Jews Strive to Restore Sea-Tac Airport's Christmas Trees

Toward Tradition ^ | December 11, 2006 | Rabbi Daniel Lapin

[Mr. Mulliner]

Well here we go again. It is so utterly predictable. Like clockwork. It’s December and time for another skirmish in the annual battle against Christmas. What compels me to comment is that this time it's not the usual secular fanatic who's responsible for doing things that evict Christianity from the culture. No, on this sad and alarming occasion it's a deeply religious, well-intentioned rabbi who has unwittingly stumbled into a situation that will place his denomination (and mine) —Orthodox Judaism— in a terrible, negative light.

For at least ten years, Sea-Tac Airport near Seattle has displayed several large, beautifully decorated Christmas trees each December. With lawyer in tow, a local rabbi recently threatened to sue the Port of Seattle if the airport didn't add a Chanukah menorah to the holiday display.

Yielding to the ultimatum was not an option for airport management, skittish at the best of times since 9-11. Understandably, they interpreted the rabbi’s threat as only the first. It would not be hard to imagine Seattle’s Islamic community stepping forward with their own lawyer to demand a Moslem symbol be included as well.

With deft turn of phrase, Sea-Tac public affairs manager Terri-Ann Betancourt explained that at the busiest travel time of the year, while Sea-Tac was focused on getting passengers through the airport, she and her staff didn’t have time “to play cultural anthropologists.”

Threatening a lawsuit, I feel, violates the Jewish principle known in Hebrew as Kiddush HaShem, interpreted in the Talmud, part of ancient Jewish wisdom, as an action that encourages people to admire Jews. One need only read the comments on the Internet following the news accounts of the tree removal, to know that most people are feeling indignant and hurt. They certainly are not feeling more warmly toward Jews as a result of this mess.

Here I disclose that I know the rabbi involved, am friendly with him, and am sure that he didn’t intend this outcome. I like him, which makes it painful for me to point out that when one throws a punch (which is what bringing a lawyer and threatening to sue is equivalent to) and one gets decked in return, one cannot plead that one didn’t intend that outcome.

The outcome, whether intended or not, is that now vast numbers of passengers, most of whom are probably Christian, will be deprived of the cheerful holiday sight of pretty Christmas trees. What is more, they will know that their deprivation was caused by a Jewish rabbi. The rabbi’s lawyer told a television reporter, “There is a concern here that the Jewish community will be portrayed as the Grinch.”

No, Mr. Lawyer, it is not that Jews will be “portrayed” as the grinch. Sadly, now we are the grinch. You made us the grinch.

Now what is to be done? I have three requests:

I am asking every reader of this column to sign a petition on the Toward Tradition website beseeching Sea-Tac management to restore the Christmas trees.

I am asking every reader of this column to forward it to others who might be willing to sign this petition.

I am asking Jews in the Puget Sound region to join national radio host, Michael Medved, and me in offering our volunteer labor to Sea-Tac. We hope they will allow us to provide the labor necessary for replacing the trees so that airport staff need not be deflected from their important duties.

[ripley]

"who is wounded...."

more like "what" is wounded.

intent has been uncovered, so now it's o.k. to make light of any intended
"slight".?

if it is wished that displays of faith be excluded from public venues, than say so. please do not recount burnings at the stake, inquisitions, crusades and any other abuses or perceived abuses..........say it, be done with it, stop hiding behind reasonableness and stop trying to villify christman trees, santa claus, and a harmless cross which stands for a blood sacrifice which was the definitive blood sacrifice for some.

thank you very much.

[SJackson]

Precisely, it's money in the bank for any lawyer who represented any group who then sued for being excluded. The Authority's money.

There's no indication I've seen about anyone looking for money. Particularly the Authority's money.

[mrsmith]

http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=17318
a link to the interesting case they refused to hear.


And here it's not just defending putting up a menorah in this circumstance that they risk being sued over, but suits from anyone else who asked that their display be included and was turned down.

I think we will see a change in the court's bizarre First Amendment religious doctrine soon. Of course the Authority doesn't want to be the ones to spend the money to take a case to the Supreme Court.

[TaraP]

Christmas trees, Santa Claus, decorations, exchanging gifts, and the many other seasonal traditions that most of us observe are wonderful ways for family and friends to mark this time of year.

