Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at www.djnfoundation.org

54 | DECEMBER 23 • 2021 

Oh, Christmas Tree
D

r. Jeff London’s essay in the recent 
Dec. 2 issue of the JN, “The Most 
Chanukah Time of the Year … 
Making Peace with Christmas,
” intrigued me. 
London provided a personal review of grow-
ing up Jewish and dealing with a non-Jewish 
religious holiday that dominates America 
every December of the calendar year, as well 
as how he approaches the celebration of 
Chanukah. 
London also raises import-
ant questions and concerns 
about religious assimilation in 
America. It is likely that many 
in Detroit’s Jewish community 
have also considered these 
same issues.
Then, after reading London’s 
thoughtful essay, it was report-
ed that a national TV news host, when speak-
ing about Christmas trees, declared: “It’s a 
tree that unites us, that brings us together. It 
is about the Christmas spirit, it is about the 
holiday season, it is about Jesus, it is about 
Chanukah.
” Perhaps this is not seriously 
offensive, but this person doesn’t seem to 
understand much about Chanukah and, with 
a bit of holiday chauvinism, decided that our 
national — and religious — spirit is embod-
ied in a tree with lights and ornaments. 

And I wondered — what stories would I 
find in the William Davidson Digital Archive 
of Jewish Detroit History about Chanukah 
and Christmas; in particular, Christmas trees 
and Jewish Detroit. I found 381 entries just by 
searching the Archive for “Christmas Tree.
”

The first lesson from my search is that 
“Chanukah and Christmas,
” or sometimes, 
“Chanukah vs. Christmas,
” is a topic of many 
essays and editorials over the past 100 years. 
This annual tradition began in 1918. For 
one example, see Rabbi Leo Franklin’s essay, 
“Christmas and the Jew,
” in the Dec. 20, 1918, 
issue of the Detroit Jewish Chronicle. Franklin 
advocated that, apart from religion, celebra-
tions of “joy, cheerfulness and good fellow-
ship” with their “higher meanings of peace 
and good will” were a good thing. However, 
Jews were not “justified in the introduction of 

the Christmas tree and other 
non-Jewish symbols into 
their homes.
”
The Chronicle endorsed 
this general perspective 
throughout its publishing life. 
Celebrating good wishes with 
gentiles was OK, but the answer 
to the Chanukah-Christmas 
issue is a good Jewish educa-
tion for children … and no 
Christmas trees in Jewish homes.
Ironically, however, the 
Chronicle did print various 
Christmas advertisements. In 
the Dec. 20, 1946, Chronicle, 
for example, there is an adver-
tisement from the Detroit 
Edison Company extolling the 
Christmas tree (and, of course, 
use of electric lights for trees as 
modern and safe).

Over the years, the notion of 
Jews and Christmas trees has 
evolved. The 2018 survey of 
Detroit’s Jewish community 
showed that 63.3% of house-
holds always or usually light 
Chanukah candles and 25% 
always or usually have a Christmas tree. 
Likewise, many cities since the 1980s 
now display menorahs along with 
Christmas trees on public proper-
ties. Essays in the JN also discuss 
these trends (see the Dec. 15 and 
22, 2016, JN), as well as “Chanukah 
Bushes” as a substitute name for a 
tree (Dec. 10, 2009, JN).
To be sure, Christmas lights and 
trees can be overwhelming when one 
drives around the city in December. 
But the positive is that, after a century 
of debate, there is now a giant meno-
rah in Downtown Detroit, along with 
a Christmas tree, and they seem to get 
along well. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation 
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

