To date, I have experienced more than 70 Christmas seasons in my lifetime. having spent all the previous ones as an “outsider.” I admit to a life-long appreciation of the Yule season’s message and traditions. To be sure, I am not only a non-Christian; I am a serious Jew. I am a rabbi.
Although I do not affirm what Christianity teaches about the most famous man from Nazareth, I admit to a lifelong appreciation of the Yule season’s message and traditions. I am happy and proud that this season, if observed with appropriate reverence, remembers not just the birth of one of my distant kinsmen, but more importantly, the message of peace, mutual understanding and goodwill to all humanity that he—good Jewish teacher that he was—imparted to so many.
It is for this reason that as another Christmas season begins, I express (albeit with an outsider’s chutzpah) both puzzlement and annoyance that this important message continues to be drowned out by other factors antithetical to its spirit. I refer specifically to the over-commercialization and rampant consumerism that seem to eclipse the true message of the season, even as so many individuals must deal with a palpable scarcity of resources.
Like most Jews who are “outsiders” at this season, I have not been directly touched by what many Christians feel to be serious challenges to the holiday and its true meaning. However, as these challenges take an ever-increasing role in the season’s ambiance, it is difficult not to hear and resonate with the pain of those who feel that the sanctity of this important holiday continues to be profaned.
By the same token, it is also puzzling to me as a Jew that billions of people can celebrate the birthday of a Jew born in Bethlehem (“the city of David”) more than 2,000 years ago and yet also feel either antipathy (at worst) or apathy (at best) towards his contemporary kinsmen— perhaps even denying that they have any authentic and continuing connection to Bethlehem and its environs. How does one explain the apparent cognitive dissonance among so many who believe that the baby is said to be the son of God but forget or deny that: 1) as a descendant of David, he was also a faithful son of his people; and 2) had he been walking the earth today, he, too, would be included in Hamas’s plan to make the world Judenrein. Indeed, had he been around today, his life may have already ended as the result of a rocket attack instead of being nailed to a cross.
With all this in mind and as the Yuletide season begins, this rabbi humbly shares these two wishes:
First, to those for whom Christmas is a religious holiday: Please help your fellow observers focus less on the trappings and more on the message, less on the gifts and more on the spirit of giving, particularly as we may expect another season’s batch of news reports about identity theft and credit-card fraud, the theft of packages off porches and shoppers committing violent acts upon one another. I would ask that you faithful help keep folks properly focused by exemplifying the values of the man whom you believe is the incarnation of goodness. In other words, “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Help those who have forgotten the teachings of peace, justice and compassion offered by the person whose birthday is celebrated, and remind them to keep these in mind not just through Jan. 1, but throughout the entire year. By all means, “Keep Christ in Christmas” by bearing witness to the importance of the day, perhaps less by preaching what to believe about Jesus and more about how to live the kind of life a true follower of his should live.
Second, this year—in the wake of the worst slaughter of Jews in one day since the Holocaust with world opinion placing most of the blame for the current war on Israel, and little to none on Hamas or Hezbollah; and increasing violence against Jews not only in Israel but in other countries (most notably, the recent murder of Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan in the United Arab Emirates)—I hope that in the spirit of “peace on earth and goodwill toward men,” faithful Christians will express and show more support for the living kinsmen of the “birthday boy” as they respond to those who are demonstrably more comfortable with current efforts to annihilate both them and what they stand for.
This rabbi also hopes that more faithful Christians will follow the example of folks like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, actress Patricia Heaton, actor Jon Voight, Pastor John Hagee and so many others who have been vocal in their support of us, and that more faithful Christians will remember that denying the connection of Jesus’ kinsmen to the land also denies him. (In the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, Bethlehem is noted as “the city of David” because, in Jewish tradition, David is regarded as the greatest Jewish king and the ancestor of the Messiah, who scripture predicts will one day redeem the Jewish people.) Moreover, if there really was no Jewish temple on the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque, as many claim, from where did Jesus drive out the moneychangers?
Lastly, this rabbi hopes that Christians around the world who have benefited from the supportive efforts of Israel and world Jewry in responding to all kinds of human suffering will reciprocate by supporting us in this, our time of need, if only as a gift in honor of the “birthday boy.”
To be sure, I am not so naive as to expect my wishes to come true or even to be acknowledged. Some may applaud, and some may shake their heads in disgust. Yes, they are controversial for many reasons and thus are presented with the utmost humility. But my prayer is that by this time next year, the world will reflect a stronger spirit of wisdom and charity. And, if my wishes are granted, perhaps the message of “goodwill to all,” which we still very much need to hear, will finally become a reality.