Did A Lone Rabbi Mean to Ban Christmas Trees?

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.

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.

I was originally going to try to avoid the "chr*stmas" threads this year but there is so much hypocrisy and duplicity on all sides of this argument that I feel compelled to add my two cents' worth.

First of all, the idea that the public celebration of the 25th day of december (the ancient pagan winter solstice celebration and solar new year) is the one thing standing between America's chr*stian heritage and secular humanism is nonsense. If you want to see how chr*stmas is celebrated in truly chr*stian cultures then go to Greece or Portugal or Italy or Armenia, where there is no Santa Claus, no conspicuous consumption, and no raucous parties (as a matter of fact, Armenians and some Eastern Orthodox celebrate it on a different day!). Plus I note that chr*stmas isn't even the biggest chr*stian holiday--e*ster is. Where is America's public chr*stianity when e*ster draws near? It's invisible. E*ster is celebrated within homes and churches with no appeal to the great mob of chr*stian-in-name-only hangers-on. In fact, e*ster, the holiest day of the chr*stian year, is only a little bit more visible than Pentecost. Has anyone here heard of Pentecost?

And btw, Medved is correct--trees are not the chr*stian counterpart of the chanukkiyyah, an inherently religious and "sectarian" symbol. If we're going to have true equality among religions then there should be a creche in every public place where there is a chanukkiyyah.

Okay, that's for the pro-chr*stmas crowd. As for the anti-'s:

Why is it that the people who protest chr*stmas celebrate halloween, St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and m*rdi gras with such enthusiasm? Why doesn't the ACLU attack the city of New Orleans for institutionalizing chr*stianity in the form of the pre-lenten celebration? Shoot, so far as I know no liberal has called for a ban on the annual White House e*ster egg rolling contest. And for that matter, for all the brouhaha, I guarantee you that no one has called for removing 12/25 from the list of official federal holidays. Shoot, back in the nineteenth century Richard Mentor Johnson (a Kentucky "redneck" and Martin Van Buren's vice-president) said that the mail should run on sunday and that "religion and irreligion have equal rights in the United States." Yet practically no one has heard of this fact before.

As I said in an earlier post, why is it that no liberal has any qualms about wishing others a happy new year on j*n*ary 1 when this isn't the new year in all cultures? Where does multiculturalism go after 12/25? In fact, why are people trying to balance chr*stmas with ramadan when ramadan ended months ago? And don't even get me started on when Chanukkah comes early, like late november! In those years Chanukkah is absolutely and totally ignored until chr*stmas draws near when all of a sudden the decorations go up along side Frosty the Snowman (to show how multicultural we are) and everyone has to tack a "happy Chanukkah" to "merry chr*stmas" for the same reason! What kind of "sensitivity" is that? To treat ignore Chanukkah when it's here and then treat it like a chr*stmas decoration later?

Just as chr*stmas isn't the biggest chr*stian holiday, Chanukkah is far from the biggest Jewish holiday. It is in fact one of the two minor holidays enacted by the Sages (the other being Purim, which is always obscured by shamrocks), yet it is the only Jewish holiday many non-Jewish Americans know about. Calendars that don't mark Shavu`ot or Sukkot or the last day of Passover all mark the first day and last day of Chanukkah. Don't get me wrong; the true message of Chanukkah is very important and very different from the enlightenment-rationalistic nonsense we so often hear, but the inflation of Chanukkah to a position higher than that of holidays and festivals decreed by the Mouth of G-d from Mt. Sinai is actually a change brought about under the influence of chr*stmas.

The holiest time of the Jewish year is the High Holy Days of Ro'sh HaShanah (the Jewish new year and anniversary of the creation of Adam) and Yom Kippur, which occur in the fall--when they are absolutely buried under the American mania for halloween. Where are the complaints? Where are the threatened lawsuits? Where is the ACLU when some village courthouse decorates a pumpkin without also blowing a shofar?

Finally, as I have said time and time again, the context of the debate is all wrong. We should be studying to see what G-d's Laws have to say about all this. Instead, we get this "This is a chr*stian country!" argument that is nothing vore than a conservative version of the leftist mantra "deze are de wayz of our pipplez!" What does G-d have to say about ritual trees like asherot and m*ypoles? Hmmm? But unfortunately, as with smoking, liberal hostility provokes an automatic, unthinking response of "anything the liberals don't like must be wonderful!" And as for the liberal side of the "cultural" debate, they do not treat all cultures equally. They work to suppress the majority or "host" culture while clamoring for public acknowledgements of minority or "guest" cultures. Yet once again, this whole argument leaves G-d's objective standards out of the argument. Meanwhile, a small group of Chasidim in California have begun a tractarian movement to hand out literature arguing against the observance of chr*stmas based not on liberal but on Theocratic arguments, and they are treated like pariahs by everyone--very much including liberal Jews who support the ACLU's hypocritical anti-chr*stmas crusade!

Jews and Judaeophilic chr*stians, please be aware that there are sinister forces at work to destroy your alliance. These forces range from islam to anti-Semitic chr*stianity to Jewish liberals who are embarrassed because they don't like to be reminded that their ancestors were the original "rubes" and "yahoos." These forces work overtime this time of year to pit you against each other and to destroy Fundamentalist chr*stian support for Israel. But be aware, pro-Israel chr*stians, that the moment 12/25 passes you will go right back to having nothing in common with anti-Semitic chr*stians who prefer Constantine to Solomon, Rome or Constantinople to Jerusalem, teh writings of medieval saints to the inerrant Word of G-d. These "friends" of yours who are so up in arms about the war on chr*stmas will go right back to promoting evolution and the idea that the "old testament" is mythology and parable, and you will be alone again. Don't fall for it. I'm begging you, don't fall for it.

Everyone needs to think long and hard about this fight to death over a holiday that is more European than Biblical and whose liberal opponents are so blatantly hypocritical that they probably wouldn't blink at a public e*ster celebration.

Preemptive apologies to you, wideawake, for some of the things in this post, but I wanted you to read this!

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