The Jewish Joy of Christmas Services

If you have been a loyal reader, you may remember that I have written previous columns about Jews and Christmas. Two years ago I wrote The Jewish Joy of Christmas Music; last year it was the Jewish Joy of Christmas Lights. A Christian friend suggested that I complete the process and attend services. So for my final column on Jews sharing Christmas in this Christian country, I decided that would be fine idea.

Then came the dilemma which services to attend. Of course, there are the more traditional Catholic services. I considered the myriad of other Protestant versions of Christianity. I knew that whichever service I chose that would be my lasting impression. When I was at the home of long-time friends the day after Christmas last year, they informed me that they have services on December 23^rd. I thought that was odd, but it works for me. I now have two services to attend and can get a comparative perspective. Let's go.

We were joining our family friends, so my wife together with our son (Darling Daughter stayed nestled in her warm apartment) made the trek to Orange County from Los Angeles. We met our friends at Mariners Church in Irvine, CA. Mariners is a non-denominational, Evangelical Christian Church that was founded 50 years ago. This is not a church that stands on tradition and you get the informality on their website when you see the Pastors (there are four Orange County locations) in short sleeve, open-collared shirts. We were told that the dress was informal, but that did not mean the commitment to their religion was informal.

We walked through the threshold into a beautifully adorned amphitheater packed with nearly 3,000 congregants. The stage was filled with a dozen singers and musicians and a 40-person choir. This was a modern-day observance of Christmas with large screens displaying videos enhancing the message. All the people on the stage were dressed casually and other than a few string instruments there appeared to be rock band on stage in both look and sound.

Then they launched into a rousing interpretation of O Holy Night, one of the more religious traditional songs of Christmas, which was written in French in 1847 and translated to English in 1855. This is one Christmas Carol that dictates the singer having a magnificent voice and the young lady carried the song well.

We were struck with why we were here. Though we had spent our entire lives in a country that treats Christmas as a special event, we never experienced what Christians truly thought about

this most auspicious holiday. It was very akin to trying to understand Jews without attending a Passover Seder. We have had many gentiles at our home for Passover and they leave with a greater love for Jews. Just listening to the music or enjoying the Christmas lights did not open us to the true joy that Christians experience with the celebration of Christmas.

When we left we didn't feel any less Jewish. We felt a greater love for our Christian friends and the meaning of Christmas. You know what? This is a good thing. In this world which often seems unhinged in many ways, isn't that a wonderful thing? I am not meaning to launch into a Rodney King rant of "Can't we just all get along," but it appears the special message of Christmas is God loves us all and that can't be a bad thing.

For the Christmas Eve service I chose First Congregational Church (FCC) in the downtown area of Los Angeles. My friends had attended the service many times, which starts at 11:00. FCC is a non-affiliated Protestant church. The Church is a more traditional structure and the senior Minister is pictured in a typical clergy robe on the website.

As you drive toward the church from a far distance, you can see it bathed in blue light. The church was built 150 years ago which in Los Angeles years is three millenniums. Once I entered the church it was akin to those 500 or so churches my wife and I have visited all over the world the high majestic ceiling with pews on both sides of a central aisle leading to a pulpit and gorgeous (in this case wood) altar. One thing that that particularly stands out in this church (which seats 1,000 parishioners) is the massive organ. I was informed it is the largest church organ in the world.

Though the service is called for 11 P.M., the organist starts playing at 10:30 -- a mixture of classic Christmas music like Bach and some self-authored pieces. The service begins with a processional of the clergy, service participants and choir (in robes) to the rapturous sounds of everyone singing O Come, All Ye Faithful, a true Christmas tradition dating back over three centuries.

The services continued with what the church refers to as "lessons" conveyed by either honored members of the church or the clergy interspersed between traditional Christmas hymns. On two occasions the congregation did medleys of well-known Christmas songs led by a music director who also leads the choir; and, of course, the ever-present sound of the monumental organ.

This led to the crescendo of the service where each parishioner lights the candle provided when they entered the church and the entire congregation sang Silent Night, Holy Night and

Joy to The World which all knew by heart. The scene of a thousand people holding up their candles and singing these wonderfully, moving songs left the congregation truly feeling the joy of Christmas.

I turned to my friend and asked what should I do now -- in Judaism you are not supposed to put out a ceremonial candle (Shabbat, Hanukkah); you are supposed to let it burn out. He reminded me we were in a church and we would abide by their customs.

I had truly obtained a well-balanced Christmas service experience â€“ the old and the new. One service leading up to Christmas and one ending as the clock turned to Christmas Day. Two different perspectives on how to immerse oneself in the meaning of Christmas.

I was left with the thought of how wonderful it would be if we shared our religious experiences. The joy of the different communities interacting to further understanding. All Jews sharing the joy of Christmas with their Christian friends, and then having them join us for Passover or High Holy Day services. How much better this country would be. Then next we can bring in the other religions. What a wonderful thought.

Christmas is a Jewish holiday.

No it's NOT. You are getting information from a cult's website. Which is lie after lie after lie mixed in with a tiny atom of truth to try and make it believable. What you take as truth is one of their many lies and deliberate misinterpretations. Going to Jew for JC's website to find out stuff about Judaism is like going to CNN to find out the truth about Obama.

