The Rabbi that Ruined Christmas

Posted on 23/12/2011 by Rabbi Miriam Berger

I know it’s almost impossible to avoid.  Christmas was everywhere and it’s difficult not to get sucked in.  I’m as happy as the next person to enjoy the plethora of bank holidays, a bit of quiet family time and all that Christmas TV has to offer.  However that line between where bank holidays end and Christmas begins is a fine one and yet again has left me uncomfortable.

Don’t tell me there is nothing Christian about a tree with presents under it or a turkey when served up at a festive family feast on December 25^th because otherwise we also have to say there is nothing Jewish about a latke or a doughnut.  Now I do realise that there is nothing inherently Jewish about a hash brown or a crispy crème but eaten immediately after the lighting of Chanukah candles you would struggle to say it held no religious significance. 

A turkey eaten on December the 25^th is a Christmas turkey.  It isn’t just lunch with the family, it’s Christmas lunch.  That is why I get aggravated every year by a sign which appears in my kosher butcher’s window.  It reads, “Last orders for turkeys” with a date a few days before Christmas.  What makes a turkey kosher? Well according to the hechsher given by the supervising beit din -  simply the way that it has been killed, but how can a turkey consumed on Christmas day with cows (!) in blankets and parev brandy butter ever be classed as kosher?  

Kashrut has been allowed to become black and white.   It has become rules with no acknowledgement of preserving the essence of the mitzvah.  This has occurred due to the lack of rationale explicitly given by way of explanation for the laws of kashrut in the Torah.  So I am not allowed to make sweeping statements like, “kashrut was meant to keep us separate and preserve our distinct identity as Jews,” because purists will tell me that’s just my take on it.  So our interpretation of the laws becomes secondary to the letter of the law and hence we find ourselves being able to serve up a kosher Christmas turkey.   The kosher glass of wine sipped with the meal is only classed as being kosher because no ‘goyim’ have come into contact with the wine and therefore it cannot have been party to any pagan ritual. The wine has fences around it, protecting it from being party to rituals with religious significance outside of Judaism so why don’t we have the same fences for our turkey?  The irony should lead us to realise that the kosher wine should become unkosher when drunk with the Christmas meal if we admit that the Christmas meal has the connotations of a Christian ritual.

It’s true that this Chanukah I was more excited than I have been for a long while.  It was my little boy’s first Chanukah and I wanted to recreate the excitement of my own childhood with a present for him for every night.  Feel free to scream, “you hypocrite”.   I know that had we been living in Israel I may not have felt any need to buy my 7 month old Chanukah presents – especially as he was just as interested in the wrapping paper as he was by the gifts.  The big difference between the turkey and the present is that his presents were neither placed under a tree, nor in a stocking, nor opened in the morning of the 25^th.  My son’s Chanukah presents were given to him when we lit the candles each night even if in my heart of hearts I know the Chanukah present is a direct response to Christmas envy.  However the Chanukah present emphasises the essences of the Talmudic expression of Chanukah – it accentuates the positively Jewish aspects of our celebrations at this time of year. 

I’m not trying to be the Rabbi that ruined Christmas and I realise I am too late anyway as even the best Jewish mothers will have used up their leftovers by now. I am making a plea not to lose the essence of our mitzvot.  So as we wish each other shanah tova and take on more rituals from the secular world, it seems we have a New Year’s resolution to make!  Be it kosher turkeys, Shabbat rest or modesty let us ensure the meaning behind the mitzvot is not lost in 2012.