Kesher Talk

Israeli rabbi rages against Jews celebrating Christmas: G-d forbid, anyone should have a good time on Christmas, according to Israeli "Chief Rabbi" Meir Lau. Especially a Jew!

And he does not mean that everyone should have their wife's purse stolen. Rabbi Lau simply thinks it is an abomination that Jews should do anything that even hints of celebrating Christmas and New Years.

Rabbi Lau on Tuesday urged Jews in Israel not to celebrate Christmas or New Year's Day, warning that such observances threaten the identity of the Jewish state. He whined that Jewish families should not "be swept into keeping a way of life that is not their own, while obliterating and losing their self-respect."

In recent years, small numbers of Israeli Jews have begun celebrating Christmas, putting up lights in shops and even trees in homes. The trend began with the influx of thousands of Christians - many of them married to Jews - in the early 1990s as part of a wave of immigration from the former Soviet Union. At the same time, New Year's Eve has become a major party night at Tel Aviv hotels, despite threats by local rabbis to punish the establishments by removing their approval to serve kosher food.

How horrible!

Interest in Christmas has grown since fighting with the Palestinians broke out two years ago and Christian foreign workers replaced their Palestinian counterparts in jobs. Israel has also undergone a type of cultural globalization - expressed in a desire among many Israelis to take part in what they view as a world holiday.

"Why should we have anything to do with Christmas or New Year's Eve, in the shade of the Christmas tree?" Lau asked in a statement issued on Christmas Eve. "We never imagined that even in our independent country of the Jewish nation, foreign cultures would threaten our identity as a people and a nation."

This week Israeli radio stations have occasionally played Christmas songs like "Jingle Bells" and "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas." Israel's national radio station even played "Silent Night," a carol about the birth of the baby Jesus.

Lau warned that such habits could bring about assimilation between Jews and Christians. Quoting from Psalms 106:35, Lau said; "They mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. They worshipped their idols, which became a snare to them."

According to Israeli government statistics, 142,000 Christians live in Israel, including 115,000 Christian Arabs. The figures do not include the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Rabbi Lau needs to have a drink. No, make that a lot of drinks. Certainly for American Jews, most of whom have the day off from school, university, or work, Christmas is about finding something fun to do while our Christian peers are at least pretending to celebrate their religious holiday. Should we want to dance and sing and hang lights, that is our prerogative. I'm not much for anything actually Christmas-ish, but I would not want to sequester myself for a day just to prove a point. And while I don't think that Jews should be celebrating the holiday, there is nothing wrong with enjoying it. Especially for Jews in Israel, who need all the fun time they can get.

posted by Howard @ 12/27/2002 08:20:31 AM