What we must all take care to remember is that these customs, enjoyable as they are, ultimately have nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas.

The true meaning of Christmas -- the "reason for the season" -- is found only in the message of the gospel.

Here it is, so beautifully encapsulated in John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

[RightOnline]

A very wise rabbi. He's a good man. He's right; Jews are very, VERY welcome in this country; we share the same God. That's good enough for me, and I'd gladly fight for them as I would my fellow Christians.

[Peter Libra]

The petition is not set up for Canadians, this is understandable. My heart is with the spirit of it.

I like the Menorah myself. Anyway.....

God bless us every one.

Tiny Tim Cratchit. circa 1840

[art_rocks]

The rabbi got what he asked for but not what he wanted.

I don't believe the rabbi wanted the trees gone. He expected the airport to cave and give in. The rabbi did not expect the airport to take this route. The rabbi believed he had all the moves and countermoves set up like a chess game. He didn't expect the airport to knock over the board and say he won.

[backtothestreets]

As various individuals and groups press forward each year to squash Christmas, I find myself adopting a tradition completely unfitting this time of year, especially for me. Quite frankly, I am learning to strongly detest those people and groups. If they succeed, it is absolutely likely people like myself will exercise this newfound dislike against those that have instilled it. We will seek to turn back time to a place in our history when you had no voice.

Anti-Christmas minorities need to wake up to some realities.

First, when I say Merry Christmas, understand I am not twisting your arm and demanding you convert to Christianity. Neither am I giving tribute to some pagan festival. I am particularly joyous this time of year in celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am also joyous for all the children that hang their stockings in anticipation of Santa paying them a visit. Remember always that I deeply love children, know they cherish this annual celebration, and am deeply disturbed you seek to stomp all over their dreams. If you are so compelled to ruin a celebration children delight in, I will find it equally compelling to essentually kick you in the groin so hard you will speak like a high-pitched porpoise the remainder of your life.

Next, no matter how our nation is comprised today, it is still predominately Christian. If you feel compelled to attack me or our nation for this, please go huddle with non-Christians OUTSIDE our nation so you will no longer be offended. Oh yeah, our nation is still comprised of a solid majority that identifies as Christian.

If you are so inconsiderate as to undertake actions that reflect poorly upon whatever minority you belong to, I hope your group has enough decency to oppose your efforts.

Stop thinking members of our society so Christian that we must turn our cheek to allow you to slap us silly. Being Christ-like is our goal, but you can force us to detour from that objective long enough to deal with you. Remember always that the signs promoting racial and religious segregation that were banned by our Civil Rights struggle were the culmination of predominately Caucasian Christian men occupying all three branches of our federal government, and state governments, and were an extension of the same goodwill expressed during the Christmas season.

If you find yourself at a Christmas celebration with carolers or Christmas music, please don't listen, turn away. If there is a Nativity scene or Santa Clause, please don't look, turn away.

And if you choose to be within our nation and lack the commonsense and decency to understand your minority has any status at all in this nation because of our Christian heritage, not in spite of it, please leave. Go to be among your own kind outside our nation and leave this nation to my kind and all minority members that appreciate the good this nation affords us.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[Antoninus]

Some Jews are better Christians than most Christians I know.

God bless you, Rabbi Lapin!

[art_rocks]

The same way some clergy don't believe that God and the devil exist.

[Tench_Coxe]

"I am asking Jews in the Puget Sound region to join national radio host, Michael Medved, and me in offering our volunteer labor to Sea-Tac. We hope they will allow us to provide the labor necessary for replacing the trees so that airport staff need not be deflected from their important duties."

The answer here is so simple. But in this day and age, uttering the phrase, "I was wrong" is anathema to so many. It would have seemed much more reasonable to let the Christmas trees stand, and press for the display of a Menorah on the basis of respect.

Shame. The Law of Unintended Consequences appears again, feeding on the wounds in a very, very thin skin.

[kalee]

I'm a Christian and we have a mezuzah at our front door. It was given to us by a Jewish couple we knew in Atlanta.
They gave it to us when we left Atlanta. We used to spend Passover with them and they came to us for Christmas and Easter.

