B
Bob_Baran
Guest
CHRISMUKKAH IS A MULTICULTURAL MESS: Hanukkah begins on December 7 at sundown and ends at nightfall on December 15. Chrismukkah begins at the same time as Hanukkah, but does not end until December 25, Christmas day. Chrismukkah is a new hybrid holiday that seeks to conflate Hanukkah and Christmas. It is a reflection of the high degree of intermarriage, especially in recent times, between Christians and Jews. Catholic League president William Donohue addressed this issue today: “Chrismukkah is a multicultural mess that glosses over the historical significance of both Hanukkah and Christmas. Not surprisingly, it is most popular with secular Jews and their equally non-observant Christian counterparts. Though the idea of Chrismukkah comes from a teen soap, ‘The O.C.,’ the person behind the marketing of Chrismukkah is Ron Gompertz. He readily admits that Chrismukkah is taking the secularization of ‘The Holidays’ one step further. “No doubt the motivation behind such so-called Merry Chrismukkah cards and Yamaclaus hats is benign, but that doesn’t empty the issue. Unlike Kwanzaa, which was created in the 1966 out of whole cloth (it is not an African tradition and it has nothing to do with religion), Chrismukkah merges two religious holidays. The effect of this blending is to dilute the distinct meaning of both Hanukkah and Christmas, thus ill-serving the interests of observant Jews and practicing Christians.
“In this vein, we would agree with the recent statement on mixed marriages prepared by the U.S. Catholic- Jewish Consultation Committee. It branded attempts to raise a child simultaneously as both Jewish and Catholic a ‘violation of the integrity of both religious traditions, at best, and, at worst, syncretism.’ From a Catholic perspective, anything which contributes to this phenomenon should be resisted, and that would include Chrismukkah.”
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AND NEW YORK BOARD OF RABBIS
Dr. William Donohue, President and CEO of the Catholic League, and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis, issued the following statement today on Chrismukkah: “We are deeply concerned about the spiritual misrepresentation of a newly created ‘holiday’ called Chrismukkah. While we as Jews and Christians practice our particular traditions, we also want to see the spiritual integrity of all faiths fully protected. Chanukah and Christmas celebrated during the same period should not be fused into some cultural combination that does not recognize the spiritual identity of our respective faiths. Historically, Chanukah recalls the battle for religious independence that would permit all groups to freely practice their separate traditions without compromise or coercion. Christmas marks a most sacred period announcing the birth of the Christian Messiah, and the beginning of a sacred relationship between Jesus and the Christian people. “Copying the tradition of another faith and calling it by another name is a form of shameful plagiarism we cannot condone. Frankly, those who seek to synthesize our spiritual traditions may be well intended, but they are insulting both of us simultaneously. “We Jews and Christians respect one another realizing that there is a time to be separate and a time to be together. We see each other as separate spiritual brothers and sisters who will work together to better the human family.”
“In this vein, we would agree with the recent statement on mixed marriages prepared by the U.S. Catholic- Jewish Consultation Committee. It branded attempts to raise a child simultaneously as both Jewish and Catholic a ‘violation of the integrity of both religious traditions, at best, and, at worst, syncretism.’ From a Catholic perspective, anything which contributes to this phenomenon should be resisted, and that would include Chrismukkah.”
CATHOLIC LEAGUE AND NEW YORK BOARD OF RABBIS
Dr. William Donohue, President and CEO of the Catholic League, and Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis, issued the following statement today on Chrismukkah: “We are deeply concerned about the spiritual misrepresentation of a newly created ‘holiday’ called Chrismukkah. While we as Jews and Christians practice our particular traditions, we also want to see the spiritual integrity of all faiths fully protected. Chanukah and Christmas celebrated during the same period should not be fused into some cultural combination that does not recognize the spiritual identity of our respective faiths. Historically, Chanukah recalls the battle for religious independence that would permit all groups to freely practice their separate traditions without compromise or coercion. Christmas marks a most sacred period announcing the birth of the Christian Messiah, and the beginning of a sacred relationship between Jesus and the Christian people. “Copying the tradition of another faith and calling it by another name is a form of shameful plagiarism we cannot condone. Frankly, those who seek to synthesize our spiritual traditions may be well intended, but they are insulting both of us simultaneously. “We Jews and Christians respect one another realizing that there is a time to be separate and a time to be together. We see each other as separate spiritual brothers and sisters who will work together to better the human family.”
