From
the Rabbi…
December
2005
It's nearly Chanukah (and
Christmas), but before I get to that, I was remiss in leaving
out two names from my list of thank - yous after the High
Holidays. First, I would like to thank Josh Cohen for reading
Torah at Minchah on Yom Kippur. For the previous two years,
Josh's grandfather Sidney Hochauser read this Torah reading.
Sadly Sid passed away during the year, and Josh gladly agreed
to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and read for us.
What a wonderful way he honored us and his grandpa Sid.
Secondly, somehow I forgot to thank Susan
Elkodsi our Vice President for Ritual who did all the behind-
the -scene and a good deal of the on-scene work that kept
our services running so smoothly. She is truly my right
hand man er woman! Kol hakavod Susan.
And so to Hanukkah, a strange holiday
that we do not even know how to spell in English! This year,
as you know, Hanukkah coincides with Christmas, which means
that unlike last year when we had completed our celebration
and then observed our Christian neighbors celebrating, we
can all have fun together. Perhaps it is the coincidence
of the Holidays that has led to a strong debate and even
a web site dedicated to bringing back 'Merry Christmas'
in place of the neutral 'Happy Holidays.'
I approach this discussion from my background
of growing up in England, where to this day everywhere you
hear 'Merry Christmas,' from the streets to the news programs
and in the annual message from the Queen. In England Jews
have no expectation that we will be wished anything but
'Merry Christmas,' to which we usually reply, 'And the same
to you!' It was truly amazing for me to be wished 'Happy
Hanukah by NBC news and to see Hanukkah posters on the subway
in NYC. I quickly became acclimatized to wishing everyone
'Happy Holidays, ' although I have always found this greeting
to be somewhat colorless.
Part of the issue for me is that Christmas
and Hanukkah are not really equivalent holidays. The importance
of Christmas in traditional Christianity is more or less
on the same par as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are to us.
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus. Hanukkah, in contrast,
is known as a minor holiday in Jewish tradition. The reason
for this is that it isn't one of the holidays mentioned
in the Torah, which have agricultural and Exodus underpinnings.
It celebrates the rededication of the Temple after a successful
revolt by the Maccabees against the Hellenists.
Curiously, while Hanukkah is celebrated
in precisely at the time of year when the events as told
in the Books of Macabbees unfolded, Christmas was placed
in the winter probably to coincide with the winter solstice.
Therefore the coincidence of Christmas and Hanukkah is just
that, a coincidence. Indeed the reason for the use of light
at each holiday is
unconnected. I need to add that the giving of gifts at Hanukkah
is not traditional and that this new custom was a result
of the influence of Christmas on us. Not that I dismiss
this idea - Without doubt, discovering a Jewish reason for
giving gifts is much much much better than Jews receiving
Christmas gifts.
So part of my discomfort with 'Happy Holidays,'
is that it lumps Christmas and Hanukkah together in a way
which is entirely without merit. Of course, this year they
coincide, so we would have to be careful about saying 'Merry
Christmas,' 'Happy Hanukkah,' and perhaps other greetings
as well. But what about when they do not coincide. I don't
really need to be wished 'Happy Holidays' three weeks AFTER
Hanukkah has ended.
So what's the answer. It is complicated
to be all things for all people, but I do think that given
the centrality of Christmas to Christians, they should be
able to wish each other 'Merry Christmas,' without offending
us. However, this means that we all must take the time to
find out enough about our neighbors to know what to wish
them and when to do it.
I wish all our Jewish readers a Happy
Hanukkah, our Christian readers a Merry Christmas, and if
there are any others, please let me know what I should wish
you!
Rabbi Colin
(203) 268-6940
rabbi@bnaitorahct.org
