[leilani]

The tree tradition is a relatively recent arrival to America (late 19th c) and wasn't truly a widespread custom until the first few decades of the twentieth century. It's origins are believed to date back to pre-Christian times & pagan solstice rites. Though a few folks here & there in german immigrant communities decorated trees in early america, it wasn't til after Queen Victoria married Albert and adapted the german holiday custom for the royal household that it became popular in England & then later the US.

See the somewhat reliable wiki entry. I know Jews who put up trees. Go anywhere in world in December & in non-Christian cultures like Japan & you will see end-of-year trees. They are as much a symbol of commerce as anything else. That's why municipal trees in the US have survived challenges from the ACLU all these years - they are extra-religious symbols more widely associated with winter & the season of Jesus's birth than Christianity.Indeed, some fundamentalist Christians reject the practice, believing they are prohibited by scripture.

That being said, I think everybody should cut the Rabbi some slack. He made a mistake letting his lawyer go nuclear, has admitted it & apologized for it, the trees are back & no one was harmed. If we want to blame anybody for what happened at SEA-TAC, lets blame SCOTUS for making all of these issues such a lucrative business for self-aggrandizing lawyers & crooked hate-groups like the ACLU.

It's Yuletide/Christmas/Ramadan/Hannukah/Winter Solstice/End of Year Sale time: the season for giving and forgiving.

[Diplomat]

He made a mistake letting his lawyer go nuclear, has admitted it & apologized for...,

Could you point me to an exact quote from the Rabbi where he did what say here. All I have read is the typical democrat appology of pointing the finger at the other party and declaring yourself the victim and it was all a misunderstanding.