There are hundreds of evangelical Christian missionary organizations that spend millions of dollars each year to convert Jews. Jews for JC is one of them. Despite any semblance of Jewish tradition utilized to mislead and entice, their theology is 100% Christian. In fact, many of their leaders aren't even Jewish. They are real true serpents, ready with lies to snare the undereducated Jew.

Please be a little more responsible about your sources before posting something as "da truth".

I go to the Old (and New) Testament to find out about Judaism. Jews for Jesus does also. That is our source. You are completely off base to call them terrible names. Please calm down and substantiate the charges that they are “serpents ready with lies”.

You cannot get accurate meaning from looking at English translations of bibles or without years of Torah study with genuine observant Jewish scholars. Basically you already have YOUR intended meaning and are just looking to "justify" it with a few bible phrases to make it look good to the gullible.

I am absolutely justified to call the Jews for JC organization serpents, selling a dubious product made of falsehood with LIES. When you say "that is our source", are you telling us that YOU are a member of that insidious bunch of liars, Jews for JC? They are scum. I've met a few of them and I've seen firsthand how they modified language in Jewish prayer books to include non-Jewish phrases and messages. That was just one of the tactics they use to snare undereducated Jews. Yes, they are scum; I spit on all of them for trying to mislead undereducated Jews.

"justify" it with a few bible phrases to make it look good to the gullible.

How about you start at the beginning of the Bible, in chronological order, and read through the whole book? From Genesis to Revelation? How about doing that again and again for a few years, and see what the Lord reveals to you not only about the deep Jewish roots of the Messiah, but how He came to earth as a Light, not only to His own people Israel, but also to the Gentiles. You can read the prophesies yourself, and see how precisely they have been fulfilled in Yeshuah (Jesus). No, those of us that believe the Bible are not serpents, we are simply obedient to our Lord's great commission. I pray you read it for yourself with an open and non bitter heart.

How about you start at the beginning of the Bible, in chronological order, and read through the whole book? ..."

How about you just drop your attempted hijacking of Judaism so you can claim another victim, a "converted" Jew? The prophesies you speak about are NOT fulfilled, according to Jewish precepts, by JC. So save yourself the time and trouble of spouting lies. Your entire premise is based on perversion, and would never stand up to scrutiny by knowledgeable Jews. That's why you have to peddle this pack of lies to the undereducated Jew. They are the only ones gullible enough to buy your phony baloney. Not going to waste more time on you or your snake oil. Your "proofs" are lies and half-truths taken out of context. You can comfort yourself with the mistaken belief that you know something, which is a shame---because what you're peddling is pure BS.

I don’t know what lie you are so enraged about— please calm down. I am not a Jew, nor am I on staff at Jews for Jesus. I am a gentile Christian who reads the Bible. If that infuriates you, you really have some soul searching to do. Shalom my friend. I will not post any more to you, as you are angry about something that has nothing to do with me.

I applaud your reading your bible and gaining comfort from it. That is a wonderful, admirable thing. I have no problem with that whatsoever. In fact, I would be cheering for you from the sidelines.

What made me angry is your posting of some "truism" about Judaism which was anything but true. And when you cited your source of this "information" as Jews for JC, that was it for me. I know them to be liars, twisting sentences and taking things out of context from the Torah and the Five Books of Moses to use to try and convince undereducated Jews that they can be Jewish AND have JC in the same religion. It just doesn't work that way at all. The two are mutually exclusive. That would like you saying why we don't need guns and then citing Obama as your source for this wisdom. In other words, posting about something you know little about and then citing a known liar as the source for the "facts".

Have a pleasant evening.

I thank you for your gentler post. It makes is so much easier to have a good discussion. Isn't why we are here on Free Republic? Please permit me to ask you a question based on your kind response:

If you think it is admirable of me to read the Bible, why would you think it is not okay for Jews to read it as well?

If you think it is admirable of me to read the Bible, why would you think it is not okay for Jews to read it as well?

Because it's NOT the same bible and the Jewish version has tons of subtle shadings and interpretations to it. It not appropriate for a Jew to read the non-Jewish part of the bible, it was not intended for them. Our bible is the Five Books of Moses and that's it. Nothing further, no sequel to it.

Also, as I said, you are making statements about what Jews should do based on a fallacious deliberately misleading source, J's for JC. Don't use such a shaky platform on which to base any statements.

That’s interesting. I always thought the Tanach, the Prophets, the Poetry were all part of the Jewish Bible. Are you saying that Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, the Psalms, or even the Book of Esther are NOT part of your Bible and Jews are not allowed to read these books? All that history of King David in Samuel, Judges, Kings?

They are part of the Jewish scripture but they are separate entities. There are the Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings. These are 24 works which comprise the Jewish bible.

Yes, I was pretty convinced that those 24 works comprise the Jewish Bible. That's why I asked, since your statement was so adamant: Because it's NOT the same bible and the Jewish version has tons of subtle shadings and interpretations to it. It not appropriate for a Jew to read the non-Jewish part of the bible, it was not intended for them. Our bible is the Five Books of Moses and that's it. Nothing further, no sequel to it.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain all of Isaiah, and when they have compared it to modern Bibles, they found the new versions to be very accurate. It's awesome that the Lord can watch over His Word, and after thousands of years, it remains intact.

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