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Back to Question of the Week Q: My question is: This time of year those of us who live/work in the secular world get invited to parties of many shapes and forms. Some are called seasonal celebrations, some actually Christmas parties, some are just parties but they are at a non-Jew's house which is decorated for their holidays. Sometimes you are asked to bring food for the food bank or toys to give to needy children or an ornament for the tree. Usually there is seasonal music. Of course you don't sing carols, but this can sneak up on you at parties. And if there are a lot of parties it starts to feel like you are celebrating something, even if you are really not. Where does the line get drawn on seasonal celebrations? And what do you tell people (as I got told yesterday) who tell you that "Christmas and Hanukkah are basically the same thing"! Thanks, Glenda |
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A: "Hark, the herald Reb-be writes, an-swers with Judaic insight. . " Sorry Glenda, I got carried away by the spirit of the season ! Your question is a good and serious one. It's difficult to draw guidance from classic Jewish texts for this issue, because their world seems very different from ours. The rabbis of the Talmud were very concerned that Jews not support or participate, or even appear to participate, in what they called avodah zarah, which literally means "strange worship" but is commonly understood as paganism or idolatry. For example, the first mishnah of the tractate called Avodah Zarah deals with the very case of what to do around the time of pagan holidays: ON THE THREE DAYS PRECEDING THE FESTIVITIES OF IDOLATERS, IT IS FORBIDDEN TO TRANSACT BUSINESS WITH THEM, TO LEND ARTICLES TO THEM OR BORROW ANY FROM THEM, TO ADVANCE, OR RECEIVE ANY MONEY FROM THEM, TO REPAY A DEBT, OR RECEIVE REPAYMENT FROM THEM. R. JUDAH SAYS: WE SHOULD RECEIVE REPAYMENT FROM THEM, AS THIS CAN ONLY DEPRESS THEM; BUT THEY [THE RABBIS] SAID TO HIM: EVEN THOUGH IT IS DEPRESSING AT THE TIME, THEY ARE GLAD OF IT SUBSEQUENTLY. ( Avodah Zarah 1:1, Soncino translation, that's why it's all in capitals.) The general idea is that a Jews should not do business with a pagan worshipper before a holiday, because they might use the money or the article acquired as part of their worship. R. Judah says that you can ask for payment of a debt, because that might ruin their holiday, but the other rabbis say that paying off a debt makes someone happy in the long run, so it's best just to avoid "pagans" altogether before their holidays. Now, before we get all upset about the seemingly overzealous ethnocentrism of this particular text, let's compare it to another mishnah from the same chapter of the same tractate: THESE ARE THE FESTIVITIES OF THE IDOLATERS: KALENDA, SATURNALIA, KRATESIS, THE ANNIVERSARY OF ACCESSION TO THE THRONE AS WELL AS [ROYAL] BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES OF DEATHS. THIS IS R. MEIR'S OPINION. BUT THE SAGES SAY, A DEATH AT WHICH BURNING [OF ARTICLES OF THE DEAD] TAKES PLACE IS ATTENDED BY IDOLATRY, BUT WHERE THERE IS NOT SUCH BURNING THERE IS NO IDOLATRY. HOWEVER, THE DAY OF SHAVING ONES BEARD OR LOCK OF HAIR, OR THE DAY OF LANDING AFTER A SEA VOYAGE, OR THE DAY OF RELEASE FROM PRISON, OR IF AN IDOLATER HOLDS A BANQUET FOR HIS SON – THE PROHIBITION ONLY APPLIES TO THAT DAY AND THAT PARTICULAR PERSON. (Mishnah Avodah Zarah 1:3) Look at what the rabbis have done here: first they state a general religious principle, in the first mishnah, that one should not in any way even seem to support or enable any kind of problematic religious rites. Then they strictly limit how that principle applies by listing a few holidays of the Roman rulers: kalends, which was a winter solstice festival (or at least that's what the rabbis thought it was); the feast of the god Saturn; kratesis, a Roman festival of conquest, festivals in honour of the deified emperor, and so on. So, it's clear that the Bible contains very strong commandments against worshipping "idols" or copying the religious practices of "idolatrous" nations (Cf. Deuteronomy 12-14), and the rabbis of the Talmud, of course, upheld this as a theoretical imperative. However, in practice, they also tried to limit the application of these commandments in order not to cause too many problems for Jews living with their neighbors. One might also point out that for the rabbis, resisting the Romans was as much an act of political as religious defiance. So where does that leave us? Well, clearly, we (in North America) are not resisting the oppressive regime which is trying to abolish Judaism. Furthermore, we must recognize the difference between idolatry, which might be thought of as worshipping the work of human hands or worshipping people themselves, and iconography, which is the use of images or icons to worship the transcendent Deity. Most Jewish authorities have said that Christianity is NOT idolatry, but is in fact a form of monotheism, even if the use of images as devotional aids is widespread. This would be even more true of Islam, which is very strict in its prohibition of images. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that from a religious perspective, I can't imagine it's a very big problem to go to a Christmas party, as long as the understanding is that you are an invited guest to something that you don't celebrate yourself. Personally, I would have no problem giving food to a food bank- that's called tzedakah !- as part of a holiday drive, but I would be very uncomfortable singing Christmas songs. To me, personally, that's the difference between being a guest and actually participating, which might imply endorsement of the words of the song. I just attended a marvellous performance of Handel's Messiah, which is a lovely and important piece of music. All of a sudden, right before the famous "Halleluyah Chorus," everybody stands up- so I turn to my Christian friend and whisper "what's going on here?" His answer was: "Because King George did it!" Personally, I would have felt religiously uncomfortable if standing up was regarded as an act of devotion or Christian piety, but if it was merely a long-standing (as it were) social custom, then participating doesn't neccessarily have religious significance. As far as someone who says that Christmas and Hanukah are the same, I guess I would reply: "Well, what I learned was that Christmas celebrated the birth of the Christian messiah, whereas Hanukah commemorates the triumph of my ancestors against an oppressive foreign power which was trying to abolish the practice of Judaism. How are those the same?" (See also Kolel's Hanukah page.) NJL |
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