COPING WITH
CHRISTMAS
A rabbi
comments: “Once again, Jews are confronted with the Christian holiday season.
The month of December often ushers in a season of strained family relations
particularly when its members are made up of different religious faiths.
This is
especially true when those faiths are Judaism and Christianity.
Of all Christian holidays, one would least expect Christmas to generate this
much family tumult, considering that the church has long abandoned its claim
that Jesus was actually born on December 25th. Moreover, virtually all
Christian scholars agree that the reason Christendom adopted this date to
celebrate the second member of the Trinity's birthday is because the pagan
Roman holiday Solstice, the great festival of the sun god, was celebrated on
December 25th as well.
It
therefore comes as little surprise that Christianity's Jesus also shares his
birth date with so many other notable pagan deities of the mystery religions
such as the Persian god Mithra, and a host of other gods who were venerated
throughout the
As a rabbi, I recommend that you follow the sage advice of the prophet Jeremiah
10:2-5 regarding the embellishments of this non-Jewish holiday celebration.
Thus says the Lord, "Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at
the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them; for the customs of
the people are vain for they cut a tree out of the forest, the work of the
hands of the workman, with the ax. They deck it with silver and with gold; they
fasten it with nails and with hammers that it may not move."
Happy
Chanukkah!”
Yours,
Rabbi Tovia Singer
http://www.outreachjudaism.com/christmas.html