Thursday, December 26, 2013

The Jewish Relationship with Christmas

Mending Jewish-Christian history
Norma Zager begins here article wondering what the reason is that modern Christmas movies are made kind of cheesy compared to the classics of yesteryear. She relates this wonder through the filter of Jewish eyes. Then Norma goes right to the heart of her thinking process. Christians and Jews have one thing in common. Islam desires to destroy them both to control the world under Islamic Supremacism. Therefore there is one obvious option for Christians and Jews. Put the past behind Christian Antisemitism and Jewish distrust for Christians, then unite to win the clash of cultures that is inevitable.

JRH 12/26/13
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The Jewish Relationship with Christmas
This is Not the World We Were Promised

By Norma Zager
Sent: 12/26/2013 1:29 PM

Christmas day is usually a pretty quiet affair for Jewish people.  Most spend it as a day to relax and catch up, watch movies, go to friends, eat Chinese food, have family over or just simply listen to Christmas music and read the ads for the after-Christmas sales.

I seem to find myself in a rather introspective mood this Yuletide season. Perhaps it is age creeping upon me, but I question the most basic issues, actually non-issues, and I can’t find answers.  Perhaps others can supply the information I seek.

First and foremost why is it that Christmas songs are still written in the same tenor and inspirational tone, but there hasn’t been a decent Christmas movie since The Christmas Story?

The airwaves seem to be filled with hacky movies with a Christmas tree and nod to Santa Claus.  These movies are so formula and comical it makes one wonder if two-year olds are writing these offerings.

Let’s see; boy meets girl, girl meets Santa, Santa fixes up girl and boy and then boy loses girl but then Santa makes everything all better.  Wait a minute wasn’t that actually Miracle on 34th Street?

Perhaps it’s just that the actors of today are not Natalie Wood, Maureen O’Hara or Jimmy Stewart! It just isn’t the same as hearing that tingle when Clarence got his wings or Tiny Tim says, “God bless us everyone.”

But aside from the hacky warmed-over Christmas fare one is subjected to this time of year, there is a serious question that should be addressed.

Why, with all the pictures of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem being shown on the news there is no mention of the fact that Bethlehem is now forbidden to Israelis?

That the churches in Muslim areas have been desecrated and destroyed, and that thousands of Christians are being murdered daily throughout the Middle East in an ethnic cleansing exercise by the radical Islamic world.

The PR machine of the radical Muslims apparently has once again managed to blind the world to the truth, cover their behavior with whipped cream and color it with a cherry on top.

I guess oil money can buy the best Madison Avenue has to offer and that grey flannel suit must be gold lined by now.

And the lies keep on a coming.

Israel, the only country in the Middle East where all are safe to exercise religious freedom, is being pressured by the United States to make concessions to those who call themselves “Palestinians” that would further ensure loss of religious freedoms.

How can you make a deal with a people who deny your right to exist?  Shouldn’t that be the first requisite for peace talks?

So what is the point Norma, you ask?
Just this.

Despite successful Palestinian narratives that rewrite the facts of history, the Jews and Christians for the first time are waking up to the fact they now have a common enemy. And oh also, Jesus was Jewish.

As in 600 AD there is a Christian and Muslim war heating up to epic proportions.

I am seeing for the first time in thousands of years, the words Judeo-Christian joined together as the key to dealing with horrific reality they are facing.

The Christian world – not the Catholic Church of course, but many –understands now the fact that as long as Israel is controlled by the Jewish people, Christianity is safe.

And the Jewish people also understand that in the Christian world they now finally have a powerful ally against the forces that seek to destroy them.

As the governments of the world, including the United States, ignore the fact that Christian children are being murdered daily in cold blood, the Judeo-Christian world must unite and stand up to the evil that is headed in their direction.

So, do the Jewish people have a relationship with Jesus and should it affect this new coalition?

Is Christmas just another great shopping opportunity?  Or just perhaps it’s a family thing.

Kind of hard not to be a little proud of a family member that has done as well as Jesus.

Jewish families are nothing if not protective of family.

Perhaps it is time for the Jewish and Christian world to put aside their family squabbles and stand together against a common enemy poised upon their annihilation.

As in all families there will be arguments; who should pay, what should be done, whose responsibility is Uncle Albert?  Yet, I am hopeful that one day, just as we will see a better crop of holiday movies, we will see the Judeo-Christian world unite to overcome the greatest enemy they have ever encountered.

Maybe this is the Christmas to do just that. If you don’t agree well then, Happy Shopping!
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Norma Zager is an award-winning investigative journalist and author.  Her passion for Israel has driven her to dedicate the past decade writing and having a radio show about Israel.

This is the latest in the series “Postcards from America – Postcards from Israel,” a collaboration between Zager and Bussel, a foreign correspondent reporting from Israel.  Ari Bussel and Norma Zager collaborate both in writing and on the air in a point-counter-point discussion of all things Israel-related.

Together, they have dedicated the past decade to promoting Israel.


© Israel Monitor, December 2013

First Published December 25, 2013

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