Posted on 12/11/2006 7:21:34 AM PST by NavyCanDo
The departure of Christmas tree displays at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport — the Port of Seattle's response to a local rabbi's insistence that an electric menorah also be put up — is accelerating into an international spectacle in the so-called "war on Christmas."
And that is not what Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky wanted.
"I am devastated, shocked and appalled at the decision that the Port of Seattle came to," he said Sunday. As news coverage about the airport's trees spread from CNN to ABC to the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, Bogomilsky on Sunday began to receive hateful messages from people holding him responsible for the removal of the trees.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
I think I agree, too. Given what little I know about the situation.
My only concern about putting up a menorah and keeping the trees is that you know what will happen before long....
....the evil Moslems will insist THEIR crescent or something will have to be up. And of course since every news anchor and business in the US loves Moslems, it will go up.
I think I'd rather not see anything than see any Islam icon!
"There is no debate on this anymore," Grad said. "The menorah is something the Port is legally obligated to put up. But the Port was either unwilling or incapable to do so and instead folded its tent."
ALLEGHENY COUNTY v. GREATER PITTSBURGH ACLU, 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
I can't say I would agree with the moslims on most things, but when is comes to a solution to this @sshole, we might just be on the same side.
Here is my email to the Rabbi. His email address is: rabbi@chaiseattle.com
Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky,
Why is removing Christmas trees from public forums during the Christmas season so important to you? When I see Jewish symbols I am not offended. I am very happy to see them. It tells me that there are people of faith and kindness. My first impulse when I see Jewish symbols is not to say there must also be a Christmas tree or I am going to sue!
Personally, I find your actions to be very petty and childish. Millions of people will go through the SEATAC terminals and be denied the traditional Christmas experience because you could not see your chosen Jewish symbol. That does not strike me as a positive way to win friends and find common ground with your opponents.
Hundreds of millions of Christians in this country generously support the State of Israel and all that she stands for. Do you think your petty stand “You must take down the Christmas trees, if you do not put up Jewish symbols, or I will sue is really the appropriate action to be taken? Why cannot you be as generous and understanding of American Christians as they are of the Jewish faith and the State of Israel?
You really have disappointed me. Your actions bring great sorrow to me and many others.
Sincerely,
Some may do this, but I believe most simply want to have a celebration at the end of the year, and don't want their kids to feel left out while all the gentile kids are having their orgy of consumerism. At least that's the way it was when I was growing up.
The Airport Seatac is just ignorant...
The Christmas Tree just signals that December is the month of Christmas, does it make people reflect on the birth of Jesus? proably not, it makes people think "Oh look how pretty the tree is and makes them think who they still need to buy presents for.
The religious aspect would be if there was a Menorah and a Nativity Scene, now that would possibly make people think of all faiths or none at all, December is a month of "reminding" that through the *Jews* a Saviour would be born.
That child is the Messiah, He is God, our redeemer who will pay for all the sins of the world (Is.53:4-5, Jn.1:29)...
Just found this from Michael Medved's blog. Haven't had a chance to read it through but he knows the rabbi and may have him on his show today. Read below:
http://michaelmedved.townhall.com/Blog.aspx
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Did A Lone Rabbi Mean to Ban Christmas Trees?
Posted by: Michael Medved at 11:56 PM
There’s an outrageous story out of Seattle (my home base) that shows the way that good intentions can occasionally produce disgusting results. Because of the prevailing climate of political correctness, a decent guy and honorable clergyman looks like a horse’s rear end and has provoked appropriate indignation from millions of people.
According to misleading news stories featured prominently in newspapers and on TV (including KING 5 TV News): “All 15 Christmas trees inside the main terminal at Sea Tac Airport (Seattle-Tacoma International) have been removed in response to a complaint by a rabbi. A rabbi wanted to install an eight-foot menorah and have a public lighting ceremony. He threatened to sue if the menorah wasn’t put up and gave a two day deadline to remove the trees.”
Who is this wretched rabbi who, apparently, wanted to spoil the holiday joy of his Christian neighbors out of pique and selfishness simply because he didn’t get the right to erect his own Hanukah display?
As a matter of fact, I know and like Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky, the now notorious clergyman at the center of this swirling controversy. He’s a good guy, a young father of five (including new-born twins), and the son-in-law of the wonderful Rabbi at the synagogue I attend each week. I know that Rabbi Bogomilsky harbors no animus whatever toward Christians or Christmas. In fact he told the Seattle Times that he felt “appalled” by the airport’s decision to remove all its Christmas trees without warning on Saturday night. According to Rabbi Bogomilsky, “Everyone should have their spirit of the holiday. For many people the trees are the spirit of the holidays, and adding a menorah adds light to the season.” According to the rabbi’s lawyer, Harvey Grad, “They’ve darkened the hall rather than turning the lights up.”
I spoke to Rabbi Bogomilsky less than a hour ago and he may join me on my radio show tomorrow to apologize to the community at large for the totally unintended consequences of his desire to include a large menorah along with the airport’s holiday decorations (according to various stories there were either 22, or 15, or 9 different Christmas trees before the airport cleared them away in the dead of night). When I asked the rabbi directly whether he would want the trees removed if the airport refused to put up his menorah he insisted, “Absolutely not.” He has no problem with the Christmas trees, which have brought seasonal joy to the airport (and provoked no complaints) for more than a decade. He would greatly prefer that the airport restore the trees – even if they fail to include the requested menorah alongside the seasonal greenery. In fact, another local rabbi and close personal friend, Daniel Lapin, has begun soliciting Jewish signatures on a petition to demand the return of the trees – and we will gladly recruit Jewish volunteers to provide free labor if that would help get the job done.
