The Phoenix Jewish news., 1954-12-17
CHRISTMAS
FOR
The JEW?

III - - w
EDITORS NOTE: Christmas,
even as it brings pleasure to our
Christian neighbOrs, produces a
special problem for the Jews.
Last year the magazine, Focus,
published an interesting series
of questions and answers per-
| tanning to this problem, and we
think they're timely once again.
The answers are by DIR. Henry
f.. Kagan. rabbi of Sinai Tenn
pie, Mt. Vernon, NY.
O. Since Christmas is now al
most as much a national as well
as a religious holiday, can't all
Americans, regardless of religion,
join in the celebration?
A. Christmas is not the 4th Of
July, or any other secular Ameri-
can holiday, and it would be an
insult to my Christian friends to
regard it as anything but what it
is = The Most Important Christian
Holy Day. Since it celebrates the
birth of the Christian worlds Mes
Siah, and since Jews do not accept
Jesus as Messiah, Christmas cam
not come within the area of Jew
ish celebration.
@. But can it be harmful to have
Christmas trees in Jewish homes,
and for Jewish children to receive
Christmas presents?
A. All children have a real need
for religious ritual and material
symbols of faith. But for Jewish
parents to crafty this need by
rituals and symbols that are fund
amentally forbidden fruit to the
child, is harmful. Christmas be-
longs to the Christians; it has no
place in a Jewish home.
O. But won't this make Jews
feel different" and left out at
Christmas?
A. The wonderful thing about
America is that it gives us the
right to be different. Jewish child
rem are a minority, they are diff
erent religiously. They must learn
to face this with pride in their
own practices and beliefs. If the
parent simply takes away Christ
mas and puts nothing in its place,
the child is being cheated. But
this needn't happen; Judaism has
it's own beautiful holidays-Chanu-
kah, for instance, which falls so
close to Christmas, and during
which it is traditional for Jews
to exchange presents. Jewish holi-
days are what belongs to the Jew;
if the parents celebrate these days
in a meaningful way, the child will
have no need to look to another
religion.
@. Would it help If public schools
celebrated Jewish as well as Chris
tan holidays?
A. I feel very strongly that our
schools should be absolutely non
denominational, as they were
founded to be. We don't want to
get our own holidays into the
schools; we want to get celebra-
| tionS that affect only certain
| groups out of the schools.
@. Should Christians give Christ
mas presents to their Jewish
friends?
A. don't believe so. Christmas
is not the Jews holiday. 1t is nat
ural for a Christian to give his
Jewish friend a present on Chanu-
ko, and for a Jew to give his nom
Jewish friend gift on Christmas.
@. What do you do about holi-
days in YOUR home?
A. My two sons invite their
Christian friends to see their Chan
ukah lights, and they visit the
homes of their Christian friends to
see their Christmas trees. Thus
both groups learn to respect each
others religious ceremonies, with
out destroying the religious mean
ing of their own faiths. The mess
age of the great Christian and
Jewish holy days is lost once you
water them down to meaningless
fun days, just to have every
body joining in. If Jewish parents
would face their children honestly
and say, "You are Jewish
this means that you give up Christ
mas trees and presents on De-
cember 25," the child would learn
to accept this as a discipline, just
as he accepts certain bedtime
hours. The child whose parents
give him Positive Jewish Expert
ence a rich, moving joyous
sense of what it means to be a
Jew - will have no need of
ritual that does not rightfully be-
long to him.