Wait a sec! I’m not bemoaning the sad secularization of American Jewry or implying that the sad secularization of Christianity isn’t equally tragic. Not in the slightest. My point is simply that it isn’t the responsibility of merchants and advertisers to inject religious meaning into these holidays.
And the Catholic League can bemoan whatever they please. But they should refrain from pointing to dreidels and menorahs as examples of public approval of Jewish religiosity because those symbols can be just as empty (or purely cultural) as Christmas trees and jolly Santas. If clerics had the faith–in both senses of the word–of their congregants, they wouldn’t care whether more Jewish or more Christian goodies were being offered by 1-800-flowers.com.
I’d like to end on a more leisurely note, but this message has to be brief so I can catch my train to Latkeland. But please come visit us in New York, and don’t wait until the vernal equinox either.
Jodi
