Why I Still Believe In Santa Even Though I Am Jewish
By: Ted Gross
Tags: Religion, Hanukkah, Santa, Christmas, Life

Whenever Hanukkah & Christmas roll by my friends never fail to ask me in that sarcastic tone which tells me they think I am just tricking them or just plain foolish:

“Well it is that time of year again. Do you still believe in Santa Claus?”

My answer has always been the same. “Yes, I still believe in Santa.”

Of course you can well imagine the reactions to my answer. First of all I am way over ten years old. Add that to the fact I am not only Jewish and live in Israel but I am traditional. So believing in Santa Claus is not really part of the cultural heritage I am supposed to adhere to, to say the very least.

Let me further complicate matters here. My favorite movie is “Miracle On 34th Street” which never fails to make me cry. And before you ask, as far as I know my genealogy is Jewish for many generations.

Yet there it is. The truth. I believe in Santa. Of course the question is why?

In order to understand my complicated relationship with Hanukkah & Santa, and the method to my madness I guess the best way to clarify it is by going to the Talmud, believe it or not. Yes the cliché here is true: strange bedfellows — Santa and the Talmud.

In one of the discussions the Talmud has about Hanukkah it tells us a long forgotten tale (Talmudic scholars call such a tale a “midrash” or “aggadata”) about Adam & Eve. You see when they were banished from the Garden In Eden, they were sent into a world where nature and time existed. Adam & Eve had no experience with either. The passing of time was a new concept for them and certainly Mother Nature was a mystery.

So as the seasons rolled by and Fall turned to Winter, the couple began to notice the time of sunlight became shorter and shorter and night grew by minutes and then hours. This was frightening to the two, and they thought that the world they had been banished to would soon be overcome by total darkness and this was the real punishment they were cursed to endure.

A world covered in darkness. Such a fate should and would scare us all. But then something happened. Just when they thought it could not get any worse, and darkness would rule forever, Adam & Eve began to notice that daylight slowly became longer and then longer. It was one of the ways Adam & Eve learned about nature.

Adam was so relieved and excited by this, the Talmud tells us he rejoiced by praising God and His creation as Eve danced in joy.

They rejoiced in the light singing praise while realizing that darkness could and would not prevail in the presence of light. (There is a lot more to this tale in Kabbalah, if you are interested in such things).

It should then come as no surprise to anyone that the Romans and many other Ancient cultures had holidays during this time of year which celebrated nature and the coming of days full of light and the end of darkness.

Hanukkah is the celebration of a miracle of light. Indeed it is called the “Festival Of Lights”. And at the very heart of this holiday is the miracle of candles burning in the rededicated Temple for 8 days instead of 1 day. It is in essence a holiday where we celebrate the power of light over darkness.

Christmas as well, at the same time of year celebrates for all Christians the coming of light into their world. The eradication of darkness by one bright shining star of hope. And though, as I said, I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas nor it’s meaning, I do know the great power of hope brought by the knowledge of eradication of darkness with light.

The true essence of these holidays are the same. The universal hope and ultimate belief that one candle — one light — tiny as it may be, will bring hope to the darkest of places. Especially the darkness which invades our dreams, hopes and souls from time to time.

Yet again, I must diverge for a moment in order to explain why I truly believe in Santa Claus. You see, in Judaism we also have another holiday called Passover which celebrates our leaving Egypt and becoming a nation. The first night of this holiday we have a huge, long meal which is called the Seder. Towards the end of the Seder, we stand up open the front door to our homes and welcome Elijah the Prophet, whom according to legend, visits every Seder and sips from a wine goblet at the center of the table, set out especially for him. No one else but Elijah can drink from this wine.

So, logically, if one believes that Elijah visits every home in the world which welcomes him by opening the door, on one single night, well it does not take a great leap of imagination to believe Santa can make it around the world in one night as well.

Still, as you may suspect, there is a caveat to this piece. I do not view Santa as one big toy store. To me, Santa is a symbol of hope and light. He and his elves and reindeer all are guided by the lights of the Christmas tree. They are there to bring light and laughter and hope during the darkest hours of the night.

I light the Hanukkah candles all eight nights of the holiday, as the Hebrew children’s song says “to chase away the darkness”. I find some type of assurance, perhaps false though I hope not, that these candles will bring a clearer and purer light into the world.

On Christmas, December 25th at night, I look into the heavens and know that Santa is on his path again. The light and joy he brings will also chase away the darkness.

So yes. I am Jewish and I still believe in Santa. Because despite all the darkness and hatred and despair I have seen in this world and during my lifetime, I have learned one important lesson from Adam & Eve. To vanquish the darkness we all need to light a candle and rejoice in the light. We all need to strive to bring light into this world. If it is with Hanukkah candles, Christmas lights, or the joy of Santa arriving in the darkest of hours — it makes no difference.

Perhaps this year we should all strive to vanquish the darkness and bring light to this world. So both Elijah the Prophet and Santa can visit those who open their doors to hope and light.

May your holiday season, no matter what religion you ascribe to, be full of light. May it shine on all of us and chase away the darkness. May the coming year be full of joy, health, happiness and peace for mankind. And yes, even one small candle or bright far-away star in the heavens can bring great hope to those in despair. May your hearts be filled with that light and hope.

Happy Hanukkah & Merry Christmas to all.