Posted on 12/13/2004 8:27:28 AM PST by Lando Lincoln
Up and down the street where I live, half the homes are lit up with Christmas trees, the other half with menorahs. The days are good and the nights are silent. Most of the time we can’t tell the difference between Christians and Jews. We’re too busy being just plain old Americans.
You have Christmas. We have Chanukah. You have Easter. We have Passover. Does this separate us? No, this unites us, for together, this land is our land.
If this sounds corny, well it is.
I am offended, however. Across this nation, in cities, towns, villages and school districts, Christians are being told that they cannot celebrate Christmas openly. Here, there and everywhere, Christians are being sent into hiding if they want to sing carols, display nativity scenes, herald the Ten Commandments, or praise Jesus. Even Santa is not kosher.
I am Jewish, and Jesus is not my God…so why am I so offended at what I take to be an agenda of persecution against Christians?
This is not a scholarly approach, so let me simply say that American Christianity is a marvel, a near miracle of tolerance and, better yet, loving-kindness. American Christians do love their neighbors as themselves. I know this from the pavements I walk, the streets I drive, the sandlots where I root for the home team. I am free to visit your church, and you would be most welcome in my synagogue.
How this happened is a mystery. But the difference between European Christianity and American Christianity is as vast as an ocean.
Let others provide the history and the details. For me it is enough to remember that Europe plunged its Christianity into the Nuremberg Laws and a Holocaust that has existed in one form or another for some two thousand years, and continues to this day. Europe finally produced Hitler.
AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY produced Jefferson, Lincoln, and a document that opens with these words: “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility… and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do order and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Sound familiar? It should if you know the Hebrew Bible, as this from Leviticus: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”
Here, in this land, more often than not, those words have been turned into deeds.
Yes, we are a Judeo/Christian nation, and if it gets any better than that, I don’t know where.
Only Israel itself compares, the Israel of before, and the Israel of today. Israel is where our American heritage begins.
As Jews, we do not pray to Jesus, but we stand in admiration that true Christians adhere to His message of love, taken from our Scriptures. We respect your devotion as you respect ours. We honor your faith as you honor ours, even as we pray separately but live equally, in friendship.
From “The Hebrew Impact on Western Civilization,” we get this: “How closely the Puritans identified themselves with the Israelites is hard to over-emphasize…They actually thought of themselves as a new Israel…If Israel had its Pharaoh, so did the Puritans in King James 1. The Atlantic Ocean was to them the Red Sea. America was the new Canaan…The first book printed in America was the Bay Psalm Book.”
Of course we have our self-haters, bigots and anti-Semites. Openly or in secret, they pray in favor of America’s enemies and promote any cause that would harm or even destroy Israel. But they do not define this country. Let their curses turn into blessings.
Give me, instead, those Christian Evangelicals, all 70 million of them, or those 60 million Gentiles who turn Christian but once a week or twice and year.
Away with the restrictions and laws that deny Christians their Christianity.
Let me watch them praise their Lord with Christmas trees and jingle bells, for these are a reminder to me, a Jew, that I live in this land, this land of mostly Christians that have kept the promise of my ancestor, the prophet Micah, that this house be blessed by the shade of that vine and fig tree, and none shall make us afraid.
About the Writer: Jack Engelhard is the author of the bestseller "Indecent Proposal," the award-winning "Escape from Mount Moriah," and the novel "The Days of the Bitter End," which is being prepared for movie production. Jack receives e-mail at viewopinion@aol.com.
I am sending this thread to my rabbi. Merry Christmas!
No offence, but for us, for the Jews, the promised land was and will continue to be Israel.
American Judeo-Christian alliance, bump!
Well for most of us :)
Sorry, should have clarified... I didn't mean it literally. I meant it in terms of the way the Israelites saw the Promised Land as the land of their deliverance in the Old Testament is the way much of the rest of the world sees the United States today.
Again, my apologies. I should have been clearer. I'd never try to claim Israel's position as G-d's literal, actual Promised Land for America.
Graded on the curve.
Can we keep it?
Regain it, is the question.
Oh I guess then that I didnt understand your post, therefore no apology is needed! My fault sorry.
May this thread bring joy and blessings to your rabbi!
Two of the biggest internal problems in Israel are the animus between religious and nonreligious Israelis and the inability of the Jewish population to match the Arab population demographically.
If the state of Israel had less of a socialist heritage and more of a religion and family-friendly one, this wouldn't be such a problem.
" if you know the Hebrew Bible, as this from Leviticus: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” "
Great Post.
Here is related articel written by Dennis Prager last year.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/dp20030916.shtml
in my church there is a jewish gentleman that attends every week with his methodist wife. he actively involves himself with our church and invites anyone to be a guest at his synogogue and home. to me its a reminder that we are all in this together and we need someone to watch our backs for us.
I highly recommend Barbara Tuchman's history, "The Bible and Sword: England and Palestine from the Bronze Age to Balfour"
The Christian British Isles had a strong affinity to the Old Testament and saw themselves as one of the lost tribes of Israel.
British pilgrims were traveling to the Holy Land and writing travelogues as early as 800 A. D.
The Puritans studied the Old Testament and saw themselves as the Israelites in Canaan.
The principles of the Old Testament: man's direct relationship to God and God's promise of justice to the individual shaped the British psyche.
The British brought this sense of individuality, decency, respect for the rule of law and a sense of fairness, along with a firm conviction of being a chosen people to North America. It is this set of principles that formed the base of principles we consider solidly American.
British common law is unconsciously modeled on Torah.
Graded on the curve.
Can we keep it?
Regain it, is the question.")
Everything is relative! (?)
Everything can be compared to other things, which I don't think is the same thing.
But if you are comparing, it's not a great country compared to what it was when it was more free.
I know there are many things we can't do that those before could. An example being our ancestors could shoot all the ducks they wanted - we are regulated by game laws --- is this bad? There are many such cases and some may be a real burden; however, "relative" to other cuntries we enjoy much freedom.
What specifically would you change relative to your freedoms (examples)?
Nice article. This guy reminds me of Dennis Prager and Michael Medved. :)
Here are a few, they are general catagories, if you get into specific cases the list would eat the bandwidth.
Start a business without permission.
Repair our own homes in our own way.
Choose our own retirement plan.
Choose not to have a retirement plan.
Educate our children in our own way.
Make our own business arrangements.
Choose our own medications.
Choose our own transportation.
Choose to opt out of giving information to government about our business.
Choose to keep our financial affairs confidential.
Choose to support our candidates without limitations.
Beautiful sentiments. Thanks for the post.
A local talk show host in Arizona is Jewish. He has been purposely playing Christmas music.
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