How appropriate is it that Judaism's most important anti-assimilationist holiday occurs at the same time of year as the Diaspora's most assimilationist holiday?
Newly announced Hallmark Hanukkah movies are actually antisemiticThis year Hanukkah is observed from December 23 - 30.
The excitement over Hallmark introducing two Hanukkah movies to its Christmas lineup this year was dashed when it became apparent that they contained within them some of the oldest antisemitic canards, according to The Washington Post. While the two movies did mention Hanukkah and had Jewish characters, they were far from complimentary or positive about the Judaism and the Jewish people.
...The Jew is portrayed as a mischievous, unreliable, outsider who doesn't belong - despite his efforts to fit in among the Christian family - reflecting the century old claim, seen in Nazi propaganda and 9/11 conspiracies.
...Hanukkah stands only in relation to Christmas - but not independently. The festival of Hanukkah in fact is a hindrance to the characters being able to celebrate Christmas as usual.
...These two movies stories’ portray Jews and Christians as clearly different - and the Jew not fitting in, despite their efforts.
The Jewish characters are forced to observe Christmas, having to accept that they must succumb to the dominant faith, rather than practice their own.
These movies are strengthening stereotypes at a time when antisemitic hate crimes are on the rise throughout the US and Europe. Suggesting Jews cannot proudly celebrate their own Hanukkah and instead must join in the Christian spirit and assimilate into the Christian cultural mainstream and hide their Jewish identity is highly problematic.
Jews should be proud of the Hanukkah miracle they are celebrating and not feel they need to join in the Christmas celebrations; Christmas is a Christian holiday - Hanukkah is a Jewish one!
Good. Maybe some of the more perceptive Jews living in Chul will get the point, pack up, and come home. Or am I being too optimistic?
ReplyDeleteIn my work I have observed how Jewish people always show themselves up at this time of year by making a big fuss about xmas much more than their non-Jewish colleagues, in an attempt to impress them. Cringeable!
ReplyDeleteI will now stick my tongue out at Hallmark and make a raspberry, using a quote from none other than Herman Wouk, known as a novelist but who wrote this gem concerning Hanukkah and Xmas in his non-fiction book This is My God, published back in 1954, page 85 of the Dell edition:
ReplyDelete"The two festivals have one real point of contact. Had Antiochus succeeded in obliterating Jewry a century and a half before the birth of Jesus, there would have been no Christmas. The feast of the Nativity rests on the victory of Hanuka."
If it rests on any truth at all. Nya, nya, n'nya nya, Hallmark!
By the way, Mr. Wouk passed away only this past May 17th. May his memory be blessed.
How ironic it is that the Holiday of Chanukah which most assimilationist Jews acknwledge & celebrate is the opposite of what they think the Holiday is about. Chanukah is when the Macabbeim fought against these same type of assimilationist Jews, the Hellenists, while also fighting against the Greek/Assyrians. The ignorance of these Jews who associate our heroic Jews who fought against Jews just like themselves to the non-Jewish holiday at that time of year makes them even bigger fools. I always come back to the solution to, at least today's youth, to this gigantic problem of lack of knowledge of even basic Jewish history (let alone Torah) with today's Jews and that would be 'education'. But doubt if that can be realized as their parents and parents' parents know and knew nothing, especially the American Jews, r'l.
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