Frasch Ideas—Examine, Inquire, Explore

O Christmas Tree

• Posted by Theresa on December 14th, 2006 filed in Anything Goes

More letters from the Seattle Times regarding the “Holiday Trees”

Deck the halls with hefty profits

The Port of Seattle or any other government agency should not be spending taxpayers’ money on any project unless it is monetarily profitable. I am sure no one is going to avoid flying through Sea-Tac because there are no lighted trees.

Let the merchants and the airlines deck their places of business to portray the Christmas Season or whatever they want to name it.

- J. H. Johnston, Seattle

Rabbi’s view is not shared by all Jews

As a Jew, I do not support the demand that Sea-Tac Airport add a menorah to its holiday display. I do not believe that religious symbols are properly placed on public property.

Christmas trees, symbols of a religious holiday, are nevertheless secular, adapted from the pagan tradition. They are not religious or sacred objects. A menorah is most certainly a religious object, imbued with a sacred significance. Its decorative counterpart would be more likely a nativity scene than a tree.

If Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky is seeking some sort of parity in the world of decor, I would suggest that an eight-foot-tall dreidel would be a more appropriate counterpart to the trees.

- Eileen Hinds, Snohomish

O Christmas tree

Port should have acted on behalf of residents, rather than out of spite

Regarding the Seattle Port Commission’s decision to remove the Christmas trees from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport [”Airport puts away holiday trees rather than risk being ‘exclusive’ ” Times, page one, Dec. 10], each and every one of these elected Port officials knew exactly what they were doing when they made this extreme decision.

They consciously made this decision knowing the prejudiced wrath that would befall the Jewish community. Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky speaks only on behalf of his organization, not the much broader Jewish community. The Port Commission speaks as elected officials on behalf of the residents of the Greater Seattle area and should have been less spiteful in its actions.

- Bob Porad, Bellevue

Maybe Sea-Tac should combine traditions

I have been following the controversy about the “holiday trees” at Sea-Tac Airport. I presume that they are real trees and need no storage after the season ends. A menorah would need to be stored somewhere. There is a solution to that.

Take eight trees of the same height and one tree that is taller. Put them together in a row (or some pleasing pattern that fits the space) and add lights that look like candles. The tall one will be the “Shamash,” or a servant to the others. It will be lit along with another tree on the first night of Hanukkah. The next night, three trees will be lit; the Shamash and two lower trees.

This will continue until all of the trees are lit. There will be little added expense for the airport and storage of the “candles” will be handled along with the other “holiday” lights.

- Frank A. Rosenbaum, Issaquah

A host of opportunities for holiday lawsuits

Maybe Rabbi Bogomilsky should sue the White House over its Christmas tree. Also, doesn’t Rockefeller Center have a traditional Christmas tree? Is New York’s Jewish community suing over it?

- Arne Bystrom, Seattle

Meaning behind the tree more greedy than godly

Since when is faith so unimportant that it relies on the simple juxtaposition of another symbol of consumerism to carry on its own misguided message? Since when did the Christmas tree become a symbol of Christianity? The menorah is as close to the Jewish faith as the Star of David.

The Christmas tree, if anything, is the anti-symbol of Christianity; it’s the symbol of consumerism gone wild, crowded parking lots, riots for PS3, stolen toys for the needy, fights with the in-laws and not the true spirit, meaning and love of Christmas: the birth of our beloved and righteous Santy Claus.

- David Gardner, Redmond

The Port may have more shopping to do

Would perhaps the following scenario please almost everyone with no threat of lawsuit: The Magi bearing Kwanzaa gifts - a golden calf - by the light of a menorah with a pentacle hanging above the stable? Something for everyone?

- Lorna Schofield, Mountlake Terrace

Bizarre new heights for political correctness

Once again, bureaucrats in Seattle have taken political correctness to new and bizarre heights. As a former resident of Kitsap County now living in the world’s most culturally diverse city, it’s interesting to note that when one flies into JFK International Airport, the sounds and sites of the Christmas season are there to greet you.

Unfortunately, for the thousands flying to the Pacific Northwest for the holidays this year, folks will have to wonder whether they have just landed in Seattle or in Pyongyang, North Korea - the other city in the Pacific Rim that has banned Christmas trees in its airport.

- Mark Spalding, New York, N.Y.

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