Posted on 12/11/2006 8:14:08 AM PST by beaversmom
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.
"So much blood has been shed because of an omission from the Bible: "Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is." Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code."
- Mark Twain, a Biography
I find it difficult to see this as a "misunderstanding"."The rabbi's lawyer made the mistake of threatening a federal lawsuit.Unless the rabbi's lawyer is an idiot,i find the excuse(it was just a mistake)disingenuous at best.A federal lawsuit should scare the daylights out of anyone with a modicum of sophistication.Why the backpedaling?Because"this has provided appropriate indignation from millions."I suspect rabbi and his attorney expected to get their way without a lot of fuss-kinda backfired-this time.
I see your point but since when do December "holiday" trees in America represent anything other than Christmas. Do people think a menorah represents anything other than Hanukah? Unfortunately it's very telling that many posts are using bigotry to complain about anti-Christian bigotry. This rabbi is pro-Jewish not anti-Christian. People should focus on the reason he did this. His goal was never to remove the Christmas trees but rather to have equal representation - something, I thought, we all stood for. Maybe not.
Druids? Didn't some Teutonic tribes use it? Or where they considered Druids too?
Don't know the whole story.
The Rabbi was not doing his job. I'm a Jew, and I do not expect our religious leaders to be embarrassing me by such trivialities. Comparing a menorrah to a Christmas tree is absurd. Hannukah is not even that important a holiday.
"So, would everyone be okay for a Ramadan display at that time of the year?"
No. And that might have played into the Port's decision.
"Didn't some Teutonic tribes use it?"
I think you are right. I just call all bush-worshippers "Druids" out of laziness.
In fairness, I think Druids threw vigins in peat bogs, whilst the Franks tied them to the Tanenbaums and let them die of exposure. (Or somesuch -- I don't really care.)
Remember this when decorating the tree. Merry Christmas!
As already explained,1 in days bygone, the synagogue was the center of the Jewish community (that was before the era of golf-courses...). Morning and evening, the entire community would gather there to offer prayers to their Creator. Since the essence of the Menorah is Pirsumai Nissa (publicizing the miracle), the rabbis instituted that the menorah should receive maximum exposure by being lit in every synagogue.
Unfortunately today there are many Jews who don't go to the synagogue every day. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneersohn, encourages us to bring the synagogue Menorah to any public area where Jews will be able to see the candles and be touched by the timeless message of Chanukah. So don't be surprised to see a large Menorah in your local shopping mall or in your town square!
The Lubavitcher Rebbe encourages us to bring the synagogue Menorah to any public area where Jews will be able to see the candles.
You should do your part as well: Make sure that at your Chanukah party there is a lit menorah prominently displayed. Put an electric menorah in the lobby of your office building, and if you’re making any sort of simcha during Chanukah, wedding, bar Mitzvah, etc., make sure that the event is illuminated with the brilliance of the Chanukah Menorah.2
Footnotes
1. See "Why is the Menorah lit in the synagogue?" (http://www.askmoses.com/article.html?h=181&o=40549).
2. Sha'arei Hamoadim, Chanukah, p. 367.
Here is an amusing side-note to all of this political correctness here in the Seattle area. My 5-year old nephew came home from his kindergarten class last week telling his parents he wants to be Jewish, and said he wanted a Dreidel like they had in school.
Now his Mom is a Catholic and his Dad a Protestant who both agreed to raise the son up as Catholic, so this news really threw them for a loop. The family are Christmas & Easter church goers only, so I think this gave them a wake-up call that if they want to guide him in the way of their faith they better get to church more often.
""So, would everyone be okay for a Ramadan display at that time of the year?" No. And that might have played into the Port's decision."
Yeah, the traditional Ramdan grendade launchers and short range missles couldn't make it through security.
OK, so you admit there is no direct quote by the rabbi demanding to remove the trees.
You can apologize to me just like I have apologized for this incident on about seven threads.
This litigious attitude is exactly the sort of thing that undermines the general public's opinion of Jews, in my opinion. Let the rabbi direct his energies on his real enemies: the ones that want to eradicate Israel and believe their god calls them to murder Jews.
Serious backpedaling because the backlash is going to smash that clown's funding and the lawyer also.
Medved is writing of the Rabbi's contrition for any pain caused even inadvertently by his actions.
I have checked the news and I have failed to see where the ?Rabbi has apologized to the Christian community. I have read where the Rabbi threatened a Federal lawsuit if one of two his demands were not met: Either put up a menorah and let us perform a religious ceremony or tear down the Christmas trees.
Now, instead of publicly apologizing for threatening a lawsuit (Medved says the rabbi "may" apologize on his show) the Rabbi has demanded the Port Authority apologize to him for taking down the Christmas trees.
I think it is about time this Rabbi thinks about all the pain he has caused and quit making so many demands.
respectfully, you are mistaken.
The Rabbi made a specific demand for his religious symbol. Either they airport give him his religious symbol a space OR the airport must remove the christmas trees.
The airport gave him EXACTLY what he asked for. He just never expected to win.
Now he has to live with consequences of his Pyric victory. He got exactly what he asked for.
HEHEHEH, is that how that fairy got stuck on the top of the tree?
Whoo boy, now I've gone and done it.
thou protest to much.
Why................................
please fill in the blanks
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