Those of us who are comfortable and secure in our own religiosity (which would surely include the rigorously observant Rabbi Bogomilsky) don’t feel threatened by public displays of faith by our Christian neighbors. Generally, it’s secular fanatics (of both Jewish and Christian background), militant separationists, who have waged war on Christmas trees, ten commandments monuments, crosses, and other benign symbols of the nation’s religious heritage.
So what went wrong with this whole miserable affair?
After two months of indecision from the Port of Seattle (the quasi-governmental agency that runs the airport) concerning the request for a menorah, the rabbi’s lawyer made the mistake (yes, it was a mistake) of threatening a federal lawsuit and the airport people panicked and ordered the removal of the trees. “We’re not in the business of offending anyone and we’re not eager to get into a federal lawsuit with anyone,” said Craig Watson, chief lawyer for the Port of Seattle. Patricia Davis, head of the Port Commission said, “We didn’t have other cultures represented and rather than scramble around to find representations of other cultures at this late date, we decided to take them down and consider it later.”
This is ridiculous, of course. “Other cultures” do not observe popular holidays at precisely this time (the Islamic month of Ramadan is over) and in thousands of public and private locations across the country the abundant, prominent and very beautiful Christmas decorations are harmlessly complemented (if hardly balanced) by menorahs.
Of course, in the current climate of hyper-sensitivity regarding public expressions of religious commitment, Rabbi Bogomilsky and Harvey Grad should have avoided the chilling, unnecessary phrase “law suit” at all costs --- even if the Port of Seattle refused to give them a timely answer on their menorah request. As a result of the threatened litigation, the whole world is witnessing a horrible situation in which the religious enthusiasm (however well intended) of one individual has led to the removal of decorations enjoyed by literally hundreds of thousands.
In addition to apologizing to those masses, and working conscientiously to restore the Christmas trees, I hope that Rabbi Bogomilsky and his colleagues in the sincere and warm-hearted Chabad-Hasidic movement in Judaism will reconsider their menorah strategy next winter. They’ve already succeeded in magnificent terms in installing some 6,000 highly visible menorahs in public places across the country (including, by the way, the Washington State Capitol in Olympia) – and even at unlikely sites like Red Square in Moscow. This is a singular, even inspriring, achievement. If, however, local authorities prove unwilling to accommodate the menorahs, it’s a terrible idea to try to force their hands by comparing our candelabra to Christmas trees or wreaths or Santa Claus effigies already in place.
Though some of my fellow Jews may howl in protest when I say so, there are strong arguments to be made against public menorahs that can’t be made against Christmas trees. It’s not just that Christians outnumber us in this society by about 40 to 1; it’s that Christmas trees reasonably can be construed as a secular symbol but a menorah (despite some prior court decisions) emphatically cannot. The eight-branched “Hanukiah” or “Menorah” that we light every year for the holiday specifically recalls the seven-branched menorah that was a sacred element in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem up till 70 A.D. Though the big menorahs with bulbs that are prominently displayed in public places are not, strictly speaking, sacramental objects (because they don’t use candles or oil), they distinctly resemble the smaller menorahs we use at home and over which we recite blessings (citing the Almighty, of course) every night of the holiday. In fact, the chief mitzvah (holy commandment) of the Hanukah holiday requires the lighting of these candelabra and reciting the blessings, so it’s deeply misleading or, at best, a stretch, to call the menorah a secular symbol. Christians do not routinely pronounce blessings or recite prayers over Christmas trees.
This doesn’t mean that I think that menorahs should come down from public places: they belong in parks and plazas and airports, shedding the light of their message, but so do nativity scenes and other holiday symbols that bear unmistakably religious trappings. When the founders prohibited “an establishment of religion” they did not mean to banish all faith-based imagery from the public square.
Nor, for that matter, did Rabbi Bogomilsky mean to banish Christmas decorations from the Seattle airport.
Spokespeople for the Port of Seattle say they’re “not in the business of offending anyone,” but when did Rabbi Bogomilsky ever say, or even imply, that he was offended by Christmas trees? As a matter of fact, he welcomes the trees, as do I, as do all people of good will – Jewish and Christian alike.
What offended the rabbi and should offend all of us is the banning of religious symbols, not their presence. The airport may not be “in the business of offending anyone” but they’ve just offended just about everyone with their stubborn, wrong-headed, and utterly misguided decision.
That's a pretty poor letter, when he wasn't insisting the trees go DOWN. He only wanted to ADD the Jewish part.
So, your letter will make little impact because it does not reflect facts.
My parents always told me that "for every action you do, there is a REACTION" so think thru before you act!!! I am sick of these crybabies saying It's not MY fault.
Sadly, bad judgment was used by bringing in rabid attack dogs lawyers to threaten the airport instead of looking for another venue. Whenever lawyers come into a situation, everything goes to crap.
This episode, sadly, has destroyed many decades of hard work and excellent good will. I apologize to all FReepers in the name of Chabad for the extreme poor judgment.
FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel/Russian Jewry ping list.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Jews have a holiday where TEENAGERS set up a BONFIRE...no adults allowed....are we going to have THAT now??
A little presumptuous don't you think?
The Rabbi said NOTHING but spoke a LOT of words.
I have no problem with the Rabbi requesting a Menorah. It is the over-reaction of the Port of Seattle to this that upsets me.
I support the Port's decision the same way I applauded the private clubs who chose to disband rather than be sued by women demanding admission. Or the businesses who closed rather than enforce draconian smoking bans.
You want to sue? Fine. But deal with the consequences of being a litigious ass.
The Christmas Tree is not a religiouis Symbol, are Christmas Lights in City Streets or Stores religious?
NO... To the Secular World all the pretty displays are reminders for people to get out there and spend money!
A Nativity Scene and a Menorah would be the only thing religious.
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