Rabbi David E. Ostrich, Congregation Brit Shalom
Clergy Column for The Centre Daily Times
Published December 17, 2023
Though we Jews do not celebrate Christmas, we are, one could say, “Christmas adjacent,” aware of and drawn into the massive cultural tsunami of Christmastime. So much energy is poured into this holiday that we cannot help but be informed, entertained, and perhaps even inspired by what surrounds us.
One lesson that strikes me is the malleability of religious holidays and symbols. Many of Christmas’ symbols have been borrowed and then transformed—embracing the many peoples and cultures that came into Christianity. Rather than a uniform and one-dimensional holiday, Christmas offers many themes to celebrate and many ways to celebrate them.
Some Christians worry that expansiveness—and all the hoopla--weakens the spiritual message. I understand what it means when a pious Christian pleads, “Put Christ back in Christmas.” However, materialism aside, there is something beautiful about Jesus’ messages being spread far and wide. “Love your Neighbor,” “Have Compassion on the Poor,” and “Peace on Earth and Good Will to All” are just as wonderful whether presented as general principles or as quotations from a particular sage. As Episcopal Priest, Dean Edward Harrison, Jr. once explained, “Jesus would be more interested in his values being taught than in getting the credit.” (It is like this with us Jews, too. Though Jesus the Jew learned these ideas from the Torah, we are more interested in people hearing the message than in getting the credit.)
Another friend of mine, Baptist scholar Dr. Clayton Sullivan, used to say that Christianity is the “universalization of Judaism”—that is has spread the Bible’s messages to a greater audience. One could say the same about Judaism’s other daughter/sister religion, Islam, where so many of our common values have been distributed everywhere. Could not this be a way to look at the Christmastime dynamic? Could not Christmas provide a universalization of Jesus’ professed values—spreading love and peace to those both within and without the Church?
A second lesson comes, I am afraid to say, from recently watching a Hallmark-type Christmas movie. The drama circles around characters trying with great intensity to have a “perfect Christmas”—and then being stymied by various obstacles: family conflicts, bad weather, decoration malfunctions, and intestinal flu. Though in the inimitable Hallmark style everything turns out okay, the intense pressure that the people feel really garnered my sympathy. I began to think about all the times we try to make things perfect—parties, weddings, dinners, vacations, outfits—and how the drive for absolute perfection can sabotage a wonderful experience. Everyone wants things to go well, but, if they do not, how do we cope? And then I remembered the original Christmas story—a story burdened with many problems. Poor pregnant Mary must endure a long and bumpy donkey ride in the rainy season. Joseph does not make reservations. And there is no room at the inn. The poetically termed “manger” where they seek refuge is actually a stable with livestock—and the traditional stable odors and floor “decorations.” Something significant happens that night, but the arrangements are not great.
The expression “there is no room at the inn” is often used to criticize a lack of compassion or charity, but what was the innkeeper to do? Should he have kicked out another paying guest? Even if he knew who Mary and Joseph were—and who was about to be born, should he have expelled another child of God? What would Jesus himself have preferred—Jesus who saw the Divine Presence in every other person?
Perhaps the lesson of this less-than-ideal birthing experience is that holiness, love, and compassion can be found in all kinds of situations—even the ones that are not Hallmark perfect.
I wish my Christian friends and neighbors a Merry Christmas, and I pray that the holy and good messages of the season bless you and bring light to the world.