It happens every year at this time: the battles of political correctness. One of two things happens when a community puts up a Christmas tree. There is a battle to take it down, especially in his year of widespread anti-Semitissm; someone fights to get a Chanukkiyah (that’s its real name, not Menorah), Kwanzaa candles, or a symbol of some other religion’s holiday placed right next to it. Then Fox News follows by running stories about the latest battle in the “war against Christmas,” The ACLU, representing some atheist group, starts suing any town whose mayor even once drove near a church, mosque, and/or synagogue.
Hey, ACLU: Give it up! America is a Majority Christian country.
The First Amendment isn’t supposed to stop Christians from celebrating their faith; it’s supposed to stop the majority from crapping on the other faiths.
People who see December as the opportune time for the celebration of politically correct multicultural nonsense have to stop! I understand that people are trying to be fair and respect everyone’s faith, but he is idiotic and upsets the Christians practicing their faith and, to be honest, ruins the meaning of the holiday celebrated by the Jewish Nation.
I can’t speak for the other faiths, but I can tell you that as Jewish holidays go, Chanukah is among the least important; unlike the big holidays like Passover, Sukkot, or Shavuot, you can work, drive, etc.
We appreciate the thought, but it’s sacrilegious. Nothing goes against the true meaning of Chanukah (the candelabra for Chanukah-not a menorah) more than placing a Chanukkiyah near a Christmas er “holiday tree” or using a Magen David (Jewish star) as a tree ornament. The true meaning of Chanukah is the exact opposite of that multicultural rubbish.
Only one part of the story was the Maccabees’ fight to get the Syrian Greeks out of Israel and the cleansing and re-dedication of the Temple. The real Hanukkah Story includes a civil war among the Jews. Judah Maccabee and the boys were fighting other Jews who had turned away from their faith by combining it with Greek/Hellenistic practices. The resulting assimilation caused a loss of Jewish faith and tradition and eventually practicing Jewish ritual.
Hanukkah is a holiday about Jews fighting against assimilation, but the ACLU-progressive-liberal types would have us celebrate it by assimilating.
Let me suggest that if Matthias and his sons were alive today, they would be fighting every Jew who wanted a six-foot menorah next to a Christmas tree, a star of David next to a cross, or even the massive multi-holiday Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, and Winter Solstice display.\
America is not supposed to be a melting pot; it’s more like a gumbo where all the elements are in the same pot, existing together but maintaining their original form. As Americans, we are all different, and we don’t celebrate those differences by merging them into one hodgepodge of progressive mediocrity, celebrating everything at the same time. The truth is that particular practice celebrates absolutely nothing.
The Maccabees were horrified when an idol was placed in the holy Temple. Rather than trying to fit with “modern” culture, they wanted to ensure that the House of God was a Jewish household. To remember the Maccabees, toss out your Hanukka Harry products.
The Rabbis tell us that we are not to use the Chanukah candles for reading or seeing, as we would with a regular candle or a light bulb. The Chanukkiyah is supposed to be placed near a window so the light of God and his miracles will shine outward into the world. Mixing up Chanukah with other people’s traditions diminishes the light and message of Chanukah and those other traditions.
To my Christian friends: Please don’t get assimilated on me either. That tree in the mall, town square, or your living room is a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree. Santa is not a secular character; he is Saint Nick. You have a lovely tradition. “Keep the Christ in Christmas.” Don’t try to make it politically correct by taking away its religious nature. And don’t take away the religious nature of Hanukkah by shoving it down the collective throats of public Christmas displays.
America is a great country. It is excellent not because everyone celebrates the same but because we can all celebrate our differences. To my friends celebrating Hanukkah, may you have a joyous holiday. Or, as we say in Hebrew, Chag Chanukah Samayach.
Christmas is in two weeks—To my Christian friends, may you have a joyous and Merry Christmas.
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