Merry Christmas

Growing up in the home of a Holocaust survivor in the late 1960's and early 1970's, Christmas was  anything but merry or a festive occasion. In fact, Christmas symbolized to kids of my generation thousands of years of persecution and the constant reminder by our Christian/Catholic neighbors that we (translation, I) killed their Lord. The pain was so deep, that Torah study on Christmas was avoided in our home. As a youngster, I looked to that as a gift from the Anti-Semites, you hate us - we don't learn, yay! The commercialization of Christmas brought some respite to that venom especially when Hanukkah got lumped together with Christmas as a Jewish equivalent, and some of us began to get a bit mote comfortable with the transformation of our neighborhoods into winter wonderlands. We introduced electronic menorahs and Hanukkah decorations as a way of saying "hey, we have fun too."

Like most changes, they take time. The transformation of Christmas to something less malignant than Jews killing Jesus and therefore an excuse to harm Jews as revenge, was a process, not an overnight phenomenon. The Vatican II specifically Nostra Aetate which came out in 1963 exonerated Jews in the killing of Jesus and laid blame just as much on Christians and Romans as Jews. Twenty odd years later an older colleague at work told me that she has every right to hate Jews for killing her Lord but doesn't because in America that is politically incorrect. So much for the infallibility of the Pope.

But now it's 2011, and we live in a very different world. Christians and Jews share a common enemy, radical Islam. Christians who for thousands of years had vibrant communities throughout the Middle East are being driven out in droves. Lebanon, used to have a power sharing agreement between Christians and Muslims - now with Hezbollah terrorizing everyone Christians are leaving as fast as they can. Coptic Christians in Egypt are being murdered daily, the Iraqi Christian community is practically non-existent. Ditto Syria and all the Muslim African countries. Of course the freest country in the region for Christian and Muslims is Israel, and yes that comes with its own set of issues, but perhaps in a later post. Turn on any news channel on Christmas and you see holiday celebrations in Rome and Bethlehem, not any other ancient Middle Eastern cities because it's not allowed. Also, Fundamental Christianity has found an ally in the Jewish people and a Jewish Israel. While this makes many Jews uncomfortable, after all they fully expect that after the rapture we will accept Jesus as our savior or be damned to an eternity in hell, it bothers me not one bit. My attitude is simple, I'll take my hidden God over your hidden God any time, and if I'm ultimately proven wrong, I'll deal with it then.

Political correctness here in the USA has forced us to say "happy holidays" rather than "merry Christmas." What a shame. The founding fathers of this country decided to make Christmas a national holiday. Not because they wanted the USA to have a formal religion, but as recognition that the original settlers here came to practice their religion freely without authority of a Pope or The Church of England. Those original settlers were Christians and in their honor Christmas became a national holiday.

While I don't celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, I am happy to have the day off from work. I am thrilled for my friends and neighbors who wait all year for this time of family, love and the sharing of gifts and good cheer. In the recesses of my mind I remember the historical pain felt by forefathers during Christmas but now I'm thankful that I live in a different world. The world I am proud to live in acknowledges my holidays and in turn I happily acknowledge others. So today I say proudly to my friends and neighbors, with profound gratitude and love - MERRY CHRISTMAS to you and yours. May all of your wishes come true and may we really achieve peace on earth.