Is Christmas cheer kosher?
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One of my colleagues, Dan Klein, offers his take on out Telegraph blog. Another, Jessica Leader, picks up on the origins of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
As ‘Yule’ see in this timeline, the role of Jews vis-a-vis Christmas is a common occurence:
- 1929 – Row over Christmas in Monticello schools leaves Jewish kids humming carols.
- 1930 – Two Denver schools teach Chanukah songs instead of Christmas carols.
- 1931 – King of Romania offers a Christmas gift to the Jewish poor.
- 1933-1935 – As Nazis rise to power, Jews banned from selling Christmas paraphanelia (with some exception, perhaps). Jewish stores also banned from decorating their stores.
- 1935 – B’nai B’rith leader’s Christmas tree angers Reform rabbi.
- 1944 – Kingston, N.Y. Rabbi resigns after congregation protests his protest of Christmas in school.
- 1944 – Joint Christmas-Chanukah party thrown at settlement house.
- 1954 – Two Philadelphia businessmen display joint Christmas-Chanukah decorations.
- 1957 – Chicago school axes nativity scene and menorah; tree stays.
- 1961 – Christmas and Chanukah songs in schools upheld in NJ.
- 1968 – Hippies ruined Christmas in Jerusalem in 1968, according to JTA.
- 1971 – Chanukah trees ridiculed by Jewish educator
- 1972 – Washington columnist stirs Jewish Community Council by urging Jewish children to join Christmas carol singing in schools.
- 2000 – Julie Wiener writes about debate over Christmas trees in mixed families’ households.
Image: This Hanukkah ornament.
