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| White Christmas composer, Irving Berlin |
For people like me who love this great country – for all the
kindness it bestows upon our people, it is quite understandable that when
a Christian religious theme takes hold of the populace – it takes away a bit from
that warm sense of acceptance we otherwise feel all year round.
Honestly, I used to feel a little less American at this time
of year. I felt a bit betrayed that a country that does not have an official religion
suddenly becomes Christian - even if not officially.
But is that really true? I don’t think it is. Which is why I
am not as upset as I used to be. That’s because Christmas in America has been almost
completely sanitized of all religious meaning. Although one occasionally
sees a nativity scene displayed, it is by far overwhelmed by gaudy displays of decorated
trees and homes lit up with all kinds of different displays that have no
religious meaning at all. No where is the secularization of Christmas better
expressed than in the music one hears all over the place this time of year. If
you read the lyrics to the most popular Christmas songs, it has nothing to do
with the religious aspect of the holiday.
I have been told (I did not see the Teshuva myself) that R’
Moshe Feinstein actually holds that one is permitted to listen to Christmas
music if it contains no religious content (Although he does frown on the
practice.)
I would suggest that the reason Christmas is such a popular
time of year is not because of its religious context. But because it has become
a euphemism for family time. What Americans are really celebrating is the warm
and fuzzy feeling of being with family at this time of year. The religious aspect
of the day has just about vanished. Why does America celebrate it at all? Because
the vast majority of Americans are Christians. They were surely indoctrinated
about its religious significance but now see it primarily as a day to be with
close family
One of the things that contributed to the secularization is the music. Which was in large part written by Jewish composers. Who although secular - were still Jewish enough not to write songs with religious Christian content. This is in part what Dr. Yvette Alt Miller discusses in a recent article:
Why are so many of the most beloved Christmas songs Jewish creations?
Dutch Jewish composer Stephen Emmer (who’s written his own Christmas song, Sleep for England) posits that: “It is in the DNA of Jews to write melancholy music, and also to ingratiate themselves in a world in which they are outsiders, at a time of the year when people are feeling especially patriotic and rooted in the idea of home.”
For many of the Jewish composers mentioned below, it seems that writing Christmas music was a way of fitting into a non-Jewish American idea. They didn’t write about Jesus or religious aspects of the holiday. Instead, their songs invoke an idealized American life that was denied to them and their families.
So yes, Jewish composers contributed mightily to the secularization
of Christmas. And Americans lapped it up. To this very day these songs are
played 24/7 round the clock by some radio
stations - starting from about Thanksgiving all the way through December 25th. While some songs
are laden with religious content, the vast majority of them are not.
So at this time of year we should not feel the slightest bit upset by all the public celebration over Christmas - a holiday that has lost almost all religious meaning. At least as far as the public is concerned. So that even as a proud Jew fully aware of the persecution of our people at the hands of Christianity over the course of Jewish history, I nonetheless remain a proud American, too. Even now during this - the Christmas season.