Jewish leaders of this suburban community today protested a New Hyde Park Board of Education ban against discussion of Chanukah in local public schools if such discussion interfered with the Christmas season.
The board policy statement declared that “while the Feast of Chanukah is a religious and historical fact, it has no super sedence over countless other religious and historical events and should not be celebrated during the Christmas season in the public schools.” This did not mean, the statement added, that Chanukah “should not be discussed in the classrooms at a time when it would not interfere with the Christmas season.”
The statement was denounced by Rabbi Andrew Robins, spiritual leader of the 700-family Temple Emanu-El here, as a “brazen and disgraceful insult to our religion. The Reform rabbi, who is on record as opposed to the celebration of Chanukah in the public schools, declared it was “outrageous” to speak of Chanukah “in this tone. “George Mintzer, president of the New Hyde Park Jewish Community Council, assailed the policy statement was Hunt enable,” asserting that he questioned “not only its moral principle, but also its legality.”
Dr. Frank Picciano, president of the School Board, said that “no ban has been placed on discussions” of Chanukah in the school system. He added that the supervising principal of the school district would have the discretion of deciding when Chanukah could be discussed during the Christmas season. He also said that spiritual leaders and school board members would meet early next year to set policies on holidays.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
