Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
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Should
We Have A Chanukah Bush?
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Dear
Gil:
We
have three daughters and consider
ourselves of Conservative observance
in a kosher home. The idea of a
Chanukah bush appeals to all of us,
although one has never been brought
into our home. Is there such a thing?
Would it really send the wrong message
to our girls?
We've
instilled in our girls the importance
of being a good Jew, as well as
observing every holiday. We want to
celebrate Chanukah 'to the nines';
decorating our home as much as
possible, inviting family for the
whole tradition. (Any decorating
ideas/tips would be greatly
appreciated!)
Maybe
this is where the 'yearning' for a
Chanukah bush came in. If however, it
is totally unorthodox (no pun
intended), we'd settle for a lot of
decorative Chanukah glitter.
Where
did the concept of a Chanukah bush
come from and is it permissible
according to Halacha? Your thoughts
and decorating suggestions would be
most welcome!
P
Dear
P:
If
you are looking for guidance from
Halacha or Jewish law, Dr. Mandell
Ganchrow of the Orthodox Union says
that Halacha "is about erecting
walls around us to keep us close to
our tradition. On the one hand we
create these walls to help us
differentiate from aspects of the
national culture.
Yet,
on the other hand, we seek to
integrate into many elements of
society.
And
therein lies the challenge: To be able
to distinguish when to make a
distinction - knowing when we need to
differentiate ourselves from the
melting pot."
Specifically,
you won't find a Chanukah bush in
Halacha because as far as I know it is
a relatively recent American
invention. However, Halacha does
prohibit practicing religious rituals
from other religions.
Now
there are some who argue that having a
Christmas tree is not practicing a
religious ritual because they don't
see the tree representing anything
Christian. For some folks this may be
true, but in general I don't agree. We
don't call them "winter holiday
trees!"
But
even if you feel the tree is not
religious, the idea of a Chanukah bush
is purely a copy of a Christmas tree.
Jewish law aside, I find the idea of a
Chanukah bush distasteful for that
very reason. Chanukah is not a
celebration of the winter holiday
season nor the Jewish Christmas. By
the way, I like Christmas -- but I
understand it is not my holiday.
In
fact, my holiday Chanukah, celebrates
that the Jews did not assimilate and
adopt the majority religion that
surrounded them. A Chanukah bush is
exactly the kind of thing the
Maccabees fought against in order to
preserve Judaism and therefore is
especially inappropriate in my view.
To
further explore this issue, you might
like Sandy Goldstein's Emmy award
winning video called There's No Such
Thing as a Chanukah Bush, based on the
award winning book of that title by
Susan Sussman. The video has received
rave reviews as being sensitive,
thoughtful and helpful to Jewish
children at Christmas time. (You can
order it through Amazon.com)
As
for decorating the house, the sky is
the limit, minus the bush. Of course,
the tradition is to put the Menorah in
the window and you can put other
Jewish decorations or lights before
the window. Personally, I don't care
for lights hanging outside the house
because again that feels like a copy
of Christmas. I don't feel as strongly
about lights as a Chanukah bush
though, since Chanukah is called the
holiday of lights and also for some,
displaying Jewish lights are a way to
proudly proclaim their Judaism to the
outside world.
For
more decorations go to any Jewish gift
or book store. I'd also look around
online at the many Judaica shops now
on the Internet. Here are a two to
try: www.jewishstore.com or
www.judaica.ca.
To
further celebrate Chanukah "to
the nines," here's a suggestion
my wife started in our home: we pick a
few nights to give to those less
fortunate. For example, one night
we've together bought groceries and
brought them to a food shelf or we've
passed out Chanukah gelt at a Jewish
nursing home etc. I think my kids
appreciate these nights of Chanukah as
much as receiving gifts. I know I do.
Hope
this is helpful. I wish you, your
family and all my readers a Happy
Chanukah!
Gil
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© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
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