Views

To make a donation to the 
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS FOUNDATION
go to the website
www.djnfoundation.org

The Detroit Jewish News (USPS 275-520) is published every Thursday at 

29200 Northwestern Highway, #110, Southfield, Michigan. Periodical postage paid at 

Southfield, Michigan, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: send changes to: 

Detroit Jewish News, 29200 Northwestern Hwy., #110, Southfield, MI 48034.

8 | DECEMBER 12 • 2019 

1942 - 2019

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week
jn

Arthur M. Horwitz
Executive Editor/Publisher
ahorwitz@renmedia.us

F. Kevin Browett
Chief Operating Officer
kbrowett@renmedia.us

| Editorial
Associate Editor: Jackie Headapohl
jheadapohl@renmedia.us
Story Development Editor: 
Keri Guten Cohen
kcohen@renmedia.us
Digital Editor: Allison Jacobs
ajacobs@renmedia.us
Multimedia Reporter: Corrie Colf 
ccolf@renmedia.us
Staff Photographer/Videographer: 
Derrick Martinez
dmartinez@renmedia.us

Social Media Coordinator: 
Chelsie Dzbanski
cdzbanski@renmedia.us
Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello
smanello@renmedia.us
Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin
dannyraskin2132@gmail.com
Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar
rsklar@renmedia.us
Contributing Editor: David Sachs
Contributing Arts Editor: Gail Zimmerman
gzimmerman@renmedia.us

Contributing Writers:
Jenna Anderson, Nate Bloom, Rochel 
Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Shari S. 
Cohen, Ben Falik, Louis Finkelman, 
Stacy Gittleman, Judy Greenwald, 
Ronelle Grier, Lynne Konstantin, 
Barbara Lewis, Carla Schwartz, Alice 
Burdick Schweiger, Mike Smith

Advertising Sales
Vice President of Sales and 
Business Development: Carol Kruemmer
ckruemmer@renmedia.us
Sales Manager: Keith Farber
kfarber@renmedia.us
Account Executives: 
Kelsey Cocke, Annette Kizy
 
| Business Office
 Operations Manager: Andrea Gusho
 agusho@renmedia.us
 Operations Assistant / Event Coordinator: 
 Ashlee Szabo
 Circulation: Danielle Smith
Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner

| Production By 
 Farago & Associates
Manager: Scott Drzewiecki 
Designers: Jessica Joannides, 
Kelly Kosek, Michelle Sheridan 

| Detroit Jewish News
Partner: 
Arthur M. Horwitz
ahorwitz@renmedia.us
Partner: 
F. Kevin Browett
kbrowett@renmedia.us
Partner: 
Michael H. Steinhardt

How to reach us: See page 10.

S

ymbolic objects convey 
meaning without words. 
A Christmas tree, for 
example, speaks. What does 
it say?
Once, in Northern Europe, 
people had a 
Yule log that 
spoke about 
Norse mythol-
ogy. Christmas 
trees in America 
do not say 
anything about 
Norse mythol-
ogy. 
Later, the Christians who 
conquered Europe repur-
posed the trees as symbols of 
Christianity. Taking an ever-
green tree into your house in 
winter, when all other trees 
in the northern temperate 
zone have no leaves, now 
demonstrated Christian faith. 
Christmas trees in America 
say that for some Americans; 
but some secular Americans 
— and some Jews — also have 
trees, without that faith. 

So what does a Christmas 
tree in a Jewish home say?
For most of our history, 
Jews around the world have 
lived in someone else’
s home-
land. It takes psychic effort 
not to join the majority. 
In the 1950s, a psychologist 
named Solomon Asch mea-
sured the temptation to con-
form to the majority. He ran a 
test, supposedly a vision test, 
asking subjects to pick out the 
longest of three lines. People 
did that with 98 percent accu-
racy. He then presented the 
lines to a group and asked 
each person to announce the 
longest line. The diabolical 
part: He had “confederates” 
in the group who answered 
incorrectly. The real subject 
of the experiment answered 
after the confederates. If three 
or more people had already 
chosen a short line, the sub-
ject often agreed with group 
about one third of the time. 
Although nearly everyone 
could quietly write the correct 

answer, only about quarter of 
the subjects could answer cor-
rectly out loud every time. 
It takes significant effort 
not to conform. 
I suspect a Christmas 
tree in a Jewish home 
says, “The folks who 
live here do not feel 
up to being different.” 
Maybe they think, 
“We could do with-
out the tree; it is for 
the children. Why 
should they have to 
be different? Just let 
them fit in. Anyway, 
who wants to explain 
why we do not celebrate 
Christmas?”
Maybe the tree in a Jewish 
household says that the folks 
here love the traditions of 
American Christmas, sup-
porting the retail economy 
by purchasing cards, toys and 
small household devices. I do 
not think so. I think it says, 
we do not have the energy not 
to conform. 

Jews exist in the modern 
world because our ancient and 
medieval predecessors had the 
energy not to conform. 

Louis Finkelman is a JN contributing 

writer, a professor at Lawrence 

Technological University and a rabbi 

at Congregation Or Chadash.

Louis 
Finkelman
Contributing 
Writer

essay
A Christmas Tree Says Something

of 
cor-

