Writings from Rabbi Glickman

Dear Santa,

I know that this is a busy time of year for you. Surely, gift preparation, reindeer training, dealing with overworked elves, and processing the wishes of millions of children, all must be overwhelming, indeed.

I do, however, have one request. Please know that I would never ask anything of you at this time unless I felt that it was of crucial importance, and this is important.

Simply put, please leave our Jewish kids alone.

I know that might sound brash, Santa, or perhaps even disrespectful, but it is not meant that way at all. Actually, I really like Christmas, and I admire the work you do. It is not my holiday, of course, but seeing Christians everywhere celebrate Christmas with such joy and love is a real inspiration. If only all peoples could share their own prayers and celebrations with such fervor, the world would certainly be a much better place for us all.

I even like Christmas when it is secularized. The gift giving, the shimmering lights, and the gentle reminders to get on the right side of your “Naughty or Nice” list, all make for a wonderful celebration. Done well, Christmas allows those who celebrate it to embody the best of what it means to be a human being.

With such admiration of Christmas, you must be wondering why I want you to leave the Jewish kids out of it. The reason is that we Jews work very hard to teach our children many of the lessons that Christmas teaches Christians, but we try to do so in a Jewish way. We try to teach them to be good, we try to teach them to better the world, we try to encourage them to affirm the sacred values of our tradition. As a minority group, this is particularly difficult. To succeed, we need to root our children as deeply as we can in Judaism. We want our kids to live as Jews, making real the values of our tradition however and whenever possible. These days, doing so is often difficult because there is so much pressure to join the Christian religious and cultural mainstream.

Don’t get me wrong, Santa. I understand that you mean well - you’re sharing your celebration with us, after all. But remember, many people receive gifts that they don’t really want. Like the gold-plated toenail clippers, or the singing bass, or the gift certificate to Bob’s Bulgarian Bistro, we Jews tend to see Christmas as the well-meant, kindly-given gift that we’d rather not receive.

It makes us feel awkward. Teachers often ask our children to sing about you in school. The kids must choose either to refuse to sing and “stand out” (a scary thing for a child to do), or to sing and thus compromise a bit of their Jewish selves. Kind cashiers say “Merry Christmas” to us in stores, and we are never quite sure whether to thank them or to answer with an I’m-Jewish-and-don’t-celebrate-Christmas type response. We open the papers and turn on the TV, and you are always there, reminding us that, especially at this season, being Jewish and being American can mean very different things.

On your Christmas rounds, Santa, you will come upon certain homes with a small container hanging on the doorpost, bearing a Hebrew letter or word representing one of the biblical names of God. These are Jewish homes, Santa, and the container on the doorpost is called a mezuzah. It holds some handwritten scriptural passages on a piece of parchment, it marks the home as Jewish, and it serves as a constant reminder of God’s presence in our lives.

Pass by these homes, Santa. You’re a great guy, but we Jews just don’t need your services. The calendars in these homes are not laden with Christmas celebrations on December 25th. Instead, the calendars are checkered with other holidays - festivals with names such as Sukkot, Purim, Passover, Shabbat, and many others. The shelves in these homes hold Jewish books, Jewish art and Jewish ritual items.

As the children in Jewish homes climb into bed Christmas Eve, they will not be dreaming of you coming down the chimney with gifts. Instead, many will drift to sleep with the words of our people’s most cherished teaching on their lips, words contained in the mezuzah on their doorposts: “Shema Yisrael … Hear O Israel, the Lord is or God, the Lord is One.”

There are many good Christian children out there who deserve your generosity, Santa. Wouldn’t it be great to spend your Eve visiting them, instead?

Santa, you do important work, and I pray for your continued success. On behalf of Jews everywhere, I wish you and the families whose homes you visit, from the bottom of our hearts, a very merry Christmas.

Shalom,

Rabbi Mark Glickman

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