Is that Christmas Tree Kosher?

 Jew Jihad Against Christmas

More than two decades ago, the Israeli belly dancer Ilana Raskin won a Supreme Court case against the Israeli rabbinate. It had withheld a license for serving kosher food in the hotel where she was to perform because it found such acts immodest and immoral. She prevailed in court, on the argument that the rabbinate, which is the only Israeli institution permitted to issue kosher-food licenses, should do so only on grounds pertaining to the preparation and serving of food.

So much for the Raskin ruling: the Israeli rabbinate continues to play games with its exclusive authority. Last week, Jewish religious authorities in Haifa issued a warning that establishments holding Christmas and New Year’s celebrations would lose so-called kashrut supervision. Many Israelis won’t eat in a place where food is not certified to have been prepared according to Jewish dietary laws.

“New Year’s celebrations must not be held at the end of the civil calendar,” the Haifa rabbinate said in a letter to local hotels and restaurants. “It will not be possible to continue our supervision for anyone who infringes our instruction.”

One can’t possibly expect a rabbi to be present at a place where a Christian holiday is celebrated, the rabbinate argues. In fact, it is even forbidden for “a Jew to be present in a place where idol worship is being conducted.” The Christmas tree may be one such idol — the nativity scene is, of course.

On Monday, a rabbinate meeting was called to discuss the list of potential signs of avoda zara, or idolatry. “We must carefully examine which of the symbols and practices associated with parties on this day are based on religious custom, and which ones are based on folklore,” the rabbinate said. Realizing it might have overplayed its hand, it agreed to discourage but tolerate trees while banning outright symbols like crosses.
I understand why some Israelis don’t appreciate the tendency of hotels and restaurants in the Jewish homeland to celebrate end-of-year Christian holidays; they see it as a sign of a cultural inferiority complex. But they should appreciate even less a rabbinate that infringes on people’s freedom to celebrate whatever they want.

In Judaism, idolatry is a serious matter. Determining which Christian symbol might be considered an idol is serious, too: It could disturb Christian-Jewish relations and damage Israel’s foreign relations. And yet Israel’s rabbinate is many things — detached from reality, sometimes corrupt, frequently manipulative, rarely in touch with the beliefs of most Israelis — but serious.

One editorial has suggested it would be a good first step “to end the Chief Rabbinate’s state-sanctioned monopoly” over kashrut supervision. I think something more radical is needed: a redefinition of relations between state and religion that starts by altogether abolishing the rabbinate.

 http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/25/is-that-christmas-tree-kosher/