Rabbi Eliyahu Stern: December 2007 Archives

Much ado is being made out of Mike Huckabee’s, all I want to do is wish you "a Merry Christmas" TV advertisement. Huckabee's ad seems sincere. He is an ordained minister, a devout Christian, and someone who seems to be as honest as any politician. As a Jew, I really don’t find anything all that shocking or disturbing about the ad. If Mike wants to wish me a "Merry Christmas" that’s fine--it makes very little difference in my life. Come to think of it, God knows how many Jews are walking around New York right now (two weeks after Hanukkah) wishing every person they bump into "happy holidays" and "Merry Christmas." Just the other day one of my friends--and a fellow member of the tribe--waved across the street mouthing, "happy holidays." I smiled and waved back. Suffice it to say she was not referring to Passover.

Only in America, was my response to the New York Post story referred to by Rabbi Grossman. Could one ever imagine the same scene playing itself out in a European subway? Aside from it being a truly heartwarming story of how a Muslim saved a Jew from Christian anti-Judaism, the happening highlights just how unique American religious relationships are vis-à-vis the rest of the world.

The story is basically proof of the randomness of religious discrimination in America. What strikes me is just how easily any of the roles or elements of story could theoretically be interchanged. We should never fool ourselves: Anti-Semitism still exists in this country. But Rabbi Grossman is wrong when she suggests, “that the story is both warm and chilling. It reminds us that anti-Semitism is prevalent not only in Europe and throughout the Arab world, but also remains a constant here in the good old US of A.”

Christopher Hitchens is more than a clever chap. He is one of those rare public intellectuals that no matter what is the subject matter being addressed one can sit and listen to him rant and rave for hours on end. Few posses as good of a grasp on so many topics. But with all his brilliance the past couple of years Hitchens has played more the role of provocateur than the deep thoughtful and incisive thinker. No I don’t just mean his honest but misguided support of the Iraq war (many made such a mistake). We all sometime call them the wrong way. Hitchens latest misfire is far more problematic, namely it has been on the role of religion.