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THE DETROIT JEWISH
1 NEWS
1111 MN • MEI 1111 UM IN In 11111 MON
KLEENEX TISSUE
FOLLOW-UP
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Local Teens React To
Chanukah Claustrophobia
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TI think that giving
presents on
Chanukah is really
superficial. We do it
just in imitation of
Christmas . . ."
like everybody else?" as Schul-
weis asserted, but instead, "Why
do we have to be like everybody
else"'
"These days, people think that
Chanukah is the Jewish answer
to Christmas," said Cohen. "It's
become more cynical; some people
are making it more like Christ-
mas so that it no longer holds the
same religious value."
Dr.
Alice
Ginott,
a
psychoanalyst and syndicated
columnist, related this story in
Ladies Home Journal about one
Jewish boy. "I'm the luckiest boy,"
he said. "I love all the presents I
get for Chanukah and I don't have
to go to school on Christmas."
This youngster, of course, has
undeniably accepted his faith.
But has he done so for the wrong
reason? Tracey John, 17, thinks
so. "I think that giving presents
on Chanukah is really superficial.
We do it just in imitation of
Christmas and not for any true
significance," she said.
"Chanukah is such a minor holi-
day . . . that to compare the two is
really unfair."
Indeed, because of compensat-
ing parents, rampant commer-
cialization, or other factors that
have turned the festival of
Chanukah into what 16-year-old
Alysa Shwedel calls a "Jewish
Christmas," some Jewish teens
say they feel forced into celebrat-
ing something that is not their
own; something that Marty Bel- ,
kin, 15, considers "a copy of
Christmas. But," he adds, "it is
the basis for Jewish existence."
.
This is not as much of a con-
tradiction as it sounds. Even those
Jewish high school students like
17-year-old Jill Kornwise, who
light the menorah, eat latkes and
play dreidle games, still admit
that the Chanukah festival suf-
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EXP. JAN. 3, 1986
11111 MN la 11111 1111 MI
fers from "total commercializa-
tion" — a syndrome that affects
the Christmas holiday as well.
Julie Sharlip, 15, feels that
many of the comparisons between
Christmas and Chanukah arise
because of their similar December
celebration dates. "If Chanukah
was in June it would be celebrated
more for its meaning. Now it's be-
come more just for gift giving,"
said Sharlip, whose family does
try to emphasize the importance
of saying prayers and lighting
candles.
But although Ruthie Ebens-
tein, 17, also agrees that "as Jews
it's our obligation io remember
(Chanukah)," she points out that
"a lot of Jews become very religi-
ous when to comes to celebrating
it. But how many of them really
know the story of Chanukah?" In
other words, some of our religious
rituals can be seen as yet another
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BY LISA POLLAK
Special to The Jewish News
The situation, as Rabbi Harold
M. Schulweis wrote in The Jewish
News last week, is called "Santa
Claustrophobia" — when Jews
feel closed in and forced to con-
form to the rituals of Christianity
because of pressures during the
Christmas season.
And the relatively simple solu-
tion, Rabbi Schulweis suggested,
is for the Jew to merely respect his
own religion, rather than the
faith of his neighbor.
But discussions with area
Jewish high school students re-
veal that another "claus-
trophobia" may be plaguing
young Jews — perhaps better ti-
tled "Chanukah Claustrophobia."
Students like Midge Cohen, 17,
are not asking "Why can't we be
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parallel to Christmas. "Latkes .. .
don't symbolize anything," re-
minds Ebenstein, "It .would be
nice if Jews were just as proud to
have Seders."
David Krivan, 14, agrees.
"Most Jews find Chanukah most
important because of Christmas.
This however, does not have to
mean adopting Christians rituals
such as trees or lights." Rayna
Steinberg, 15, says that her
Jewish friends who display
Christmas lights "are not proud of
being Jewish . . . They are not re-
ally Jewish at all."
And if, as 15-year-old Melissa
Rubin feels, "Chanukah is impor-
tant because that's when young
Jewish children realize they're
different from other kids," the
Jewish high school student has
begun to reconcile those differ-
ences. Though the first step, ac-
cording to Rabbi Schulweis, is for
Jews to respect Chanukah, these
Jewish teens wish to take a second
step: to resolve the problems of
commercialization and forgotten
meaning that make the respect of
Chanukah difficult in itself.
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NEW 1986
TORONADO
Puerto Rico
Has Temple
New York (JTA) — The news
letter of the Central Conference of
American Rabbis (CCAR), the as-
sociation of American Reform
rabbis, reports receiving a letter
from Harold Shnider, president of
Temple Beth Shalom in Hato Rey,
Puerto Rico, declaring he wanted
CCAR members to know there is a
Reform synagogue in Puerto Rico.
He also wrote that the small
synagogue, with fewer than 50
members, holds services every
Friday night and on the major
holidays.
He wrote that the congregation
would be honored to have any vis-
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