This Chanukah, giving a JEWISH NEWS GIFT SUBSCRIPTION will bring comfort to your tummy. Chrisukah 2000 Order a new Jewish News subscription today and receive A family's perspective on how lathe oil doesn't mix with the wreaths of Christmas. BY JANE ULMAN 1111 1 elcome to Chrisukah 2000, a mix-and- match, one size fits all, generic, all-inclu- sive holiday season. Where you can buy a blue-and- white, dreidel-decorated Chanukah wreath or send an electronic interfaith card featuring a Santa Claus and an observant Jew sledding downhill over a "Happy Whichever!" greeting. "It's sacrilegious," Gabe, 13, says. "No, it's an attempt to make money, to appeal to everyone," explains Zack, 16. "It's what America is all about." Increasingly, our country's entre- preneurs are cashing in on the grow- ing number of interfaith families, with estimates of more than 50 per- cent of all Jews marrying outside the faith, and there are a growing number of unaffiliated and secular Jews who often view Christmas as a national holiday with little or no religious sig- nificance. "I find this mingling of holidays odd," says my friend Ruth Ickowitz, a Christian married to a Jew, commit- ted to raising her children Jewish. It's indeed odd. And ironic, since Chanukah is the holiday in which we Jews specifically commemorate our refusal to assimilate. "Most of these people, those creat- ing these decorations and those buy- ing them, must have no clue what either holiday really means," Ruth surmises. No clue. Because aside from the fact that both Chanukah and Christmas likely originated from some winter solstice holiday, they have nothing in common. Christmas cele- brates the birth of Jesus, the Christian messiah, while we Jews believe that the Messiah has not yet come. No clue. Because the Christmas symbols that so many Jews willingly EAT! ENJOY! THE 101 BEST Jewish Recipes in America— usurp or meld into a uni-holiday hybridization are the very symbols that have been used to tyrannize and persecute us for thousands of years. Take the Christmas tree, for example, which many Jews insensi- tively co-opt, sometimes incongru- ously calling it a Chanukah bush. As an evergreen, the tree symbolizes Jesus' immortality, depicting him as the "tree of life." It is also a reminder of the wood used for the cross on which he was crucified (and on which, according to some sources, we symbolically and igno- rantly "knock on wood"). How about the Christmas wreath, available now in a Chanukah motif? The wreath symbolizes the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head by the Roman soldiers before he was crucified. It signifies his pain and suffering, the red berries representing drops of blood. "I wouldn't mind if the holiday decorations were side by side," I answer, explaining my support of the seemingly politically incorrect but historically accurate doctrine of "sepa- rate and unequal." Yes, unequal since Chanukah is a minor holiday not only on the Jewish calendar but also in comparison to Christmas, as Ron Wolfson, professor at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, says: "It is not a major event in the Jewish holiday cycle and has never, until recently, been viewed as a central celebration for the Jewish people. As Jews, we don't have to ignore Christmas. On the contrary. My hus- band, Larry, and I will drive our sons down Los Angeles' Candy Cane Lane to view the annual award-winning Christmas decorations. We will give Christmas presents to our Christian friends. We will invariably and repeat- edly say, "Christmas is a beautiful holiday. But it's not our holiday." But more importantly, at sundown on Dec. 21, amid family and friends, we will celebrate our holiday. (JTA) FREE! This is a cookbook that you'll love. Filled with 101 treasured, irresistible, winning recipes from a nationwide contest. EAT! ENJOY! is a collection that will please everyone that grew up with a Jewish grandmother's homecooking. And, a Jewish News subscription makes a great gift DETROIT too for your friends or relatives. It's a year-long gift that offers weekly surprises of exclusive features, news and in-depth sto- .TEWISII NEWS ries, recipes, lifecycle events, arts and entertainment coverage and much, much more! This Chanukah, figuring out what to give is as easy as ordering a Jewish News subscription. I Order a Jewish News subscription for the low one-year rate of I I 548 and receive EAT! ENJOY! The 101 BEST Jewish recipes in I I America - FREE. Call (248) 354-6620 or return the coupon below. 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