CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnInner Israelrnby Jacob NeusnerrnThe Goyim Aren’trnAlways WrongrnA small people with a distinctive religion,rnthe Jews throughout history have triedrnto avoid imitating the Gentiles (that is,rneverybody else), lest assimilation destroyrnthe faith and the group that embodies it.rnIn fact. Scripture’s passionate denunciationrnof idolatry led the ancient rabbis,rn”our sages of blessed memory,” to condemnrncertain practices under the rubricrnof “the ways of the Amorite,” meaning,rndon’t do things the way they do. PliiliprnRoth captures the psychology in Portnoy’srnComplaint: “They’ll eat anything,rnand they’ll do anything too.”rnBut there is assimilation, and thenrnthere is assimilation. Some decades ago,rnthe Chancellor of the Jewish TheologicalrnSeminary of America, Gerson D. Cohen,rngave a lecture, “The Blessings of Assimilationrnin Jewish History,” that scandalizedrnthe faithful, because he saw good inrnadopting Gentile virtue and the beautyrnof other faiths. As between segregationistsrnand integrationists, most AmericanrnJews concur and opt for integration,rnwhile preserving their own distinctiverncharacter. They do so because most Jewsrnin this country take a more positive viewrnof Gentiles. They wish to maintain a distinctiverngroup life, but in ways comparablernto those of their Gentile friends andrnneighbors.rnTrue, federal racism has encouragedrnhomogenization by classifying Jews asrn”whites,” just as the Israeli system assignsrnAmerican Jews to the class of “Anglo-rnSaxons,” which would certainly have surprisedrnnot only Ethched the Unreadyrnbut also King Edward I (“the pious”),rnwho found our forebears insufficientlyrnAnglo-Saxon and booted them outrnof England. But the upshot is, we dornnot live behind ghetto walls and do notrnwant to.rnStill, the advent of Christmas bringsrnan annual crisis into Jewish homes.rnStarting in eady October and ending inrnJanuary, the season underscores our differences:rnthat it’s a rite we Jews cannotrnand do not practice. But while underscoringrnour difference, the holiday seasonrnalso highlights our sameness. Withrnthe Supreme Court’s declaration thatrnChristmas is really a secular, cultural occasion,rnthe yeariy explosion of greed andrnsentimentality in the name of piety nornlonger requires even the pretense of arnreligious occasion. True Christianity—rnCatholic, Protestant, and Orthodoxrnalike—sees matters otherwise and nowrnjoins Judaism as another minority, onernexiled from a common culture that hasrnruined its sacred occasion. Only Easter,rnmore eggs and bunnies than the RisenrnChrist, still reminds the world that, oncernupon a time everywhere, and here andrnnow in some isolated sectors, Christianityrnwas and remains a great religion, notrnmerely an excuse for giving, getting, andrngorging.rnOne Christian practice that I admirernis the lighting up of homes for the holyrnseason. Here in St. Petersburg, where Irnlive on the shores of Tampa Bay, thernpractice proves especially compelling.rnThe lighted homes across the bayou,rncasting colored shadows on dark water,rnmeet the light of the yachts on the bayrnnearby. On a spit of land, on one side ofrnan inlet, Hanukkah candles are lit, fromrnnight to night, and across the waves, onrnthe other side, Christmas lights respond.rnSomehow the dark knights of the MilitantrnSeparationists have not found theirrnway to our corner of the world, to drivernour holidays of light, both Judaic andrnChristian, off public property.rnEver since making our home here fivernand a half years ago, my wife and I havernenjoyed the lights over the water. Lastrnyear, I got a leaflet offering a curious service:rn”We will light up vour home, inrnyour own design, supplying the wiring,rnlights, and the rest, putting up the decorationrnby December 1 and taking it downrnJanuary 15, for $500.” What a greatrnidea, I thought—I can have them lightrnour house by the bay, with its balconyrnoverlooking the park and the beach andrnthe genrie waves, with a huge HanukkahrnMenorah covering the front of thernhouse, perhaps, too, a picture of JudahrnMaccabee, and a splash of light to standrnfor the enduring oil lamp. Since thernChristians use green and red, we mightrnuse orange, blue, and white. Coolerrnheads prevailed.rnBut that led me to wonder, whatrnwould be so bad if we did? After all, livingrnin the benign mixture of Southernrnand Midwestern culture that definesrnwest-central Florida, who would misunderstand?rnOur neighbors would be nornmore bemused than they are by thernsukkah (tabernacle) where we eat ourrnmeals from one fall to the next in ourrnbackyard, covering it with palm branchesrncut from our, and our neighbors’, palmrntrees (they are instructed by me exactlyrnwhat date to have their palms trimmed,rnso they follow the lunar calendar to makernsure that, on the first full moon after thernautumnal equinox, we have plenty ofrnfront for the sukkah covering). True, myrnneighbor at first thought it was an outdoorrnJacuzzi, and (fully clothed) we eatrnmeals there (at least, at night, when it isrncool enough).rnWhy not celebrate our holiday byrnadopting a practice that our Christianrnneighbors use to mark theirs—only in arnJudaic manner? After all, some of ourrnmost valued rites and holy occasions arernadaptations, and the principal events ofrnthe Christian calendar, Easter and Pentecost,rnnot to mention the Sabbath/Sunday,rncome to Christianity from Judaism.rnIn fact, Jews give gifts on Hanukkah, sorntheir children will not feel left out, andrnno one today deems us less distinctive forrnthat. If it makes our kids feel good to definern”being Jewish” as getting gifts forrneight nights, instead of only one day orrnnight like their Christian friends, so be it.rnIndeed, I can think of other Christianrnpractices that would make Judaism arnstronger and more distinctive religion inrnthis country—regular church-going inrnlarge numbers, rather than the pitifulrnpick-up crowd that the Reform andrnConservative synagogues get Sabbathrnmornings; self-respect and pride in theirrnpublic celebrations, rather than the Marrano-rntype dissimulation that all but thernOrthodox Jews pretend. Indeed, in myrnview, the most American of all Judaismsrnis Lubovitch Hasidism, with its hugernmenorahs in front of city halls all overrn36/CHRONICLESrnrnrn