Your choice of phrasing implies that there should be some sort of obligation for Catholics to celebrate Hanukkah because it is “in the Catholic
Bible.” (And, to bolster your argument, in the New Testament as well. See [
John 10:22-23 (
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv...book=John&chapno=10&startverse=22&endverse=23).) But St. Paul firmly asserted that Christians are not obliged to celebrate Jewish holidays:
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ ([
Col. 2:16-17 (
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv...Colossians&chapno=2&startverse=16&endverse=17)).
There seems to be in many Christian quarters, Catholic and Protestant, a fad among Christians of trying out all kinds of Jewish customs and observances. Christians have been holding Seders on Passover, lighting menorahs on Hanukkah, and holding “Sabbath suppers” on Saturday nights; they’ve been asking if they can wear yarmulkes, prayer shawls, and phylacteries. There is a genuine interest in the Jewish roots of Christianity that is praiseworthy, but is also troubling for any number of reasons. Here are a few:
- Christians can lose focus on their own rich heritage. By focusing on the customs and practices of others, they may lose appreciation of their own. Reciting the rosary, going to eucharistic adoration, holding agape meals are either dismissed as uninteresting or have been forgotten. (Without Googling, can you tell me off the top of your head what an agape meal is?) The novelty of another tradition is elevated over and above one’s own.
- Many Christians do not know enough about Judaism, and Jewish practice and observance (or the Christian relationship with Judaism and the Jewish people) to be incorporating Jewish customs and holidays into their own devotions. For example, one problem with holding “Sabbath suppers” on Saturday nights as a sort of “vigil” for the so-called “Christian Sabbath” on Sunday is that by Saturday night Sabbath is over and Christians do not observe the Sabbath anyway. (Sunday is the Lord’s day, and is “expressly distinguished” from the Jewish Sabbath. See [CCC 2175 (Catechism of the Catholic Church - Paragraph # 2175).)
- There is a temptation to proselytize Jews by showing off how Christians incorporate Jewish ritual observance into Christian devotion. Imagine for a moment how a Catholic might feel if a Muslim tried to argue that Catholics can convert to Islam because Islam honors the Mother of Jesus (which it does).
- Not surprisingly, Jews very often resent Christian cherry-picking of their customs and observances, even when these practices are not then used as a weapon with which to proselytize Jews into conversion. Again, taking the analogy given above, how would a Catholic feel about a Muslim praying the rosary while adjusting for Islamic belief the words of the prayers (e.g., “Mother of God” to something Muslim-friendly) and their meaning.
All of this is not to deny that there can be circumstances in which it is not objectionable, from a Christian point of view, for Christians to incorporate Jewish customs and observances into Christian practice. This is especially the case for Christians of Jewish heritage who are seeking to maintain their identity as Jews and their commitment to their heritage and history. Generally speaking though, any Christian doing so because he thinks “Jewish roots” are “cool,” or because he thinks there is some kind of “obligation,” or because he thinks doing so will help him proselytize Jews, needs to take a long step back and refocus his attention on learning and valuing his own religious tradition.
