The question keeps popping up. The other day Roze sent in the following: What are your thoughts on the "Chanukah bush?" I know traditionally it is frowned upon in Orthodox circles, but is there a Biblical reason that Jews shouldn't have one? They're so pretty and the kids love it.

The picture is of the display front window of the chain clothing store Zara from a mall north of Haifa. It was taken last year, 2009, during the holiday season.

If you look at the picture, you might notice that they have "Merry Christmas" emblazoned on the bottom part of the display window. There are decorations consisting of distinctively Christmas holiday colors and Christmas trees. Pretty typical for this time of year, no?

So what's wrong with this picture? That store is located in Israel. Not in Rome, Great Britain, or in Spain where the main headquarters is situated. Nor is it in the US, or in any other Christian country for that matter, but in predominantly Jewish Israel. This is what we call in Yiddish a "shonda," a shame. (To their credit, Zara decided to remove the tree, but only after being bombarded by significant protests from the community).
 
But why should it bother us? What is wrong with Jews displaying or decorating Christmas Trees in store windows (or elsewhere)? What if we decorate a tree but do it in honor of Chanukah? Is this seemingly innocuous seasonal gesture an issue even for non-Jews according to their universal Noachide Laws? Let's see.
 
The Talmud (Avodah Zara 8a) describes a pagan festival called Satranura (Saturnalia) which occurs eight days before the winter solstice. It was immediately followed eight days after the solstice with a festival called Kalenda. The Talmud attributes the origins of this festival to Adom Harishon (Adam), who saw that the days were getting shorter and interpreted it as punishment for his sin. He was afraid that the world was returning to the darkness, chaos and emptiness that existed before creation. As true penitents, both he and Chava (Eve) sat and wept the entire night. They fasted for eight days. Once Adam saw that the days were getting longer again he realized that this was the natural cycle of the world, so the next eight days of were made for celebration. The next year he made sixteen days of celebration as praise and thanks to the Creator. The Talmud states that this festival was later turned into a pagan festival. So what does all this have to do with a Christmas Tree?
 
It's perhaps the pagan origin of Christmas and its Winter Solstice celebrations. The majority of Christians know that one is simply perpetuating heathen customs when one cuts a tree, takes it into the home or church where it is erected, decorated  with metal trinkets or stream it with metal or cloth tinsels and attach the images of animals or Santa Claus. People then surround it on December 25th to adore the new born "Sun." In fact, the 25th of December was the day originally determined in the Roman Empire as the winter solstice (in 46 C.E.) and the celebration of the 'birthday' or "Nativity of the Sun" and it was not until much later that a calendar revision changed it to December 21st. More fascinating is indication that this pagan practice (Christmas Tree, etc) dates as far back as the "Bayit Rishon," First Temple in Jerusalem, and the prophet Yermiyahu (Jeremiah) seems to allude to it in Scripture:

"Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the people are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel. They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter. Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good." Jeremiah 10:2,3
Even Medieval Christians had a problem with this. Indeed, because of the command of their apostle Paul in their New Testament that Christians ought to "flee idolatry" (I Corinthians 10:14) and the statement of the apostle John to "keep yourselves from idols" (I John 5:21), the authorities in Post-Reformation England condemned outright the celebration of Christmas (void of any Biblical content) as being a pagan institution and made laws forbidding it to be celebrated. Anyone found cooking a Christmas ham had their dinner taken away and they themselves were arrested! Similar laws were put into effect in the American colonies. In Massachusetts, for instance, "Whosoever shall be found observing Christmas, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way, every such person shall pay as a fine five shillings to the county," was the law of the land passed in 1659 and enforced on the people for 22 years before it was finally repealed.
The connection between Evergreen trees and the celebration of Christmas contains many interesting theories. Which one is the true origin for the practice is not clear, however, if you wish to read a short, but excellent research piece on the matter, link to the following site: http://analoguecomic.com/tag/idolatry/

Finally, according to strict Halacha (Jewish Law), and based on the somewhat lengthy historical insights provided for the Christmas Tree and its decorations, it's axiomatic that such practices are forbidden. Without even elaborating on Talmudic sources, superficial reading of a few verses of Scripture clearly outline the prohibition of adopting the practices of pagan worship.

"Do not set up any wooden Asherah pole beside the altar you build to Hashem your God, and do not erect a sacred stone, for these Hashem your God hates." Deut 16:21-22:

The Asherim were considered altars or shrines in and of themselves, where animals and humans were ritually sacrificed. Palm trees were generally the lumber of choice in ancient Canaan. The "Christmas tree" phenomenon, in the context the prophet Jeremiah inveighed against, is also a type of shrine, where gifts and offerings were once placed.

The Israelites were also commanded not to bring such detestable things into their homes!

"Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction." Deut 7:26

This prohibition includes any accoutrements related to idolatrous practices, and it goes without saying, the idols themselves. But perhaps the most direct Biblical passage which is cited in Halacha for admonishing the Jewish people to distance themselves from the practices of the nations (beginning with the Canaanites we were commanded to drive from the land), is also to be found in the final book of the Five Books of Moses:

"Hashem your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, bChanukah Bushe careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." Deut 12:29-31

Implied by this last citation from the Torah is an injunction against imitating the ways of the nations. Grafting (no pun intended) or borrowing from the Christian practice of worshiping their deity by erecting and decorating a "Chanukah Bush," is clearly against the letter and spirit of this law. Likewise, it is forbidden for a Jew to purchase, place and adorn a Christmas tree, even if only for commercial purposes to entice seasonal customers. Finally, it may even be contrary to the spirit of the Biblically mandated Noachide Laws for Gentiles to display items whose origins are pagan in nature. Albeit, most Christians of the West today are unlikely to intentionally worship Saturnalia, the Sun or the Winter Solstice by erecting and decorating a tree, nonetheless, a seeker of truth among the nations who wishes to connect to the Torah prescription for holiness, would be well-advised to avoid such practices.


Meet Rav Parry
Ask Rav Parry a question! Email your question to Editor@VirtualJerusalem.com and check back to read his answer!