10 | DECEMBER 26 • 2019 

Views

their family’
s mixed heritage.
Perhaps Mr. Finkelman 
was only speaking to the 
7 percent of homes where 
there are two Jewish spous-
es that choose to put up 
a Christmas tree. While 
I cannot say why these 
homes choose to put up 
a tree, many of them also 
may have a mixed heritage 
and chose to put up trees to 
honor a non-Jewish parent 
or grandparent. 
In 2019, identities can 
be very complex, and the 
Christmas tree is just one of 
many visual representations 
of that complexity.
My greatest concern 
about Mr. Finkelman’
s 
piece, and the choice of the 
Jewish News to publish it 
with a big red “no” symbol 
covering the Christmas 
tree, is that it “otherizes” 
those in the Jewish commu-
nity that make this partic-
ular choice. Diving further 
into the data, 40 percent of 
Jews between ages 30-49 
had a Christmas tree the 
year of the Pew study. 
While I am of the opin-
ion that we should not be 
excluding any Jew, prag-
matically it would seem 
like a strange tactic for the 
community paper to pub-
lish an opinion that seemed 
to say that this large part of 
the community lacked the 
necessary energy to avoid a 
Christmas tree. 
On a side note, as some-
one who has now had a tree 
for almost two decades, I 
can vouch for the fact that 
Christmas trees take a lot 
of energy and it would be a 
much easier and more rest-
ful choice to avoid one!
Where I can agree with 

Mr. Finkelman is that there 
is pressure on families 
to conform, and it takes 
strength and energy to 
stand up against conformity 
and create the home that 
we want for ourselves and 
our children. However, his 
article stands as proof of 
the pressure on families in 
the Jewish community to 
conform to the notion of 
what a Jewish home is and 
shun traditions, such as the 
Christmas tree, that honor 
our families’
 complex her-
itages. 
It is time for the Jewish 
community to embrace its 
complexity. While I do not 
keep kosher or where a kip-
pah, I celebrate those who 
do. Perhaps it might be too 
much to ask for the Jewish 
community to celebrate 
my Christmas tree, but it is 
time to move toward toler-
ance or even acceptance of 
the traditions embraced by 
interfaith families. 
The Jewish community 
is incredibly diverse and 
complex. While this diver-
sity may take some adap-
tation, it presents the most 
amazing opportunities to 
strengthen our Jewish com-
munity. This season, may 
we all bring light into the 
world whether it is through 
a chanukiah, a Christmas 
tree or, for many of us, 
both.
Chag sameach! 

Alicia Chandler is a student at 
Hebrew College pursuing a dual 
masters in Jewish studies and 
Jewish education. She is also the 
founder of Multifaith Life LLC, a 
consulting company helping Jewish 
institutions adapt to the rise in inter-
faith families.

EMBRACING THE CHRISTMAS TREE 
continued from page 6

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