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Premonitions and Predictions for 2010
Happy New Year! It seems like all the hoopla Y2K was just yesterday - it’s hard to believe it was 10 years ago!
Here we are at the doorstep of another year. Someone on our Facebook fan page commented that she gets to start over several times a year because she marks January 1 as well as the Jewish New Year, Fiscal Year, Academic Year, and her birthday. Sounds good to me!
At Congregation Beth Adam and OurJewishCommunity.org, we have a tradition of expressing our premonitions and predictions for the new year each January. We ask people (that’s you folks!) to predict things for the coming year, and Rabbi Barr and I seal up the predictions and read them the following year. The one rule is that we ask you not to predict deaths. To hear more about this, listen to our Friday night Shabbat Service webcast on 1/1/10.
So, here’s what we want you to do. Email your predictions for the new year to me at rabbi@ourjewishcommunity.org. Next January, I’ll read the list of predictions during our Shabbat service webcast and I’ll post the list here on my blog (all of this is anonymous). Let’s see what we expect to have happen during the next 365 days so that we can “ah we were right!” or “oops we were way off” next year at this time (hopefully, more of the former).
So, start sending me emails - and have a wonderful New Year!
Jews Writing Christmas Songs and Mormons Writing Hanukkah Songs and…
When I think back on the winter holidays this year, music seems to be a pretty significant theme. Particularly interfaith music. I suspect many of you have heard about Mormon Senator Orinn Hatch writing a Hanukkah song. It struck me as a little bizarre. Doesn’t Hatch have other things to worry about, say like health care or national security?
I suppose Conan O’Brien and his Tonight Show staff also found it bizarre. Conan and Max Weinberg (the self-proclaimed “Tonight Show’s only Jew”) wrote a song in response to Hatch’s. It’s not exactly kind to Mormons - so beware of the offensiveness.
I’m not sure why Hatch felt he wanted to write a Hanukkah song, though he has said in interviews how connected he feels to the Jewish people. I’m sure Max Weinberg and Conan O’Brien wrote their song to be funny. And, it turns out that people writing holiday songs for holidays that are not part of their own religious experience is quite common.
Recent articles in the Forward, New York Times, and LA Times discuss how many Jewish songwriters have written Christmas songs. Of course there’s Irving Berlin who wrote “White Christmas” in 1942. Neil Diamond and Bob Dylan have recently performed Christmas songs. The article in the Forward lists 13 famous Christmas songs and their Jewish writers, like “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by George Wyle, “Silver Bells” by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” by Johnny Marks, and “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Sammy Cahn and Julie Styne.
What’s up with all these Jews writing Christmas songs? Why not, I guess? In some ways, it’s pretty cool that we live in a world where Mormons write Hanukkah songs and Jews write Christmas songs etc. There are fewer boundaries between religious communities and artists want to create music that others can enjoy (obviously, they don’t just write songs for themselves!). This is a wonderful thing.
I also suspect that one of the reasons there are so many Christmas songs written by Jews is that Christmas has become a more secular holiday in many ways - with Rudolph and ornamented trees and Santa. When the holiday is about family and fun - and not as much about theology or what is said in mass, it’s easier for there to be sharing among different religious groups.
Of course, sharing does not mean that each religion becomes so watered down that it is no longer distinct. I think there is great value in there being defining aspects of each religion. Yet, I don’t see why one a songwriter of one religion should feel s/he can only write about his own religion. Some of the songs are fabulous. So I say, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Chinese Food, a Movie, and a Question about Christmas Greetings
To those of you (like me) indulging in Chinese food and a movie today, enjoy! To those of you celebrating Christmas with your Christian family and/or friends, enjoy!
Something has been on my mind lately, and I am curious what you all think. At this time of year, lots of people say “Merry Christmas” without knowing whether the person they are saying it to actually celebrates the holiday. This happens quite a bit in stores where friendly clerks wish their customers a Merry Christmas.
You may recall in 2005 and 2006 this was an issue in the news thanks to Wal-Mart. The retailer went back and forth about whether it should ask its employees to say “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas” - and got criticized for each of those.
Given those two options, I’m definitely a fan of “Happy Holidays.” It shows that the person speaking is sending warm wishes without making assumptions about the other person. “Happy Holidays” speaks to diversity. Of course, it’s more complicated though. “Happy Holidays” suggests that everyone celebrates Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa which all fall at this time of year. The reality is that not all people celebrate those holidays. Thus, I tend to prefer “Happy Holiday season” or “Have a wonderful 2010″ or “Seasons Greetings” or “Have a good afternoon” etc.
When people wish me a “Merry Christmas,” I tend to respond “Happy Holidays” - not hoping to make them feel bad about their statement - but hoping that it will help them recognize that different people have different traditions.
I am curious what you all think about this - how you greet people - and how you feel when you are greeted with “Merry Christmas.”
So, I wish all of you a wonderful end of 2009 and beginning of 2010!
Hanukkah Candle Lighting Night 8
Where in the world is Rabbi Baum? Tonight she lights candles from Cincinnati, OH (overlooking Kentucky). Happy Hanukkah!
Hanukkah Candle Lighting Night 7
Where in the world is Rabbi Baum? Tonight she lights the Hanukkah menorah from a catamaran in the Bahamas.
Hanukkah Candle Lighting Night 6
Where in the world is Rabbi Baum? Tonight she lights the Hanukkah Menorah near a pool with Hanukkah Harry.
Hanukkah Candle Lighting Night 5
Where in the world is Rabbi Baum? Tonight she lights the Hanukkah menorah on Old Street in St. Maarten.
Hanukkah Candle Lighting Night 4
Where in the world is Rabbi Baum? For the fourth night of Hanukkah, she lights candles from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Hanukkah Candle Lighting Night 3
Where in the world is Rabbi Baum? On a kayak in Turks and Caicos.
Join us each night of Hanukkah for a new video.
Night 2 Hanukkah Candle Lighting
Where in the World is Rabbi Baum? Check out Night 2 of our nightly Hanukkah candle lighting in 2009.
Rabbi Baum reads from the Beth Adam Home Service Set.
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- — Passover page is up!
- — Baum's Blog on Chelsea Clinton and a Possible Jewish Wedding
- — Join us for Streaming Shabbat 6 PM ET Friday
- — Barr's Banter on International Women's Day