[art_rocks]

As much as I don't like lawyers, why is the lawyer at fault. I am sure the lawyer did what his client asked. If the lawyer was acting without his clients knowledge, I am sure the Rabbi could file a complaint.

The rabbi forgot how members of a bureacracy work. It was easier for the airport to take down the trees then to fight the lawsuit.

How much would a lawsuit have cost the airport not to include paying the lawyers fees of the rabbi. The airport made their best fiscal decision. I don't blame them. They might take some heat for caving but the airport would not get the majority of the blame.

I don't blame Jews for this incident but do blame the rabbi.

I do wonder how many here on this forum are throwing blame for the trees being taken out of the airport but yet worked take a secular holiday out of the schools. Now who in the Christian right will take the blame for taking Halloween out of public schools? Or is this just putting gasoline on a fire.

[dalight]

The Airport rightly decided that a Menorah wouldn't cause problems but the Islamic religious symbols that would almost automatically follow would cause many of the traveling public to feel ill at ease. Thus they went from A to C skipping B.

This is all sad but CAIR will eventually undo each and every advance that American Jews have labored to create.

CAIR is modeled to take advantage of ADL's techniques to push for social change. The lever behind ADL's efforts was guilt about the Holocaust, but as time slips into the future, this is forgotten and the norms of preventing oppression by being super accommodating to minorities has been turned on its head because all minorities and all religions are not the same.

This process was previously protested by the White Supremacists who wanted to put up displays where ever Jews tried to put up Menorahs. This was comical and to the greatest extent which ever way this went, it was more of a tempest in the teapot. The entry of Islam into this contest after 911 has been to create a situation where a Religious group intends to use each situation to establish domination over Christianity, Judaism and all other faiths. First by begging accommodation, but then insisting on showing respect by not having competing symbols, on force of threat of mayhem.

Even the Hanukkah story is being turned against us, establishing the grounds for "respecting" Islam as a proxy for American Society being Greece trying to oppress them. At Temple this weekend, the Rabbinic Intern leading Saturday Shabbot services was brimming with pride about Keith Ellison's demand to use the Koran for his swearing in, citing the precedence of a Jew being allowed to use the Tanakh, rather than the standard Christian Bible. I was sore tempted to leave.. but, they were so happy. Thinking this was the next "advance" in religious "tolerance" in the United States.

The challenge of bringing America back to One Nation, Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All is now a core fight for the very survival of our civilization.

The wasteland that is being settled in our country is the barren souls of Americans who have forgotten God and Morality. This is the shock that we are waking up to. That a significant portion of our population has no concept of morality, and that Hedonism and Multiculturalism have replaced true respect for others who are different but willing to adapt to the American Dream and with that the shared moral values of our culture. This has been fractured along many lines, in a slow deliberate fight to "secularize" the society. But, instead of creating a better society, instead we have slowly begun descending into depravity. Muslims have seen all of these lost souls and believe they can gain a working majority in the US and thereby eventually dominate the whole world.

The problem at its core has two aspects.

• The increasing percentage of Americans who only nominally believe in God or are Agnostic or Atheist.
• The attempt to Substitute an Atheist State for a Secular State with a basic assumption of the existence of God as defined by the Judeo-Christian tradition.

As long as these two problems exist, we will not be able to meet the challenge of creating and maintaining Justice, Freedom and Liberty for all.

[Vicki]

The airport folks could have taken time to investigate instead of shooting from the hip.

The Rabbi gave them 24 hours and then he was going to file the lawsuit.

[packrat35]

It wasn't misreported. He brought a lawyer and threatened to sue. The airport did what it thought best, whether we agree or not. I don't but I am not the one with a lawsuit and lawyer siced on them.

Now he is getting blowback that he EARNED. He knew damn well what bringing a LAWYER into the situation would do. ESCALATE the situation! Now he is getting called on it and fools here on FR are defending him.

[EveningStar]

Please look at this.

[rahbert]

When the Port District has to lawyer up, it costs money.

They did the responsible thing by taking the trees down
and saving the taxpayers what all those billable hours
would have cost.

This is 9th Circus country so the outcome is pridictable.

[rahbert]

pridictable = predictable

[packrat35]

It confirms that a lawsuit was threatened. My post stands. The rabbi and ANYONE who defends him is a fool.